Our Voice Project #1

APFS has been running the "Together as a Family!" campaign since September of this year to help families of undocumented immigrants live together in Japan. As part of this campaign, we have started the "Let's Share Our Voices Project." Here, "we" refers to undocumented immigrants themselves. Because the voices of those directly affected rarely reach the general public, we want the general public to understand the situation and feelings of those affected.

The first is a Peruvian national born and raised in Japan (currently a university student). The entire family lacked residency status. Later, the child and mother obtained residency status, but the father was detained by immigration authorities for seven years before finally obtaining residency status this spring, allowing the entire family to reside in Japan. APFS fought alongside the family for those seven years. We asked the child to write about how they felt living in such a family.

"My feelings"
My nationality is Peruvian. I was born in Japan and received the same education as my classmates. My parents came to Japan more than 20 years ago to look for work. They overstayed their visas in Japan because they wanted to earn money to support their family in Peru.
In 2008, my mother was arrested by immigration officials for overstaying her visa while at work. I was in elementary school at the time and heard everything from a relative when I got home. Because I was a minor, my mother was given special permission to return home. I still remember her being taken out of the car, her arms tied with rope. My mother was treated like a criminal even though she hadn't killed anyone, and it was very painful for her. My mother and I loved Japan and strongly wanted to stay here, so we fought hard to be able to stay in Japan. We were told to go back many times, but we never gave up and kept fighting until the end. Two years later, my mother and I were able to obtain visas to stay in Japan. For me, those two years were very long and painful. However, in 2010, my father was arrested by immigration officials. Because I was with my mother, my father was put in an immigration detention facility. From the moment he was arrested, he was ordered to be deported. However, my father wanted to stay in Japan for my future and desperately conveyed his desire to stay to the immigration officials. Although he avoided deportation, my father spent a year in a detention facility. My mother and I visited him frequently. He grew thinner day by day and smiled less and less. It was incredibly painful not being able to hug or touch him even though he was right in front of me. Later, my father was granted temporary release and was able to live with his family, but he was unable to work, so my mother worked late into the night every day. My father felt pathetic for being in an environment where he couldn't work, and this became a source of stress for him.
My father was able to obtain his visa this spring. I'm so glad that the three of us didn't give up and kept fighting. It was incredibly painful for me to see why he had to be treated this way when all he wanted was to work and study in Japan. There are still so many people in Japan who are working hard for their families, even though most people don't know about it. Even though they are treated badly and cruelly, there are still people who want to live in Japan and who love Japan and are fighting to help them. I want to be a source of support for them.