Prerna L. posted an article on No Borders and Binaries - Feb 7, 2012, 10:21 pm
There seems to be yet another turning point for the much-touted “prosecutorial discretion” policy. In published decisions on Monday, the Ninth Circuit pointedly prodded the DOJ to consider prosecutorial discretion for five immigration cases on its docket. These are: Rodriguez v. Holder San Agus...
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Prerna L. posted an article on No Borders and Binaries - Feb 6, 2012, 8:03 am
I’m in the market for a job again for Spring and Summer and constantly running into a problem faced by high-profile Dreamers: the assumption that everyone who is undocumented lacks work authorization. This comes up during job interviews and it is a rather complicated matter. Asking me whether I ...
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Prerna L. posted an article on No Borders and Binaries - Jan 26, 2012, 5:47 am
I do really well on most days. I fool myself into thinking that I’m not different and that I belong here, somewhere. I come across as well-tuned and well-adjusted most of the time. And I lie. The clock ticks loudly but time doesn’t change. I retch into the toilet bowl every other night. There ...
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Prerna L. posted an article on No Borders and Binaries - Jan 21, 2012, 11:31 pm
Like, seriously? Well, that’s a tougher one to answer than “how does someone stay documented” but an easier one to achieve. Overstaying a visa, knowingly or unknowingly. Losing your job when you are on an F-1. Divorcing your spouse when you are a dependent. Losing an asylum decision. Droppin...
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Prerna L. posted an article on No Borders and Binaries - Jan 20, 2012, 8:53 am
I’m speaking at the South Asian Awareness Network (SAAN) conference this weekend in Ann Arbor, to a bunch of awesome young people. I’ve charted a workshop that starts with exploring why people migrate, how they may become undocumented (including what that means), and created a timeline of South...
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Prerna L. posted an article on No Borders and Binaries - Jan 19, 2012, 8:48 am
I invited people to submit questions and received a bunch of them so I’m going to see if I can get through it all. Here is the first installment. My video shooting skills will get better as soon as I learn how to use the new software to edit this. You can submit questions here (even anonymously...
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Prerna L. posted an article on No Borders and Binaries - Jan 18, 2012, 8:45 am
Signal boost for Julio Salgado, a talented queer and undocumented artist now living in the Bay Area. In his own words: “I am UndocuQueer!” is an art project in conjunction with the Undocumented Queer Youth Collective and the Queer Undocumented Immigrant Project (QUIP) that aims to give us und...
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Prerna L. posted an article on No Borders and Binaries - Jan 7, 2012, 9:15 am
The District is considering ending the cooperation between local law enforcement and ICE, and I was one of the many to testify at a hearing on Friday. I would like to thank Sarahi Uribe from NDLON for sharing her story and also for giving me a chance to speak at the hearing. Dear Council Members, ...
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Prerna L. posted an article on No Borders and Binaries - Dec 30, 2011, 9:55 am
I was at an airport. I couldn’t find my ticket. I didn’t know my airline, let alone my confirmation code. I frantically looked at my clock but couldn’t make out the time. And I seemed to have misplaced my iPhone so I couldn’t look up any flight information. The TSA officer shot me a puzzle...
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Prerna L. posted an article on No Borders and Binaries - Dec 27, 2011, 4:50 pm
In case you missed some of my “wonderful” (or crappy) writing during this tumultuous year, I’m listing the very best. I went through 30 pages of my blog and rediscovered more reasons to write. Blogging is really a case study in charting my growth and reaction to adversity, while capturing inte...
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Prerna L. posted an article on No Borders and Binaries - Dec 27, 2011, 11:03 am
Earlier this year, the Obama Administration terminated NSEERS, a post-9-11 program that targeted and placed non-citizen Muslim men from over 24 countries in deportation proceedings.  But the termination provides no relief for thousands of immigrants who face deportation as a result of the program. ...
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Prerna L. posted an article on No Borders and Binaries - Dec 23, 2011, 10:59 am
Yesterday, I had my first Master Calendar hearing for my deportation proceedings. Removal or deportation proceedings are not something that will end anytime soon but they don’t really get in the way of my life. Sure, it is a royal pain to fly to San Francisco for it every now and then, and a comp...
