By Monique
As you’ve probably read on COLOR, Twitter has been rallying for justice for Nan-Hui Jo. Jo is facing deportation after being convicted of child abduction due to her taking her child with her to Korea to escape from the child’s father and partner, who has been physically abusive. Here’s more about the case.
Today Nan-Hui Jo was convicted of child abduction. Nan-Hui Jo is a survivor of domestic violence who left the U.S. in 2009, with her infant daughter to escape physical and emotional abuse at the hands of her then-partner and child’s father, and comply with her immigration status. When she returned to the U.S. in July 2014, she was immediately arrested and separated from her child.
In December 2014, Ms. Jo was tried for child abduction, which resulted in a hung jury. Ignoring all evidence of domestic violence Ms. Jo suffered, including two calls to the police in Sacramento after her child’s father physically abused her and testimony from her former partner admitting to physical assault, the Yolo County District Attorney aggressively pursued a retrial that commenced February 20, 2015. Throughout this entire process, Ms. Jo has been denied the right to see or speak to her daughter while the father was given full custody. Ms. Jo currently has a U Visa application in process.
If Ms. Jo is deported, she will not be able to represent herself in any custody hearing and could be separated permanently from her child. Domestic violence and immigrant rights advocates have come together to urge immigration officials to drop the immigration hold and not initiate deportation proceedings against Ms. Jo.
To help cover Jo’s legal fees and costs related to her appeal, immigration hearing and child custody hearing, the Community Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Korean American Coalition to End Domestic Abuse (KACEDA) have set up a fundraising campaign. If you’d like to contribute to the To contribute to this fund, go to the fundraising page at CrowdDefend, a new crowdfunding platform that launched last week as a way to help people with legal and court fees and other costs.
“We are extremely disappointed in the verdict. As advocates for survivors of domestic violence, we believe that this case should not have even been prosecuted,” said Hyejin Shim of KACEDA. “We continue to be inspired by Nan-Hui Jo’s strength throughout this time and will be continuing the fight to ensure she is reunited with her daughter.” KACEDA, Immigrant Youth Coalition, and Asian Law Caucus are also asking people following the case to sign their petition and call the San Francisco ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) field offices to drop the deportation case against Jo.
If it’s signing the petition or helping with the CrowdDefend fund, do what you can to help Jo reunite with her child!
Members of KACEDA rally for Nan-Hui Jo’s release. Picture from Twitter.
Julian 