Terrence Park took a deep breath and the UC Berkeley math and biostatics major came out on Thursday: As an undocumented immigrant.
The UC Berkeley math club president is a high-profile participant in Silicon Valley billionaire philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs's "Dream Is Now" campaign, which supports amnesty for undocumented immigrants going to school and otherwise working hard to fulfill the typical American Dream story, according to the Bay Area News Group. Powell Jobs is the widow of the late Steve Jobs.
Park said that he always tried to hide his undocumented status, but that coming out to "contribute" to the cause is "the least I can do," he told reporters.
In the video, Park, an "aspiring statistician," calculates that it costs $23,000 to deport an illegal immigrant, against $329 billion in tax revenue and other spending created by people like him if they are allowed to stay in the country, the newspaper reported.
Anyone can do that kind of math.
Park came to the country as a 10-year old with his mother and sister, both of whom entered the US on student visas and then stayed after they expired. They worked at supermarkets and laundromats in order to make ends meet, according to the newspaper.
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