I read today that a fierce activist that I met a few months ago passed away.
Tam Tran was one of several undocumented students who came to Harvard to speak about the DREAM Act a few months ago. She, and other students, courageously shared her family's story in a half filled lecture hall in Sever Hall. I remember that day very clearly. It was a Friday evening, I had walked over from a conference with very good catered food, and I just finished an apple crumble desert. The lecture hall in Sever Hall was filled with students I had never met. I thought- perhaps here are all the students that care about comprehensive immigration reform on campus.
"Tam was born in Germany to refugee parents who fought communism in their country. When she was six years old, the family moved to California. They requested asylum in the U.S., but their application remains in limbo. Tam and her family are stateless: Germany will not accept them back because they are not of German origin and return to Vietnam is impossible given the family’s anti-communist history." (apimovement.com)
On May 15 , she and one of her closet friends, Cynthia Felix, died in a car accident in Maine. She was 27.
Although I didn't personally talk to Tam, she left a definite impression on me. She had the most charming voice -- somewhat kiddy, yet very strong. And she was a Leader. She set up a comfortable environment for the other, younger, students to share their stories as undocumented citizens. I'm sure she was thinking about Arizona until the day of her tragic accident. To read about her death via my news feed, in China, at work, is a tragic thing. May she rest in peace, and may the fight for the DREAM Act and CIR succeed, soon.
Please sign this petition to grant her citizenship posthumously, and to grant her family citizenship:
http://immigration.change.org/petitions/view/request_posthumous_citizenship_for_tam_tran
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/obituaries/articles/2010/05/17/tam_tran_brown_student_fought_for_immigrant_rights/
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