Hi Friend,

My name is Satsuki and I was born in the United States inside a concentration camp for people of Japanese ancestry in 1944. Despite the fact that my parents were U.S. Citizens, they and over 120,000 Japanese and Japanese Americans were rounded up inside these camps during World War II. My mom raised me within prison walls for four years, but the military separated my father from our family because he spoke out about our unjust incarceration. Being separated from him crushed our spirits..

Racism and xenophobia drove our incarceration, and today’s immigration system has only deepened its commitment to white supremacy. I’ve witnessed the cruel impact our immigration system has on families for decades, and it’s why I’m so invested in organizing with Japanese American families of detention camp survivors and descendants to close the camps for good and to heal our intergenerational trauma.

I’m fearlessly stepping up to share my story on Immigrant Day of Resilience because our stories are vital to delivering justice and fixing the wrongs of the past and present.

Our communities’ stories are so important that youth in D.C. are organizing the D.C City Council to officially recognize April 15th as Immigrant Day of Resilience, and we want Congress to hear this too!

Sign your name: tell Congress to recognize Immigrant Day of Resilience as an official holiday!

On Immigrant Day of Resilience, we will show up with love in our hearts and a fierce determination to win concrete changes for our communities: from reunification of families, to taking funding away from the deportation force, to a pathway to citizenship.

My Japanese American community knows the importance of remembering our past. In communities along the west coast, we often mark February with a Day of Remembrance to share stories and to educate the American public about former President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his administration's racist and anti-Asian policies.

Immigrant Day of Resilience is about to be official in DC on April 15th, but we need this day recognized across the country. Add your name below and tell Congress to recognize Immigrant Day of Resilience as an official holiday!

ADD YOUR NAME

Sent via ActionNetwork.org. To update your email address, change your name or address, or to stop receiving emails from United We Dream, please click here.