MLK Day march protests deportation of 4 Cambodians
Linking their Monday afternoon demonstration to the human-rights theme of Martin Luther King Day, pro-immigrant groups are protesting the pending deportation of four Cambodian men.
The four were born in Cambodia or Southeast Asian refugee camps after fleeing the depradations of the Khmer Rouge and the Pol Pot regime. They were admitted legally to the United States about 20 years ago with their parents as refugees.
As youths and young adults they committed aggravated assaults and other crimes. They were convicted, served time in prison and now face expulsion. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested them last in September.
Authorities say they are "criminal aliens" and by law must be removed. Their defenders say they are rehabilitated and deserve another chance to remain in America.
Following their detention, their supporters formed a group called the One Love Movement to Keep Families Together.
"Bringing us together in a movement for social change on this day seems really important," said One Love organizer Mia-lia Kiernan, surrounded by demonstrators crafting protest banners as the 1:30 rally was to begin.
The protest and march from Arch Street United Methodist Church, on North Broad Street, to ICE offices at 1600 Callowhill Street includes members from: the Asian Student Association of Philadelphia; Central High School's Students Against Unjust Deportation; the United Taxi Workers Alliance, and other groups.
Citing King's famous 1963 "Letter from Birmingham Jail," in which he wrote about the difference between "just" and "unjust" laws, the demonstrators released a December 4, letter from York Prison, written by 30-year-old Chally Dang, one of the men facing deportation.
"I entered the United States as an infant, made my mistakes as a juvenile and was punished for those mistakes as a young adult," he wrote. "And as I now embrace life as a reformed, taxpaying civilian, the actions of my past still haunt me with what my fate might be. I can only implore mercy from a system in which I trust forgiveness and second chances still exist."
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