Embraced, Fighting, and No Longer Ashamed: One of ASPIRE-LA’s co-founders shares his own immigration story

April 13, 2016

Guest blogger: Giselle Guro, first-year law student, University of San Francisco

Anthony Ng was born and raised in the Philippines along with his sister, parents and grandmother. After his parents’ local supermarket business went bankrupt in the late 1990s, they made the decision to immigrate to the United States. Seeing how much the siblings needed their parents, Ng’s grandmother made the decision to bring them to the United States shortly after his parents had immigrated. As a teenager, Ng had to adapt quickly to the culture shock.

I had difficulty getting accustomed to American culture even though the Philippines is heavily influenced by American culture. I spoke English, but not the same way as Americans do. I remember being made fun of for having a thick accent and for continuing mannerisms that I learned growing up, like standing up to answers a teacher’s question. There were moments in my teenage years where I was ashamed of my Filipino and immigrant identity because of how I was treated and how people saw me.

Ng was able to assimilate into American culture after a few years and decided to focus on education as the way to a better life. He viewed his potential success in academia–reinforced by the positive feedback of his educators–as a manifestation of his parents’ hard work for a better life. Then he discovered that he was an undocumented immigrant. When trying to apply for a summer internship in Washington D.C., he asked his mom for his social security number. She was unable to answer him, and he realized he didn’t have one.

The difficulties that came with his undocumented status manifested when it was time to apply for college. Ng had a limited selection of schools he could apply to and was uncertain if he could even attend a 4-year university since undocumented students could not receive any financial aid. He could not get a State ID or a driver’s license, and did not have access to the same resources, programs, and services that citizens or legal permanent residents received. Fortunately, in 2012, he became eligible to apply for DACA and has been able to attend college, go to work, and enjoy limited access to resources, programs, and services that were unavailable to him before.

In college, Ng became inspired by his peers and his activism flourished. Issues that touched upon his Filipino heritage, such as seeking justice for Filipino WWII Veterans, as well as the campus climate amidst rising tuition gave him the fire to continue his activism after graduating. He learned of an internship program called The Dream Summer through the UCLA Labor Center that placed immigrant youth with nonprofit organizations to develop undocumented youth into leaders in the immigrant rights and social justice movements. Ng was placed at Asian Americans Advancing Justice-LA (AAAJ-LA) where he worked on immigrant rights policy and helped create safe spaces for undocumented API youth. It was during this internship where he met members of ASPIRE, the first undocumented API youth led organization in the United States. In 2012, at ASPIRE’s state-wide retreat, he connected with a member of ASPIRE UCLA, a student group that aimed to “strengthen and unify the undocumented Asian students both on and off campus.” With the help of AAAJ-LA, Ng and others helped transition ASPIRE UCLA into ASPIRE-LA* to target the greater Los Angeles area.

My role is to help provide guidance to the organization. I have mentored many of our members in my 4 years of involvement in ASPIRE-LA as well as help build out our membership and infrastructure. Hearing stories a day to day basis of families who have suffered deportation, how immigrants are treated while in detention, and stories on how and why our immigration system is broken impacts the way I approach my work. It shows me how resilient we are as a community.

With all the work he is doing, Ng somehow manages to maintain hobbies including cooking, binge-watching shows, running, and of course, hanging out with friends. He says he is lucky to live in a fairly progressive and immigrant friendly state that creates a more normal life compared to others who live in conservative/anti-immigrant states. Currently, Ng supervises the part-time ASPIRE-LA organizer who leads the day to day operations. In addition to working at ASPIRE-LA and AAAJ-LA, he is the Policy Advocate under the Immigrant Rights Project. After focusing on immigrant youth organizing for his first two years, he now leads the project and its immigrant rights policy work.

I’ve learned a lot about the injustices that various immigrant communities face, such as the inhumane treatments of detained immigrants and the fact that private corporations that have been linked to anti-immigrant legislation benefit from the detention of immigrants. For me, fixing The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, which is causing the current deportation crisis, is a priority.

Ng’s specific focus on immigration reform is an issue that he takes to heart.

Being undocumented means I can’t visit my family back home to mourn deaths or even be there to celebrate momentous occasions. In a society where having status dictates your life, being undocumented creates many barriers, as well as shows how outdated our policies are when it comes to immigrant communities. We need to address our broken immigration system, ensuring that families are kept together. We must continue to figure out how to welcome all immigrants of all walks of life and help integrate them into society by providing services and programs addressing their needs.

For more information about ASPIRE-LA click here and here.

*ASPIRE & ASPIRE-LA are sister organizations who share a name, but are autonomous.