Sentenced Home

I can't believe it's Wednesday already. I thought time was flying when I was inside prison. Now that I'm out, the days are going by even faster. I'm grateful to have the opportunity to embrace and enjoy my days out here.

Last night I had the priviledge of screening the film Sentenced Home in San Francisco's public library. Sentenced Home hightlights three Cambodian refugees' struggles being caught up in the immigration deportation policy. Two of the guys were deported to Cambodia and the other awaits deportation. I was one of the panelists who spoke on the effects of the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform & Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA), which orders the mandatory deportation and detention of any non US citizens who had committed any "aggravated felony, had on me. Because the IIRIRA is retroactive, it doesn't matter how long someone has committed a crime, she or he can be detained and deported without much due process and relief.

Everyone is effected by the injust immigration laws that target immigrants because either we're immigrants or we know someone who's an immigrant. Therefore, we need to raise awareness in our immediate communities and learn more about immigrantion laws who break up families. For more infomation on the film Sentenced Home, please log on to WWW.ITVS.ORG/OUTREACH.