Giving Up Hope Is Not An Option Part II
Doing What He Can
Stephen and his wife, June, were committed to doing what they could to help protect and support friends who had good reason to be fearful of ICE. He says it has been hard to see people who worked hard to build their businesses in order to have something to leave to their kids and grandkids, be harmed by their presence. “These are people who contribute to our economy and are here legally. Yet they were targeted and terrorized.”
There are two beliefs that have guided Stephen since he was very young. The first is he is here to use his talents, skills and resources to care for and serve others, especially the most vulnerable among us. The other is the importance of traveling the world and getting to know the people who live in other parts of it.
Stephen shares his skills and knowledge as a CPA and tax-code enthusiast for free with those who need it but can’t afford to pay him. He has provided pro bono accounting services to many immigrant small business owners and along the way, many of them became friends. He volunteers with a group that provides free tax preparation to low income individuals and families, many of whom are immigrants and refugees. He also is mentoring a couple of young people from immigrant communities who are interested in accounting.
Stephen’s uncle encouraged him to see the world. In high school and college, he studied abroad. After college, he joined the Peace Corps. Later on, he spent five years with his family living and working in Chile and Singapore. He says during their time outside the U.S., they made life-long friends, grew closer as a family and came to better understand the long reach of American foreign policy. “Our foreign policy has made it difficult for too many people to stay in the country where they were born and have a good life.” He added that what he saw happening around Minneapolis and St. Paul with masked ICE agents grabbing people off the street, entering homes without a warrant and killing two people who were peacefully observing is the kind of stuff that happened in Chile during the Pinochet regime.
Stephen and June marched in downtown Minneapolis at the anti-ICE rally in January. “Neither one of us likes the cold but being there gave us comfort and hope.” They’ve also donated to groups that are helping people harmed by ICE cover their day-to-day expenses and to legal aid organizations. Stephen also is helping friends whose businesses were harmed as a result of ICE’s presence.
His hope is that the people responsible for Operation Metro Surge are held accountable. “But I know that will take time.” In the meantime, he is focused on doing what he can to help others harmed by ICE.
We All Do Better When We All Do Better
Senator Paul Wellstone
Diane says even though she knew about the increased presence of ICE in Minneapolis at the end of last year, it wasn’t until she had lunch with her friend a few days after New Years that she began to understand just how bad it was. Her friend is Vietnamese and a U.S. citizen. She came to the U.S. as an infant when her family fled Vietnam after the war. She and Diane have been close friends since high school. In the course of looking for something in her bag during lunch, Diane’s friend set her passport on the table. When Diane asked her why she had it with her, she said that it was to have proof of citizenship in case she was stopped by ICE.
Diane left lunch that day with a sense of uneasiness that would only grow in the coming days. The following day Renee Good was shot by an ICE agent. The Monday after that, she got a call from a colleague in India with whom she is working on a project. He was scheduled to come to Minneapolis along with members of his team for a series of meetings and work sessions in mid-February. He called to tell her that he and his colleagues were not comfortable coming to Minneapolis given the increased ICE presence. He asked if they could either do the work and meetings remotely or reschedule their trip once things calmed down. Diane told him she completely understood and that they would figure it out.
After she hung up, Diane remembers thinking, “What is happening to our country?” She reached out to her friend Robin who had shared something on social media about organizing against ICE. Later that week Diane, Robin and Robin’s daughter attended a meeting that focused on what people could do to respond to ICE’s presence legally and as safely as possible. Attending the meeting helped Diane start to connect to a community of people who were committed to keeping their neighbors and community safe from ICE. The Saturday after that meeting, she was at a community gathering protesting the killing of Renee Good and the federal immigration crackdown taking place.
In the weeks after that, she stood on busy street corners with others holding signs telling ICE to get out. She donated to groups supporting people targeted by ICE. She checked in more frequently with the friend she had lunch with back in January to see how she and her family were doing and if there was anything they needed. At a candlelight vigil for Alex Pretti the night after he was killed by ICE agents, she thought of her parents and all she learned from them.
Diane says her family was the working poor, but her parents gave selflessly to those in need. They were also helped by neighbors, family and strangers to get through economic hardships when one or both parents were out of work. Her parents were big supporters of Senator Paul Wellstone. Diane has a picture of them with him at a fundraiser a few months before he was tragically killed in a plane crash with his wife, daughter and members of his campaign staff. A favorite quote of her mom’s was “We all do better when we all do better.” It was a reminder to Diane and her sister to share their success and support the success of others, especially the most vulnerable among us. Her mom also reminded them that there were plenty of people who worked as hard, if not harder than them, but didn’t have their advantages and good fortune.
Diane’s dad passed away suddenly in 2015. Her mom passed away in 2021 after a long illness. Diane and her sister were her primary caregivers, and in a journal Diane had at the time after her mom’s passing she wrote, “I need to take better care of myself and be intentional about doing what brings me joy.” She says that is exactly what she has spent the last few years doing., but now it is time to shift her focus.
Diane's career has always been a priority. It has brought her more success and wealth than she could have ever imagined, and she is thankful for the platform it provides her with. She says if her parents were alive, they would expect her to be more involved in supporting people harmed by ICE. She adds, “I have a lot of work to do.” But with all that she is learning and relationships she’s developing with others who opposed ICE, she is hopeful about living up to those expectations.
