September marks a new school year for students across Minnesota. Classrooms throughout the state are filled with eager students ready to start making a mark in their community. For Pwe Ku, a first year student at St. Cloud University, this is an opportunity he does not take for granted.  

Pwe Ku arrived in Minnesota from Burma (Myanmar) when he was six years old. He doesn’t remember much about his country of origin, except for stories told by his mom. His family spent the first six years of Ku’s life in the Mae La refugee camp in Thailand before moving to Minnesota.  

“I was a kid then, so I probably didn’t really realize how hard life was until she explained it later,” Ku explained. “In the refugee camp it’s hard to find work and the rations really aren’t enough to get by. We have a big family so it’s hard. There’s always worries. Anything could happen at any time.” 

Ku’s family was forced to leave Burma (Myanmar) due to the longest civil war in world history — a war spanning more than 70 years. Internal conflicts began shortly after the country gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1948. The fighting and dangerous environment eventually forced Ku’s parents to flee from their home.  

One constant throughout his family’s ordeal has been their faith.  

“We kept our faith in God really strong,” remembers Ku. “My mom called a prayer time every evening. She would give us a history and a background of our people and our family.”  

Now, Ku and his family members are all proud citizens of the United States. Within the last three years, Ku’s three older siblings and his parents have all passed the citizenship test. Ku and his little sister were both under 18 when their parents received citizenship, so they did not have to take the test.  

“One thing people should know is that [refugees] don’t take things for granted,” repeated Ku. “It’s a special opportunity. We have to work as hard as the first pilgrims when they came here, learning the environment, their surroundings. And although there are opportunities, there are side effects too. It’s good to be integrated into the American culture, but too much isn’t a good thing either. We try and live for the freedom that we’re given the best way we can and at the same time we are trying to give back to the American community.”  

Ku’s experience as a child in a refugee camp, combined with his desire to give back to his community, lead him to choose biology (pre-med) as his field of study.  

“I want to do something that will benefit both myself and others,” Ku said. “I’ll be attending St. Cloud University. Majoring in biology or music. I want to major in biology for medical school, but I don’t know if I should major or minor in music. It depends on my classes. I was thinking of joining the men’s choir.” 

When asked what he is most looking forward to at college he said, “A little bit more freedom and working hard on my majors.”  

Ku is thankful to the Worthington community for the opportunities he has been given. He does not take any of it for granted.  

“As a refugee and immigrant I really appreciate how America and other UN [United Nations] countries have helped immigrants and given us an opportunity to have a better life and higher education. And most importantly I want to thank God for making everything possible.” 

September 12, 2019—Wednesday’s Supreme Court decision allows the Trump administration to basically end asylum at the southern border, in a deadly betrayal of U.S. law and international humanitarian principles. While a final decision on the asylum ban regulation is still months away, this decision will be a death sentence for many of the vulnerable asylum seekers now seeking safety.

The asylum ban regulation says that any asylum seekers who cross through a third country will be barred from applying for asylum in the United States.

“Barring asylum seekers is a gross violation of basic human rights and a violation of U.S. asylum law,” said Veena Iyer, executive director of the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota. “Turning away persecuted asylum seekers in 2019 reminds us of our national shame in turning away 900 Jewish asylum seekers on the SS St. Louis in 1939. We are refusing to grant safe haven to people who will die because of our refusal.”

Among the asylum seekers now barred from the United States are:

• Venezuelans fleeing Maduro
• Nicaraguans fleeing government crackdowns
• Guatemalans and Hondurans and Salvadorans fleeing violence and persecution
• Transgender and LGBTQ people fleeing persecution.

U.S. asylum law says that time spent in a third country is only a bar to people who have passed through a designated “safe third country” or who have “firmly resettled” in a third country. Only Canada is officially designated as a “safe third country.” Neither Mexico nor any Central American country is designated as a “safe third country” for the very good reason that none of these countries is safe for asylum seekers.

Throughout the summer, threats of raids and deportation of “millions” reverberated over Twitter, spreading fear to immigrant communities across the country. On July 14, more than 400 people at the Spanish mass at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Worthington listened intently as ILCM attorneys Joyce Bennett and Kathy Klos joined Padre Marcos Galvis at the front of the church (photo above). After Joyce gave an abbreviated Know Your Rights presentation, she invited people to stay after Mass to speak to the two attorneys about their concerns.  

The July Know Your Rights presentation was scheduled because of the big (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) ICE raid that was announced for 10 different cities, which raised the tension about raids in general. “We wanted people to be prepared,” Kathy Klos said. “We know ICE is continuing to do regular enforcement, so it’s a good reminder to people to know what their rights are.”  

Many of the more than 400 people at the church had questions after the presentation, with the greatest number of questions focusing on removal proceedings, on where they could get legal representation, and  on whether there is any way to legalize their status. “Not a lot of remedies are available under current laws,” Kathy Klos said. “That’s the hard part.” 

“Everyone you talked to knows someone who was deported or is in removal proceedings,” she continued. “When someone is in danger, like a man who was deported after living here for decades, the whole community writes letters and signs petitions. Everyone is impacted by these stories, and it’s part of the reality they live.  

“We can help them by arming them with their rights. We talk to them about preparing their families so that, in the worst case scenario, there is a plan for their kids and spouse. They can prepare by getting passports for children, and by identifying a place to go if the kids come home from school and parents aren’t there. That kind of planning has been happening a lot.”  

Know Your Rights presentations offer an opportunity to debunk myths and to ensure that people have accurate information and know where to go for help.  Besides answering questions, ILCM staff handed out the popular “red cards” and one-page Know Your Rights flyers for encounters with ICE at home, at work, and in public places. The flyers, published in English and Spanish, were prepared by the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

In Worthington, where the specter of the 2006 raid still lingers, “you want to arm people with what they want to know, but not raise panic levels so they can’t sleep at night,” Kathy Klos said. “They are already living it, so you just try to make it better.”   

ILCM and other organizations work to make legal information available to immigrants across Minnesota. In 2018, ILCM reached more than 5,000 people with 125 presentations. If your organization would like to have a presentation on general Know Your Rights information or on another topic, click here to request one. To request a presentation on the new public charge regulation, click here.