This is Fi: Update
// April 30th, 2009 // 2 Comments » // This is Fi
What’s happening with Fi:
Some of you may know our friend, Ho Keen Fi, a filmmaker/photographer/set builder, the subject of a documentary film THIS IS FI and lastly an illegal immigrant. Because of his immigration status, Fi had to travel from Los Angeles (where he lives) to Rochester, NY on a Greyhound bus. He was headed back from Rochester, NY to Los Angeles (first detouring in Massachusetts to see Jack Kerouac’s grave), when he was picked up by the U.S. Border Patrol on the Greyhound bus. We are seeking your help in finding a pro bono immigration attorney in New York state who will fight Fi’s imminent deportation. Any leads and/or financial support towards Fi’s defense will be greatly appreciated.
What Fi called one of the greatest weekends of his life, in attending the wedding of his friends David Harris and Amy Adrion, turned into the possible end of Fi’s American Dream. Fi is currently being detained in the Buffalo Federal Detention Center (in Batavia), which is a temporary detention center for those whose immigration status is being determined.
Fi came to the U.S. from Singapore on a six-month visa that expired about seven years ago. Dreaming of freedom and artistic opportunities only possible in America, Fi left Singapore, a notoriously repressive city-state and chose to carve out a life here. David and Jon Schwarz became friends with Fi during their time at UCLA Film School, when they hired Fi as a set builder for their student films. For the past three years, they have been collaborating on a documentary film about Fi’s life as an illegal immigrant; his video journal chronicles the hardships shot through his unique lens on America. But we’ll let Fi speak for himself: please see the trailer at www.thisisfi.com to experience what Fi means to all of us.
Any attorney who would take on this high-profile case would benefit from sympathetic coverage (and subsequent publicity upon its release) in David, Fi and Jon’s documentary film THIS IS FI. David is a producer at MTV, Jon is a rising documentary filmmaker and Fi is one of the most compelling documentary subjects ever filmed. Fi is as singular and entertaining as Timothy Speed Levitch in THE CRUISE and the Beales in GREY GARDENS.
We are asking for your help not only because Fi is one of our closest friends, but also because he truly is a filmmaker/artist of extraordinary talent. We are seeking a pro bono immigration attorney who can immediately take Fi’s case, defend against removal charges, contest his deportation and make his case for political asylum. Fi urgently needs an attorney who can counsel him on his case for asylum and help him prepare for an imminent meeting with his deportation officer, Dan Henderson.
Please forward this information on to anyone you think might be able to help out. Time is a factor here and we really really need an immigration lawyer now.
Thanks.
Jonathan Schwarz
JWSchwarz@gmail.com
