Jacky Sam

A02

Reflection 7: "I am a man with a heart" by Andrew Thi

I am not aware of how long a person is put away for stealing countless times, but in Andrew Thi's situation, the amount of years of imprisonment, ongoing trials, and awaiting notices from the INS, made it seem like Thi was convicted for murder. I wonder if the punishments he had received were more severe because he was an immigrant and a minority. Would his situation be handled different if he was a white and a U.S. citizen? Despite his ethnicity and legal status, and being "a man with a heart," I think his past would have been put behind him as soon as he started making up for his mistakes by continuing his education while in prison. 

Since Thi was under the custody of INS and had a high chance of being deported back to Cambodia, I wonder if his decisions would have been any different if he were in Cambodia. Was his delinquency a result of his freedom in the U.S. in addition to his addiction of "getting money to survive"?

 

Question: Would the decisions that you have made in your life be any different if you weren't living in the U.S?