San Francisco -- Nan-Hui Jo - an undocumented survivor of domestic abuse-made her first public appearance since her July 17 release from immigration detention on Wednesday, alongside organizers from Stand With Nan-Hui, attorneys from her legal team, and domestic violence and immigrant rights organizations. Supporters gathered at City Hall in San Francisco to celebrate Nan-Hui's release from immigration detention, but also to mark the one-year anniversary of her unjust incarceration and tragic separation from her 6-year-old daughter.
Nan-Hui read from a written statement about her recent release from ICE detention, saying, "When you're inside, it can be very difficult to remember how to stay positive. Still, I knew that I could never give up on reuniting with my daughter, and that I would do anything to see her again. I will always do everything in my power to love, protect, and take care of her . . . . I also learned a lot this past year about how many other women are like me, or in much worse situations than me. I hope that in the future, I can continue to learn more to help women who have experienced domestic violence and face similar challenges as me."
Hyejin Shim, a domestic violence advocate and organizer of Stand With Nan-Hui, said, "Nan-Hui is one step closer to reuniting with her daughter-this would never have been possible without the overwhelming support she received from thousands nationwide. We see this as an important step towards building a larger movement to support women and survivors who have been criminalized for self-defense. It is important that we move forward with a critical understanding of how our criminal and immigration systems worsen the already devastating impacts of domestic violence."
Saira Hussain, Staff Attorney with the Asian Law Caucus, stated, "At a time when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is characterizing its new Priority Enforcement Program as a more humane approach to immigration enforcement, Nan-Hui's case demonstrates how inhumane the system really is. ICE was days away from separating a mother from her child, just as it has torn apart hundreds of thousands of families across the country. As anti-immigrant sentiment in this country reaches a fevered pitch, we must keep cases like Nan-Hui's in mind to push back against the growing criminalization of our immigrant communities. Including survivors of domestic violence."
As part of the one-year anniversary, high school youth leaders from the Chinese Progressive Association also demonstrated their support for Nan-Hui by creating a gallery walk featuring her story and those of other domestic violence survivors, performing spoken word poems, and sending tweets and making phone calls to Attorney General Kamala Harris. Harris currently has the power to urge the California Supreme Court to take up review of Nan-Hui's conviction, which, if overturned, would significantly aid her legal proceedings.
Kellan Tran, a 17-year-old senior at Lowell High School, said she helped organize today's Day of Action for Nan-Hui Jo because, "As a woman of color and daughter from an immigrant family, I can relate to Nan-Hui because women of color not only have to deal with gender-based violence on a daily basis, but also are wrongfully convicted just for trying to survive and protect their children. Nan-Hui was only doing what she believed to be best for her child-this is an act of self-preservation, not self-indulgence, and the system has punished her for that."
Background: Nearly one year after being arrested on child abduction charges and forcibly separated from her daughter, Nan-Hui Jo-an undocumented survivor of domestic abuse-was released on bond from immigration detention on Friday, July 17.
Nan-Hui was arrested, jailed, and separated from her daughter immediately upon entering the U.S. on July 29, 2014-exactly one year ago. Five years prior, in 2009, Nan-Hui fled to South Korea with her infant daughter to escape an abusive relationship and comply with the government's demand that she leave the country due to her lapsed immigration status. While awaiting trial on child abduction charges, she was jailed at Monroe Detention Facility in Yolo County, CA for over 9 months. Her first trial, in December 2014, ended in a hung jury. Ignoring all evidence of domestic abuse that Nan-Hui suffered, the Yolo County District Attorney retried the case, culminating in Nan-Hui's conviction.
On April 28, 2015, immediately following the judge's sentence-which reduced the conviction to a misdemeanor and allowed for immediate release due to time served-Nan-Hui was taken into ICE custody and jailed at an immigration detention center in Yuba County, CA, where she spent the last 3 months. Domestic violence organizations, Asian American community groups, immigrant rights organizations, and supporters across the country have rallied for Nan-Hui by attending her criminal trials, holding demonstrations, organizing educational events, fundraising for legal fees, and bringing widespread attention to the case.
