After immigrating to this country 37 years ago, I put my passport in my backpack two days ago at the suggestion of friends, not because of travel, but because of ICE. “Be careful, know your rights, bring your IDs” – these were themes being shared and discussed with mixed feelings of palpable anxiety, fear, and anger. These emotions may not be visible to those outside the “Virtual Chinatown” WeChat groups, where 99% of immigrant Chinese Americans source their information, all in Chinese.
Early Tuesday morning, I brought food to celebrate an International Day at the local University, where I have been teaching for the past 6 years. Later in the afternoon, we had a team dinner with our team members at a local Asian restaurant before our documentary film screening “Silent War: Asian American Reckonings with Mental Health” at another local University. I am the producer of the film and an invited panelist.
I make sure I have my passport in my backpack today as I am heading to the local County Health & Human Services Board meeting. It is the first time during my 37 years as a first-generation immigrant that I feel unsafe, worried, and angry all at the same time. I worry I might be handcuffed away simply for fulfilling my two professional roles as a public health nurse educator and a community organizer for youth mental health.
These feelings are all too familiar to me. I was born and raised in China before I came to the US as a college student in 1988. One day in elementary school, I witnessed my father being handcuffed away by plainclothes police. He did not commit any crimes and was simply doing his job, but his boss was on the wrong side of the party during political unrest. I did not see my father for an entire year during his house arrest.
A July report from the UCLA Asian American Studies Center found that arrests of Asian immigrants nearly tripled in early 2025, from under 700 in 2024 to nearly 2,000 between February and May. Most were from China (about a third), India (about a quarter), and Vietnam (about a sixth). I would have never imagined that in the very country that offered refuge to me and our family, I would worry I could be handcuffed for doing nothing wrong, like my father, but simply because I look different.
“ICE is currently at a crossroads, Cary. Here is what you need to do today….” ICE is in my neighborhood in Cary on Tuesday afternoon and throughout this week. I wonder how long we have to live like we did in communist China… I need to fulfill my responsibility not only as a mental health advocate, but as a citizen of the United States of America we call home, by sharing my story. The immigrant story IS the American Story.
Registration is closed for Common Ground: Building Together conference and gala award banquet in San Francisco on January 24. A shoutout to our planning committee: Jane Chin, Frank Mah, Jeannie Young, Akemi Tamanaha, Nathan Soohoo, Mark Young, Dave Liu, and Yiming Fu.
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