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In an era where immigrants with criminal histories are being used to justify targeting undocumented communities, one activist is striving to become a voice for all undocumented immigrants, including those with criminal pasts.

Wei Lee, a community organizer with ASPIRE (Asian Students Promoting Immigrant Rights through Education), a program of Asian Americans Advancing Justice, an Asian Law Caucus located near Chinatown, is challenging the notion, introduced by the Obama administration and propelled by Trump, that “felons not families” should be targeted for deportation. Lee believes that every immigrant, even those with criminal backgrounds, deserves a second chance at life here in the United States.

Ethnically Chinese, the 28-year-old Lee was born and raised in Brazil, though he and his family came to the United States on a tourist visa to escape ethnic violence. After six months, the family’s tourist visas expired, leaving them completely undocumented. After receiving legal advice, Lee and his family decided to apply for political asylum—a protection granted to those who fled their native country as a refugee.

Lee currently lives in San Francisco on a U-Visa, a special visa that allows victims (and their family members) of mental and/or physical abuse to temporary live and work in the United States in exchange for helping law enforcement and government officials investigate and prosecute the criminal activity that the victims have experienced.

After graduating from U.C. Santa Cruz he joined ASPIRE, which eventually led Lee down a path of organizing with non-government affiliated groups. Lee hasn’t been deterred by the Trump administration, it has only given his activism greater urgency.

“After the election, people thought, ‘Immigrants are going to suffer.’ But the truth is, we’ve already been living oppressed lives,” Lee said. “We are very fortunate to have strong sanctuary city policies
 but just because we live in a sanctuary city, it doesn’t mean people can’t be deported.”

Lee understands well the connection between the criminal justice system and the deportation process.

One of Lee’s co-workers, who requested to be referred to as Daniel, has been fighting to stay in the United States. Daniel was born in a refugee camp in Thailand but after two years, he and his family fled from Laos and settled in Stockton, CA.

“We didn’t have much resources,” he said. Growing up poor, Daniel was determined to learn about American culture, along with learning how to read and write. But at age 17, his brother was murdered, and eventually Daniel fell into depression. Three months after his brother’s death he was convicted of a crime, tried as an adult at age 17 and sentenced to 27 years in prison.

Daniel explained how he turned to faith and education to get him through those difficult times. After 20 years, he was eligible for parole. His parole was approved by the governor and he was released.

While in prison, both of Daniel’s parents had died. When he completed his sentence he thought he would be released to his remaining family, however he was released instead to an immigration detention center for deportation proceedings.

“I feared I’d be sent to a country that I’d never set foot in,” he said. Daniel eventually got in contact with ASPIRE hoping to raise awareness of undocumented people who have criminal pasts. “I believe in second chances,” he said. “And we need to support our immigrant community.”

Daniel and his colleagues are now working to prevent the criminal justice system from becoming further intertwined with the immigration system. In the three months since his release, Daniel has managed to find a job serving his community in a city that promises to protect the undocumented and vulnerable.

After being released from ICE custody in February, Daniel spent his first few minutes of freedom at the Advancing Justice offices, the place where he now works. As the Asian Law Caucus’ 2017 Yuri Kochiyama Fellow—a fellowship started last year for formerly incarcerated Asian and Pacific Islander immigrants—Daniel helped organize a panel last month titled Beyond Prisons, where he furthered his work to humanize formerly and currently incarcerated immigrants with criminal pasts.

“Most of us are trying to turn our lives around,” Daniel said. “There are a lot of key factors that go behind a person who committed a crime but that should not define us.”