Thai farmworkers protested in front of the Wat Thai Buddhist temple in Sun Valley on Sept. 8. Their representative spoke on what federal authorities call the largest labor-trafficking case in U.S. history.
A federal grand jury in Honolulu indicted Mordechai Orian, president of Global Horizons Manpower Inc. and five of his associates for labor coercion of about 400 Thai farm workers.
For many, college is a difficult time – moving away from home, making new friends, and struggling to stay on top of academics can be challenges for even the most unfazed individuals. However, for some, college isn’t just difficult – it’s unbearable.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, suicide is the third highest cause of death among the 15-to-24 age group in America. Recent studies have also shown that API students in particular are at high risk. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention recently reported that APIs are more likely to commit suicide than the average American.
As a second generation Vietnamese American who came to America as a baby, I was considered an “illegal alien” until I was 12 years old. All my older siblings had reached age 18 and were able to acquire citizenship through tests, and my younger brother had been born in the U.S. It was just me and my parents left in limbo without citizenship. As a young child, I remember not really understanding why becoming a citizen was so urgent. At the age of 12, I felt naively excited at the thought of changing my name and becoming more “American” in the citizenship process.
