The story leading up to the day we got those deportation orders is complicated. My mom, biological dad, and I emigrated to the U.S. from China when I was three. We were on our way to becoming permanent residents when my parents divorced. My mom lost the right to be included under my dad’s employer-sponsored permanent residency application. Having no other means at the time to attain permanent legal status, she outstayed her visa and became undocumented. My step-dad came into the country illegally to work, and remained that way ever since. My mom and step-dad’s deportation notices came out of the blue. It came after they married, had children, began running their own restaurant, and lived many years of everyday life. In that instant, their normal expectations of continuing to work hard at their business, save for retirement, and raise their children to adulthood together in the community they had come to call home suddenly reversed into unattainable wishful thinking.Continue Reading →