FAR EAST CORRESPONDENT — The following request is doing the rounds on the Intern and across Southeast Asia. It’s worthy.

We need your vote for our video that is one of the eleven finalists for the White House video contest. If we win, we will be invited to the White House to address the issue of our concern. We are dealing with the deportation of criminal aliens. Yes, I know the label makes us want to get rid of them. But it’s really not that simple.
Voting ends on March 1st. We are almost there but need several hundreds more votes to secure our place as top 3. Please watch our video “My Asian Americana” and cast a vote.

Please Vote for Our Video MY ASIAN AMERICANA
http://www.whitehouse.gov/aapi/whats-your-story

In Cambodia, we met many “exiles” of early 30s, who were born in a refugee camp in Thailand, immigrated to the U.S. through asylum, lived in gang infested neighborhoods, made poor decisions as youths, and had to serve time. Upon completing their time, they were additionally detained by the immigration service (I.C.E.) and deported to Cambodia, a country many had never seen before.

The process is sometimes called “expedited removal of criminal aliens” and it requires no legal review. Once you get picked up, the court will not hear your case. I met a man who was deported due to repeated DUI’s. He used to work in a warehouse. No gang affiliation. A family man. He left two teen daughters, 12 and 14 years old behind in California. His first job offer here was teaching English full time in a village for $50 a month.

Another man was out and living straight for several years after serving time. He started a barber shop in Philadelphia, had a wife and four young children. When he was 30 years old, he was picked up by I.C.E. and was sent out here. He committed the “deportable crime” at age 15.

Please forward this e-mail and Tweet and post it on your FB page. The voting ends on March 1st.

For more information on the issue, please refer to the web site of One Love Movement.
One Love Movement website

We are also supporting a spoken word poet of the same background here in Cambodia.

Spoken Kosal website

Thank you for your time and compassion.

Sincerely,
Masahiro Sugano,
Filmmaker of Studio Revolt
Studio Revolt webstie
http://studio-revolt.com/vd

Also, if you have already voted for us, thanks for all the support. But did you know you can revote? If you have a more than one email address, go to another computer (or your mobile) and vote again!