Paper Sons

The Museum of Chinese Americans reopened in New York this week. The museum now includes a permanent exhibit covering the life of Tun Funn Hom, who immigrated to the US under a false name in 1936.

The exhibit reminds visitors that illegal immigration cuts across many groups, far beyond media images of Southerners patrolling the US Mexico border for an opportunity to "protect their country". It reminds us that these human beings, who immigrated to the US at high physical and emotional cost build lives here that include contributing to the economy, raising children, and serving in the US army.

Immigration is a complicated cycle of recruitment and exclusion, circumvention and crackdowns. And at the heart of all these conversations are human stories.