(Please take action to delay Herta's deportation, now. - promoted by kyledeb)
My name is Herta Llusho, I am 19 years old, and I writing this because
I am about to be deported. I was born in Albania and was brought to
the United States when I was 11 years old. With the help and support
of my family, I have struggled through more than seven years of legal
proceedings to find a way to stay in this country legally. Despite our
best efforts, on August 19, I will be removed by the Department of
Homeland Security (DHS) from the only place I know as my home. I will
be sent back to a country that has become a foreign place to me. I
don't even speak Albanian well anymore. My only hope of staying here
is for as many people as possible to ask DHS to delay my deportation
until the DREAM Act is passed. |
My parents brought me to the United States because they believed in the
promises this country had to offer. To them it was the land of
opportunities, values, and ideals. They were faithful believers of the
American Dream, meaning that through hard work, education, and good
character their children could accomplish anything they wanted. In
fact, they believed in it so strongly that they sacrificed their own
lives, as well as their relationship to make it happen. My dad stayed
in Albania with the hope of relocating to the US, while my mom left
everything behind in pursuit of a better life for her children. To this
day, even after many years of struggle and sacrifice, they still
believe that it is all worth it, and so do I. I have been truly blessed
in the many opportunities I have received. The United States has made
me the person I am today. I would like nothing more than to contribute
to the country that has given me so much.
When my parents
first brought me to the United States, I attended Pierce Middle School,
just outside of Detroit, MI. I couldn't speak English, at first, but
within a year I was able to learn it due to the extremely supportive
and patient teachers and friends I made. Some of the friends I made in
middle school are still some of my closest friends today. After I
finished middle school, I attended Grosse Pointe South High School.
Throughout my high school years, I was a 4.05 GPA student and was
committed to a lot of extracurricular activities such as the Looking
Glass which was a magazine publication of short stories and poems, the
Spanish club, and National Honor Society. I ran cross country, track
and played a little bit of soccer. Also through my church and other
organizations, I volunteered at homeless shelters, summer day camps,
and tutoring programs. Last year, I was accepted into the school of
electrical engineering at the University of Detroit Mercy (UDM), where
I was still able to maintain my GPA. I chose to become an electrical
engineer because I really enjoy math and science and I have a lot of
family members that are engineers.
I might not be able to
continue my studies at UDM though because I have been ordered to leave
the U.S. I have been to many immigration lawyers, all of whom tell me
that I have run out of options. My brother scoured the Internet to look
for something, anything, to help me stay in the U.S. My brother came
across a story on dreamactivist.org announcing that Taha's deportation
was just averted. DHS just gave Taha and his mother a stay of
deportation until Taha graduates from college. I would like nothing
better than for DHS to do the same for my family. That is why my
brother contacted dreamactivist.org for help, and that is why you are
reading my story, today.
I know I am not the only one that is
struggling with this broken immigration system. Going from lawyer to
lawyer has taught me how inhuman this bureaucracy has become. If you
don't fit within a certain box it's as if you don't matter. I know
there are thousands of others like me, or in worse situations than I am
in.
Still, like my parents, I continue to believe in the
promises of this country; even if those promises don't come easy. We
have to continually struggle to renew those promises so that they apply
to everyone. That promise should apply to a young man, like Taha, who
against all odds is brought over from Bangladesh and is able to
graduate and get accepted into college, as much as they should apply to
a young woman like me.
That is why I am asking you take the
following actions. Help me delay my deportation until I finish college
or until the DREAM Act is passed. Help renew the promise of the
American Dream for me, so that together we can work renew the promise
of the American Dream for everyone.
ACTION
- Join the facebook group for immediate updates: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=111108019510
- Sign petition which will be hand-delivered to targets: http://www.change.org/actions/view/stop_deportation_of_dream_student_herta_llusho
- Use SEIU Click to Call Action Tool to call DHS: http://call.seiu.org/9/hertadhs
- Call Senator Carl Levin at (202) 224-6221. Urge him to a) introduce private bill for Herta, and b) write letter to DHS asking them to stop Herta's deportation.
- Call Senator Stabenow at (202) 224-4822. Urge her to a) introduce private bill for Herta, and b) write letter to DHS asking them to stop Herta's deportation.
- Call Congresswoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick at (202) 225-2261. Urge her to a) introduce private bill for Herta, and b) write letter to DHS asking them to stop Herta's deportation.
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