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Prerna L. posted an article on No Borders and Binaries - Dec 18, 2011, 11:39 am
“The job of being a human is so hard, and it is the only job there is left—though we keep on pretending otherwise.” – Toni Morrison I’m halfway a lawyer and I’ve finally started to feel alive. There is no correlation between the two things, of course. The year was a massive struggle, a...
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Prerna L. posted an article on No Borders and Binaries - Oct 24, 2011, 10:37 am
Sheth, who describes himself as religious, said he, and his mother, find peace with his sexual orientation in the context of Hinduism. He says the god Shiva embodies a balance of male and female energy, even if he is physically depicted as a male. “I found that the idea of a soul in Hinduism is n...
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Prerna L. posted an article on No Borders and Binaries - Oct 16, 2011, 1:41 am
Me: “Can I borrow a pen?” Train Conductor: “Can I see your ID?” Me: “What? How much damage do you think I can do with a pen? Oh wait, nevermind.” I agreed to do a panel on DOMA/Immigration at the NLG Convention in Philadelphia, which turned into a DOMA panel at some point, organized b...
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Prerna L. posted an article on No Borders and Binaries - Oct 14, 2011, 4:05 am
4:20 am. I can’t go to sleep. I’m in a warzone. I’ve been in this warzone for almost 12 years and I’ve served my time. But I can’t seem to get out. I was really young when I was placed here against my will and told to make my way out without any weapons or a roadmap. I tried to figure thi...
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Prerna L. posted an article on No Borders and Binaries - Oct 5, 2011, 10:17 am
At Progressives for Immigration Reform’s (PFIR) 2nd National Conference on Immigration, Conservation and the Environment, on October 4, four pregnant women were kicked out after they raised concerns about mothers being blamed for environmental degradation. During a talk by Californians for Popula...
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Prerna L. posted an article on No Borders and Binaries - Sep 24, 2011, 11:36 am
I finally got my FOIA documents from the Department of Homeland Security, courtesy my brilliant lawyer. There’s nothing of interest or importance in the stack of 300-something pages besides this one page, where the officer puts down that I entered the country on May 12, 2010, with the right to re...
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Prerna L. posted an article on No Borders and Binaries - Sep 22, 2011, 7:06 am
Dear America: For your every act of violence, I will violate your unjust laws in my sleep, live beyond my dreams, love beyond your means, cherish and celebrate life, defy your arbitrary categories, forgive but never forget. After all is said and done, when you send us to the gallows, shoo...
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Prerna L. posted an article on No Borders and Binaries - Sep 17, 2011, 4:54 am
Sometimes you have to be forced to leave your homeland in order to appreciate it more. I went to see Facing Mirrors, playing at National Geographic Grosvenor Auditorium as part of the All Roads Film Festival. It’s one of the better films I have seen in the past few years, and certainly among the ...
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Prerna L. posted an article on No Borders and Binaries - Sep 16, 2011, 12:43 am
“We conclude that the plain language of the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) is unambiguous and that the BIA’s interpretation of the statute in Matter of Wang, 25 I. & N. Dec. 28 (BIA 2009), contravenes the plain language of the CSPA. We decline to follow Matter of Wang in this circuit; we GRA...
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Prerna L. posted an article on No Borders and Binaries - Sep 15, 2011, 10:31 pm
Under the Visa Waiver Program, certain non-citizens are permitted to enter the United States as tourists for 90 days or less if they, among other things, waive any right “to contest, other than on the basis of an application for asylum, any action for removal of the alien.” But does that apply t...
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Prerna L. posted an article on No Borders and Binaries - Sep 11, 2011, 10:47 pm
I went to bed at 2 am, woke up at 4:15am and headed to the transition area in West Potomac Park for the Nation’s Triathlon. Thousands of athletes milled about as early as 4:30am. The bike portion  was an Olympic distance 26 miles, but it was a really good course. I finished in 1:34, maintaining a...
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Prerna L. posted an article on No Borders and Binaries - Sep 10, 2011, 11:20 pm
Random guy on bus: “What is your nationality? Me (Inward groan): Fijian. Guy: “What is that?” Me (Inward groan): Like the water bottle, FIJI. Guy: “Is that in the Middle East?” Me: No, no, no. Far out. No. It’s in the South Pacific Ocean near Australia and New Zealand. Guy: “Is i...
