Thread: Immigration activist killed in Maine accident

Published: May 17, 2010
Updated: 9:24 a.m.

Immigration activist killed in Maine accident

By DEEPA BHARATH
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Two women, who were close friends and active members of the DREAM Act immigration reform movement, were killed in a two-car crash in Maine early Saturday morning, officials said.

Tam Ngoc Tran, 27, of Garden Grove and 26-year-old Cinthya Felix Perez of Los Angeles, were both killed after another car driven by 24-year-old John Dow crossed the center line and crashed head-on into the vehicle in which they were passengers at about 1:20 a.m. Saturday in Trenton, said Stephen McCausland, spokesman for Maine State Police.

Tam Ngoc Tran was pursuing a doctorate in American Studies at Brown University.

He said Perez died at the scene, while Tran was transported to an area hospital where she died from her injuries later Saturday.

Maine State Police officials are still investigating the cause of this accident, he said. They are not ruling out the involvement of alcohol and both drivers have undergone blood alcohol testing per state law, McCausland said.

An article posted on the Immigration Rights Change.org Web site, describes Tran and Perez as "pioneers and fighters" who "not only dared to dream, but chased after those dreams with a passion and ferocity that inspired many across the country."

The DREAM Act, introduced in the U.S. Senate in March 2009, would allow students in the country illegally to apply for legal permanent resident status. The act would also protect students from deportation and make them eligible for student loans and federal work study programs.

According to Change.org, Tran testified in Congress for the DREAM Act after which her parents were detained by ICE and she herself had to go into hiding. Tran was born to Vietnamese parents in Germany, but neither country would accept her. She was without a country when she arrived in the United States at age 6. Also, according to the Web site, Tran was pursuing a doctorate in American Studies at Brown University.

A memorial service is scheduled for Monday from 3 to 5 p.m. at UCLA's Kerckhoff Grand Salon in honor of Tran and Perez. To read an article in the Boston Globe about Tran, click here.

Contact the writer: 714796-7909 or dbharath@ocregister.com

http://www.ocregister.com/news/maine-24 ... grove.html

No comment

How very sad that these two young people met with such tragedy. While I don't agree with their position, I still am sorrowed at their needless deaths.

wonder what both of them were doing in Maine out late on a Sat night / Sun morning?

Some R and R after some political event?

W

"Tran was born to Vietnamese parents in Germany, but neither country would accept her. She was without a country when she arrived in the United States at age 6. Also, according to the Web site, Tran was pursuing a doctorate in American Studies at Brown University."

In the above quote from the article neither Vietnam or Germany would accept her; one the home country of both parents and Germany her birth country? However, she would expect the racist and hateful United States to accept her and furnish her the DREAM ACT at United States Taxpayer expense.

Maine has been a target state for activists because it was (past tense here) primarily white and huge communities of refugees have resettled there - the kinds of refugees that bankrupt communities because they do not even know how to turn on an electric light switch or use a toilet properly. (Yes I recall reading that they needed toilet training.) This is not a prejudice statement, it is just that for some the toilet seems like a convenient way of washing things and sometimes those things go down the drain and create a flood of sewage when they jam it.

Maine is a tourist paradise in the summer and drinking used to seem to be a state past-time. The fisherman used to like to tank up before heading out in the cold and the bars would accommodate them. It's not summah in Maine yet but I'm sure the drinking is still good.

We need a DREAM ACT for citizens. The scholarships and grants and loans usually are still not enough to help the student to be able to live in a safe quiet place in order to complete their school without someone's support. Many families are not able to support their kids through school. That is one good thing about the HealthCare Reform though - letting the kids be on their parent's insurance until age 26.