Asian American Resource Workshop, Greater Boston Legal Services’ Asian Outreach Unit, and Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) are proud to present a virtual Massachusetts statewide film screening and first-look of "Keep Saray Home" and conversation on the State of Southeast Asian Deportations on Friday, September 11, 2020 from 2:00PM-3:30PM.
Following the sneak peek of this new documentary highlighting Southeast Asian families and community members impacted by deportation in Massachusetts, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, State Representative Liz Miranda (5th Suffolk), and Lowell City Councilor Vesna Nuon will be joining us to discuss ways in which we can support vulnerable and impacted Southeast Asian communities from deportation.
Please RSVP if you intend on attending both the film screening and the community conversation. After the film screening, our community conversation will be live-streamed on Facebook starting at 2:30pm.
RSVP FOR THE EVENT: https://tinyurl.com/y5bav7tj
This event follows recent actions by ICE in deporting 30 community members to Vietnam in the midst of the pandemic, and the recent appointment of Tony Pham as the new Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
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Southeast Asian Americans, the largest refugee community in the US, are experiencing a massive hike in deportations under the Trump administration. Upon resettlement into the US after the war in Southeast Asia, Southeast Asian communities encountered challenges in restabilizing their lives. With a lack of structural support and systemic violence, many people were funneled into the prison-to-deportation pipeline. As a result, over 16,000 Southeast Asians nationwide have final orders for removal and must live in imminent fear not knowing if or when they may be deported. If deported, people would return to countries that they have little to no connection.
"Keep Saray Home" will begin to premiere at film festivals across the country this coming fall. For more information about the documentary and future screenings visit https://www.keepsarayhome.com.
And for more information about the issue of Southeast Asian deportation, please contact Kevin Lam at kevin@aarw.org or Bethany Li at bli@gbls.org.