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Prerna L. posted an article on No Borders and Binaries - Sep 8, 2011, 9:47 am
“They may kill me, but they cannot kill my ideas. They can crush my body, but they will not be able to crush my spirit.” – Bhagat Singh” Today, as I watch daybreak in Los Angeles, I’m thinking about Indian freedom fighters — Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru — who strategically threw ...
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Prerna L. posted an article on No Borders and Binaries - Sep 4, 2011, 9:55 am
Reporter: How did you feel about the Obama Administration announcement to drop the cases of 300,000 people in deportation? Me: How did I feel? I didn’t feel anything. I am ambivalent. It’s a momentous decision that doesn’t really do much. Reporter: But you are to be deported, right? Me: I�...
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Prerna L. posted an article on No Borders and Binaries - Sep 2, 2011, 5:06 pm
I’m sure this is devastating to a lot of readers. I don’t know how anyone can justify separating families based on an arbitrary age but maybe that is what they call family values in this country. The Ninth Circuit in De Osorio v. Mayorkas, Sept. 2, 2011: Because we agree that the BIA’s inter...
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Prerna L. posted an article on No Borders and Binaries - Sep 1, 2011, 11:08 pm
I’m sure no one wants to be tortured with my mediocre poetry but there is one on “Acceptance” in the latest issue of Courageous Creativity, a zine produced by a friend(?) of a friend. From the Courageous Creativity website: Through this zine we present stories of courage and creativity sourc...
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Prerna L. posted an article on No Borders and Binaries - Aug 26, 2011, 8:43 am
Great news. I have taken an employment offer from a business immigration firm where I will have my own caseload of entertainers, professional athletes and perhaps some multi-national corporations down the line. There’s certainly opportunities for pro-bono asylum and removal cases, but I think I ha...
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Prerna L. posted an article on No Borders and Binaries - Aug 23, 2011, 1:49 am
My dear law school friend Sam Ames, tells all current and budding lawyers to read Tips for Communicating with Transgender Clients in Prisoners’ Rights Cases that was published by the Sylvia Rivera Law Project. If you are starting law school this week, check out How To Read A Legal Opinion from my...
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Prerna L. posted an article on No Borders and Binaries - Aug 22, 2011, 7:42 pm
“Stop being a monk and tell her. Nothing changes if you don’t tell her.” “No, if I do that, I lose a friend. And she loses a friend. I can’t do that to her.” I take a long swig of the beer bottle. I hate alcohol. I don’t even know why I was drinking. “Or she may feel the same way ...
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Prerna L. posted an article on No Borders and Binaries - Aug 20, 2011, 1:42 pm
When we allow women/queer organizers to leave activist spaces and protect people whose violence provoked their departure, we are saying we value these de facto state agents who disrupt the work more than we value people whose labor builds and sustains movements. - Why Misogynists Make Great Informa...
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Prerna L. posted an article on No Borders and Binaries - Aug 18, 2011, 5:15 pm
Today, in a letter to Assistant Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) and 21 other Senators, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced that the Administration has established a new process for handling the deportation cases of DREAM Act students and other sympathetic individu...
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Prerna L. posted an article on No Borders and Binaries - Aug 16, 2011, 9:56 pm
“Hi, do you have credentials to live here?” I looked up at him. Average-size, middle-aged, white male. Probably straight. “Excuse me?” Now women usually say “excuse me” not because we didn’t hear you correctly the first time. We say “excuse me” generally to give you a chance to ...
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Prerna L. posted an article on No Borders and Binaries - Aug 16, 2011, 8:48 pm
That woman who comes to clean What do you know about her? She’s just the woman who enters your office after hours Leaving your office nice and clean for the next business day. That woman who comes to clean Washes your urinals and toilets Dusts your tables and desks Vacuums your rugs and ca...
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Prerna L. posted an article on No Borders and Binaries - Aug 13, 2011, 7:09 pm
San Francisco looks like heaven from the skies. I’m leaving my home for a new one. Home has always been a site of violence and repression but also one where I’m loved and cared for the most. I’m going to do my hardest to make sure that this new home will be new start for us. Here’s to lay...
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Prerna L. posted an article on No Borders and Binaries - Aug 12, 2011, 5:50 pm
I am packing and moving and totally forgot about this piece of award I received a month ago. Thank you La Raza Centro Legal for the honor and for inviting me to a wonderful evening of food and drinks. Check them out. They do wonderful work and as always, I’m not worthy of this. One day, when I d...
