Zheng Fights Deportation with Love

After he spent nearly 20 years in prison, Eddy Zheng’s supporters, new wife say he’s paid enough for the crimes he committed at 16

By AMY E. IKEDA, Special to the Pacific Citizen 

September 16, 2005 - Eddy Zheng’s deportation hearing took an unexpected turn when only two days prior to his July hearing, Zheng exchanged wedding vows from behind prison plexiglas walls with U.S. Citizen Shelly Smith. As a token of their love, Zheng made Smith an origami ring. 

“The timing felt perfect,” said Smith in an e-mail to the Pacific Citizen. “I want to spend my life with him here in the U.S. and if we didn’t get married now, there would be almost zero chance of that happening.” 

Although exchanging vows over a phone in divided rooms of the Yuba County Jail is not the typical dream wedding, their marriage couldn’t have been any timelier for Zheng’s fight against deportation.

“Everyone is in the U.S., my family and friends,” said Zheng in a letter to the P.C. “When I made the decision to fight against deportation I went in with the mindset that I will make a miracle happen along with my supporters. I am optimistic that I will win the case, at the same time remaining realistic.” 

Zheng, who immigrated on a green card at 12 in 1982 to Oakland from China, has spent 20 years in jail for a robbery-hostage crime committed at 16. He now faces deportation to China. Zheng’s lawyer Zachary Nightingale requested that the hearing be postponed to allow time for Zheng’s new wife to petition his residency. 

“We’ve had a relationship for a long time,” said Smith about their relationship, which started in 1999. “I was prepared to testify in court about the history of our relationship but the judge didn’t require that.” 

After two decades in prison, Zheng’s luck finally shifted when a San Francisco immigration judge agreed to postpone the hearing until Oct 24th.  

“I know that I will have a better chance due to the judge granting me a continuance so I can process my visa application,” said Zheng. “The first thing I will do if I am released in America is take a deep breath of fresh air and yell at the top of my lungs ‘Freed at last.’ I will spend the day with my family and friends celebrating by eating, hugging, talking, laughing and laughing.” 

A Dark Past Left Far Behind

Once a skinny teenager with little sense of consequence who ran with a rough crowd in Oakland’s Chinatown, Zheng, now 36, has caught the attention of many supporters who have been impressed with his transformation including California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Assembly Majority Leader Wilma Chan, Congressman Mike Honda, and Assembly Members Leland Yee and Judy Chu.  

“Eddy represents on many levels what is wrong with our immigration system today,” said Victor Wong, president of the Asian American Bar Association. “Zheng’s having pled to charges as an immigrant juvenile and having done time, he should not be subject to a second round of punishment in the form of deportation. Eddy has clearly reformed [and] would be a contributing part of the Asian American and progressive communities, and all of his family ties are here in the U.S.” 

Zheng had a difficult childhood, according to his supporters. He lived in a two-bedroom Oakland apartment shared by seven. In China his father had been in the military and his mother was a government accountant but in America as non-English speaking immigrants, Zheng’s parents had to take low-income jobs. His father worked at a local Burger King and his mother worked as a live-in childcare provider for another family, only coming home once a week.

School was difficult for Zheng who was one of the few Chinese students at a predominately African American junior high. He often went to hang out in Chinatown where he befriended two older boys. 

In January 1986, Zheng and his two friends robbed a Chinese immigrant family’s home at gunpoint. The teens also drove to the family’s store and stole cash and merchandise, reported the East Bay Express. All three were arrested and Zheng pled guilty to 18 felony counts. He was tried as an adult and received a sentence of seven years to life.  

Starting Anew Behind Bars

From the confines of the San Quentin prison, Zheng stayed away from drugs taught himself English, earned his GED, became one of the few inmates in California to graduate college from prison by earning his Associate’s Degree and continued to take classes even after he earned the highest available degree.  

“Education is something that gave me strength as I embarked on the journey of transformation,” said Zheng. “Also the people whom I have encountered were progressive radicals, revolutionaries and compassionate human beings. Their actions in donating their lives to make this world a better place for everyone inspired me.” 

Zheng circulated a petition to implement Asian American Studies into the prison system. Prison officials then searched his cell and wrote him up for passing his poems and essays to be published in a San Francisco newspaper. He was also punished by more than nine months in administrative segregation. With the help of Victor Hwang of the Asian American Bar Association, Peter Kang and other lawyers who fought adamantly for Zheng’s freedom of speech, he was able to appeal his violation. 

“I fought for Asian American Studies because I wanted to dispel stereotypes and racism,” said Zheng. “I wanted others to learn about Asian culture and history as we learn theirs.”  

Zheng focused much of his energy on making a difference with at-risk youth. He took public speaking courses to participate in crime prevention programs for teens visiting the prison. He also created a curriculum for at-risk immigrant teens that is used by San Francisco’s Chinatown Community Development Center.

“I worked with at risk youth because I’d experienced the consequences of my destructive actions,” said Zheng. “At the same time I was able to rehabilitate myself despite growing up in an oppressive and negative environment.” 

Zheng has several job offers in the U.S. to work with at-risk youths. He wants to go on speaking tours to share his experience. He also wants to go back to college to further his education and one day write a book about his life’s lessons.

But his future is still undetermined. 

A spokesperson for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement did comment about the specific case.

“I think that we will be able to convince the immigration judge that Eddy deserves a waiver to avoid deportation,” said Nightingale. 

 “I’ve learned that the more I suffer the stronger I become, that’s the mantra of life, said Zheng. “The ability to make a positive difference in someone’s life, in society and in this earth of human kind inspired me to do so many positive things. I realize that my life is miraculous and I have the potential to save lives through my knowledge.”

For more information about Eddy Zheng, visit: www.eddyzheng.com.