My Name Is Herta And I Am About To Be Deported

Mike has been gracious enough to let me post Herta's story on the front page of Future Majority. To stay up to date on the impressive organizing unauthorized migrant youth are doing go to dreamactivist.org. Below is Herta's Story:

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.

1. Join the facebook group for immediate updates: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=111108019510
2. Sign petition which will be hand-delivered to targets: http://www.change.org/actions/view/stop_deportation_of_dream_student_herta_llusho
3. Use SEIU Click to Call Action Tool to call DHS: http://call.seiu.org/9/hertadhs
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.