My friends at the National Korean American Service and Education Consortium (NAKASEC) called me the other night. They wanted to invite me to a Saturday gathering in Los Angeles of important delegates participating in the Dreams Across America Program.  This program is designed to highlight immigrants and their supporters, called Dreamers, and bring a face to the immigration debate that will hopefully encourage legislators to enact strong immigration legislation at the national level (which, so far, has not occured) that helps Americans and soon-to-be Americans. 

I was really hesitant to accept their invitation. For one, I don’t consider myself an immigrant, I am Hawaiian. Secondly, I have been a financial supporter of NAKSEC, and would rather donate funds for the Dreams program, rather than have them pay for my flight and hotel stay.  But they told me they wanted my unique perspective and reminded me that I am not just Hawaiian, but I also come from immigrant roots through my Chinese and Japanese grandparents.  They also appreciate my respect and support for Korean immigrants, their language, and culture, exemplified by the numerous Korean friends which I have made over the past few years.