A person, who no matter how desperate the situation, gives others hope, is a true leader --- Just three weeks ago, we lost two amazing individuals, Tam Tran, a PhD student at Brown, and Cinthya Felix, MPH student at Columbia. They were not just amazing leaders but friends, sisters and daughters that were loved by all who knew them personally. They impacted the lives of thousands across the nation. For the sake of that their lives shall not have died in vain, we write how they were courageously fighting for social injustice and taking actions for undocumented immigrants. From these two young women, we have to learn how important is to take action for optimize our human rights because in this society, so many people are threatened their human rights and have been invisible.
Tam and Cynthya, they were neither politicians nor celebrity, but they were just normal students. It is amazing how those two students made a difference in our society.
Tam Tran (1982-2010)
Tam was born in Germany after her parents were forced to flee Vietnam. She immigrated to the U.S and grew up in Garden Grove, California. She graduated from Santiago High School, attended Santa Ana College, and transferred to UCLA, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in American Literature and Culture. In 2007, Tam testified before a House subcommittee on immigration and advocated on behalf of the proposed Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act. Tran spoke out on her immigration plight in USA TODAY, and U.S agents arrested her father, mother and brother, charging them with being fugitives from justice. ICE agents tried to send the family to Germany, where Tam was born and her family lived before coming to the United States. However, the German government refused their permission to return. Furthermore, her parents’ country, Vietnamese government didn’t event accept them. The Trans are in social limbo; no country will accept them, and then where should they go? Tam was fighting for those who are in the same situation as her family, and spoke out what they have to face is too harsh.
As a doctoral student in the American Civilization program at Brown University, she helped found the Brown Immigrants’ Rights Coalition. Tam was an aspiring filmmaker, and produced several short films, including the acclaimed documentary, “Lost and Found.”
She had lobbied for the DREAM Act, which would give children of illegal immigrants a chance to obtain citizenship if they earn a high school degree and complete two years of postsecondary education or two years of military service. She told her story in Underground Undergrads: UCLA Undocumented Immigrant Students Speak Out, a UCLA publication that gathered the stories of other students like Tran. She had never hesitated to speak out the reality that undocumented students have to go through; she was always brave to take action to make our society to listen to their voice which had been underground for too long.
Cinthya Felix (1984-2010)
Cinthya immigrated to the United States from Mexico in 1999 and attended Garfield High School in East Los Angeles. Through her hard working at high school, she got admitted to UCLA, but life had never been easy for her because of her undocumented status, she was not qualify the benefits given to those with proof of U.S. citizenship such as financial aid, scholarships, and many academic enrichment programs. Therefore, she had to work some odd jobs in order to pay for the four years tuition at UCLA. In 2007, Cinthya graduated from UCLA with a double Bachelor’s of Arts degrees in English World Literature and Spanish Literature with a minor in Mexican studies. At UCLA, Cynthia was a founding member for Improving Dreams, Equality, Access and Success (IDEAS), a student organization that support those undocumented and AB 540 students. She was also an active advocate of DREAM Act, which could help undocumented students to earn their permanent resident status that allows qualifying for in-state tuition. After graduation, she attended to Columbia University’s School of Public Health and she became the first undocumented student got admitted to Columbia University. Cinthya was planning to attend medical school and become a physician in her community after she graduated from Columbia University.
Tam and Cinthya were just a regular American students like many other citizens that living in this country since they were very young as they were sharing the same culture, experiencing the America life and learning the U.S. history. The only thing that made them so different was their undocumented status which made them having financial problem on pursuing their higher education. Although being undocumented students has been a hardship, Tam and Cinthya feel that their situation led them to establish an important life goal: helping others. The DREAM Act would provide a path to citizenship for undocumented students like Tam and Cinthya. Even thought Tam and Cinthya are not with us now, but their work should be continued by all people.
Please sign on to request posthumous citizenship for Tam Tran and her family. She deserves nothing less for her service to this country.*
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