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Prerna L. posted an article on No Borders and Binaries - Aug 12, 2011, 2:52 pm
Made using Tagxedo Tweet
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Prerna L. posted an article on No Borders and Binaries - Aug 11, 2011, 2:53 pm
An assemblage is a “site at which a discursive formation intersects with material practices.” It is “simultaneously a machinic assemblage and an assemblage of enunciation” (D+G, Thousand Plateaus, p. 504) More on the philosophy of assemblages here. Created using Wordle Tweet
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Prerna L. posted an article on No Borders and Binaries - Aug 11, 2011, 2:55 am
“Do you not know how to adjust?” I often wonder why we are compelled to adjust to the structures and institutions around us rather than have them adjust to our needs. It’s hard — if not impossible — to adjust things like skin color, sexuality, gender, class, certain disabilities, and some...
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Prerna L. posted an article on No Borders and Binaries - Aug 10, 2011, 2:25 am
If you are undocumented, you cannot just walk into a local ICE office and demand a “Notice to Appear” issued for you. They’ll tell you that there is nothing they can do for you. You can occupy Congressional offices and shut down traffic for hours on the busiest streets in Los Angeles, but ICE ...
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Prerna L. posted an article on No Borders and Binaries - Aug 10, 2011, 12:12 am
It is unquestionably appalling that a gay (or bi) American citizen cannot sponsor her or his spouse to live in the United States. It’s annoying that I feel the need to spend time writing about the case of a happily-married San Francisco gay couple who are battling to stay together because this cou...
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Prerna L. posted an article on No Borders and Binaries - Aug 9, 2011, 9:56 pm
My mother is a hard-working woman whose had a really tough life. She lost her father when she was really young and as the eldest child (her older brother was stolen by relatives), she had to leave high school to get a job in order to support her mom and two younger siblings. She married when she was...
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Prerna L. posted an article on No Borders and Binaries - Aug 9, 2011, 10:22 am
I participated in the first Continuing Legal Education (CLE) of my life yesterday at the Golden Gate University Law School. I had not planned to speak at the event but one of my awesome speakers had a family emergency the morning of the event and we needed to fill the time for the 2-hour credit. Law...
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Prerna L. posted an article on No Borders and Binaries - Aug 7, 2011, 2:07 pm
I was just thinking about the different ways in which we are all hurting. Some of us have chronic aches and pains, others have heart-ache, and still more of us are so numb that we cannot say where and how it hurts. And we all deal with it differently. late wednesday evening somewhere in san franci...
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Prerna L. posted an article on No Borders and Binaries - Aug 6, 2011, 9:56 am
Early Friday morning “Why are you on the roof? Get down!” “Chidhya phir aayege lautke. The birds are building a nest outside your window.” “Yay. They came back to say hi to me!” I exclaimed happily. “Say bye-bye.” “Nooooooooooo.” Whine. She ignores me. “But there’s e...
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Prerna L. posted an article on No Borders and Binaries - Aug 5, 2011, 7:06 pm
“ICE has determined that a is not required to activate or operate Secure Communities for any jurisdiction” — Director John Morton in letter to states saying no agreement is necessary on their part for S-COMM. I read through press releases from major immigration advocacy groups and each statem...
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Prerna L. posted an article on No Borders and Binaries - Aug 5, 2011, 11:11 am
“She’s white? What is she doing here?” For the past few weeks, I’ve had to wrestle with various different Asian-American spaces from the Bay Area Solidarity Summer (BASS) to the National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (NQAPIA) dinner to the Asian Pacific American Labor Convention (AP...
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Prerna L. posted an article on No Borders and Binaries - Jul 15, 2011, 11:18 pm
If you tuned into Colbert Robert last night, you heard the new face of the DREAM Act and Pulitzer Prize-winner, Jose Antonio Vargas, declare that “we live in a great country that doesn’t deport gay people, so I’m very very happy about that.” Colbert is satire and I want to believe that Jose...
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Prerna L. posted an article on No Borders and Binaries - Jul 13, 2011, 2:23 am
Warning: This blog post is not professional. But it is real. Can you deal with it? You say I’m “not professional enough.” I hear “you are not white enough.” Profession-al. It’s such a capitalist word, imbued in the disciplining of our bodies, the appropriation of our words and time for...
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