Disclaimer: This is not a political post for/against any ideology. I am posting this as a PSA because I heard today that someone I know who is an asylee with pending GC got charged with incitement and destruction of property along with his friend who is a daca recipient.
I am sure most (if not all) of us immigrants support equal rights for all and condemn all kinds of racism/prejudice especially since many of us asylees have come from backgrounds where we were persecuted based on race/religion/ethnicity etc. This may raise emotions and make some of us feel that we need to get out there to support the current protests and agitations. Many others are influenced by peer pressure or social media where friends/colleagues urge us to join and we may find it hard to say "No" to them. Please remember that the protests may start genuinely but have a tendency to get violent. Emotions are running high, people are angry, many are without jobs, there is also a frustration due to being stuck at home for 3 months. There could be a stampede at any moment, miscreants will take advantage, and riot and law enforcement will react. Do not forget that the virus is very much here and there is a huge risk of contracting it and spreading it to your loved ones and in your local community.
That being said, here is the main part. I want to remind you that immigrants are in a completely different situation than US Citizens. Any detentions or arrests can lead to removal and destroy all the life you built here. At the very least, it will lead to a delay in your future applications. The detention/arrest will show up in your record during background checks. You will have to spend 1000s of dollars on both criminal lawyers to fight your charge and then with immigration lawyers to make sure the charge does not make you inadmissible. Even a watered-down charge which might not affect a US citizen much can be detrimental for non-citizens.
My acquaintance and his friend who I referred to in the beginning of this post, apparently were a part of the protests when some people started looting and the police fired tear-gas. Although they were not looting themselves, they were captured on video running around the place where looting was taking place and got caught. So its very easy to be at the wrong place at the wrong time when you put yourself in this situation. There are rumors that facial recognition is being used to identify people.
Again, this is not against anyone but just a Public service announcement. Most of us are adults here and can make informed decisions.
I am sure most (if not all) of us immigrants support equal rights for all and condemn all kinds of racism/prejudice especially since many of us asylees have come from backgrounds where we were persecuted based on race/religion/ethnicity etc. This may raise emotions and make some of us feel that we need to get out there to support the current protests and agitations. Many others are influenced by peer pressure or social media where friends/colleagues urge us to join and we may find it hard to say "No" to them. Please remember that the protests may start genuinely but have a tendency to get violent. Emotions are running high, people are angry, many are without jobs, there is also a frustration due to being stuck at home for 3 months. There could be a stampede at any moment, miscreants will take advantage, and riot and law enforcement will react. Do not forget that the virus is very much here and there is a huge risk of contracting it and spreading it to your loved ones and in your local community.
That being said, here is the main part. I want to remind you that immigrants are in a completely different situation than US Citizens. Any detentions or arrests can lead to removal and destroy all the life you built here. At the very least, it will lead to a delay in your future applications. The detention/arrest will show up in your record during background checks. You will have to spend 1000s of dollars on both criminal lawyers to fight your charge and then with immigration lawyers to make sure the charge does not make you inadmissible. Even a watered-down charge which might not affect a US citizen much can be detrimental for non-citizens.
My acquaintance and his friend who I referred to in the beginning of this post, apparently were a part of the protests when some people started looting and the police fired tear-gas. Although they were not looting themselves, they were captured on video running around the place where looting was taking place and got caught. So its very easy to be at the wrong place at the wrong time when you put yourself in this situation. There are rumors that facial recognition is being used to identify people.
Again, this is not against anyone but just a Public service announcement. Most of us are adults here and can make informed decisions.