Immigrant rights activist Ju Hong spoke on his experiences as an undocumented immigrant and fighting for immigrant justice within the higher education system at the Student Resource Building to an audience of around 20 community members on Jan. 22.
Hong is the director of the Dream Resource Center at the UCLA Labor Center, a program that trains youth to get involved in social activism. Iris Guo / Daily Nexus
The presentation, titled “Opportunity for All: The fight for Immigrant Justice in the Higher Ed,” was cosponsored by the Department of Asian American Studies, Undocumented Students Services (USS), the Migration Initiative, Associated Students and the Community Labor Center.
Hong is the director of the Dream Resource Center at the UC Los Angeles Labor Center, a program that trains youth to get involved in social activism and advocate for “equity and justice for workers, families, and communities.”
Hong began his presentation reflecting on the first year of President Donald Trump’s second term. He specifically raised the issue of how the One Big Beautiful Bill Act provided “over $100 billion” of funding to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (I.C.E.) through 2029, which enables “mass deportation” as well as “investment in surveillance, data systems and coordination tools” used to arrest and deport individuals.
The main concerns Hong highlighted were the expanded enforcement of deportations across the nation and the use of “aggressive strategies.” He specifically called out arrests and detainments that have occurred in spaces like churches, hospitals, immigration courts and schools.
“We have witnessed a rapid erosion of democratic norms, diminished trust in public institutions and relentless and brutal mass deportations and anti-refugee campaigns targeting immigrant and refugee populations,” Hong said.
Hong also mentioned the suspension of immigration visas and a “tightening legal system.” He provided an example of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients being arrested and facing deportation.
“There’s headlines of anti-immigrant rhetoric and harmful policies of the [Trump] administration that have taken a painful toll on communities and [the] immigrant population in every corner of our country,” Hong said. “So year one [of the] Trump administration — it has impacted our communities — we’re waking up to a reality of immigration agenda rooted in xenophobia, nationalism and fear.”
Afterwards, Hong played a short film titled “Halmoni” for audience members. The film follows Hong’s experiences as an undocumented immigrant who moved from South Korea as a young boy and his experiences as an immigration rights activist. The short film depicted a sequence in which Hong disrupted a speech by former President Barack Obama to call out deportations of undocumented individuals.
Because of his immigration status, Hong was unable to visit his family members in South Korea for many years. After he was able to receive DACA, he was able to visit his elderly grandmother in South Korea only a few months before her passing.
Following the screening, Hong spoke about the various hardships his lived experiences as an undocumented immigrant brought to his life, later inspiring him to pursue social justice as an activist.
“My immigration journey into a social justice movement is not by choice, but necessity,” Hong said. “Eventually, my mom made a bold decision — she decided to move to a new country to seek a better life with me and my older sister — we landed in the San Francisco Bay Area.”
One particular experience that Hong reflected on was when he had to travel 24 hours via Amtrak to Washington to obtain a driver’s license, due to policies at the time preventing undocumented individuals from doing so in California. Hong failed the exam, causing him to feel like his “spirit was out of [his] body.”
“I’m just reflecting, why do I have to go all the way to other states just to get a driver’s license when my other friends are getting a driver’s license two blocks away from their home?” Hong said. “I was like, it’s not fair. Something is wrong and something is not right. I think that’s the moment when I decided to speak up and do something about it.”
Hong then spoke on the activism he has done for undocumented immigrant rights. In 2011, he was accepted to the UCLA Labor Center’s National Dream Summer Fellowship, where he and other undocumented students “conducted civil disobedience action in San Bernardino County” in protest against the 287(g) program, which allows local law enforcement to act as I.C.E. agents.
“After years of organizing the 287(g) program was suspended in the seventh county and it was through sustained collective action [that] undocumented youth and allies across the country have fought for and won major programs like DACA, Health Care for All and California Dream Act,” Hong said.
Hong then spoke regarding various statistics of undocumented students in California.
“Over 70% of undocumented students do not have DACA,” Hong said. “Students overwhelmingly report missing out on jobs, internships, scholarships and research opportunities solely due to their immigration status.”
Hong then highlighted the Opportunity for All Act, which was advocated for by the Undocumented Student-Led Network and Immigrant Justice in Action Coalition (IJAC), aiming to remove hiring restrictions for all California students. The bill was passed by the CA State Assembly in April 2024, although it has not been implemented yet.
The presentation concluded with a Q&A session, during which one student attendee asked Hong how to overcome the fear surrounding activism and how to get started. Hong provided various campus resources, including the USS and the Community Labor Center. He also mentioned “advocacy-heavy” undocumented student organizations, including IJAC, which are student-led to connect students together.
“It’s a different time. This administration is lawless and we’ve even been doing ‘Know Your Rights’ [events],” Hong said. “‘Know Your Rights’ may not apply because I.C.E. and enforcement agencies are just violating the laws, so it is a scary time. First and foremost, I do think that it is important for undocumented students to protect yourself and your communities and your families.”
A version of this article appeared on p. 6 of the Jan. 29, 2026 edition of the Daily Nexus.
