Som Subedi’s daughter, a fifth-grader, was concerned about attending her soccer practice for fear of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials raiding the public practices and games. She was worried her father would be targeted by ICE officers. Subedi assured his daughter that he is, in fact, a U.S. citizen, by showing her his Real I.D. card and passport.
Subedi is originally from Bhutan, and after spending nearly twenty years in a refugee camp in Nepal, he moved to Portland in 2008 and eventually obtained citizenship. Upon seeing his identification, his daughter was still convinced that because of her father’s appearance and accent, she wouldn’t be able to see him after her soccer practice was over.
This inspired Subedi to organize the recent Refugee and Immigrant Girls’ World Cup Soccer Tournament, inviting the young athletes to compete in a safe environment, as fear and anticipation of federal immigration enforcement activity have burdened youth sports across the U.S.
Subedi joins us to share more about the tournament and his efforts to remove cultural, linguistic and financial barriers for immigrant and refugee youth and create a safe and welcoming environment for them.
Note: The following transcript was transcribed digitally and validated for accuracy, readability and formatting by an OPB volunteer.
Dave Miller: This is Think Out Loud on OPB. I’m Dave Miller. Som Subedi is originally from Bhutan. After spending nearly 20 years in a refugee camp in Nepal, he moved to Portland in 2008 and eventually obtained citizenship, but that legal status didn’t alleviate his fifth grade daughter’s concerns. Because of his skin color and accent, she was worried that immigration agents might detain him while she was at soccer practice. That led Subedi to organize the recent Refugee and Immigrant Girls’ World Cup Soccer Tournament, where young athletes could compete with less fear of federal immigration enforcement activity. Som Subedi is a founder of and a volunteer for Bottles to Soccer, and he joins us now. It’s great to have you back on the show.
Som Subedi: Thank you, Dave, for having me here.
Miller: I mentioned that part of the impetus for this recent event was your daughter. What were her exact concerns? What were your conversations with her like?
Subedi: She came home and then we were going to the practice, so she was concerned that I might be taken away after her practice, she may not be able to see me. And also, she was asking, what if they take me away while I was dropping her off? So those were all the concerns, and even I showed my ID and passport, that was not also calming her down.
Miller: You showed her your ID and your U.S. passport. She said no, that that doesn’t, that’s not…
Subedi: It didn’t calm her enough. So those are all the concerns she had. But when there are concerns for the parents, it’s hard to just see all that and then getting into the kids.
Miller: Have there been reports of federal immigration officers going to sporting events or school events in Oregon?
Subedi: Yes, and I had families and partners brought that up during the organizing or heading up to the tournament, and then I was very determined that I was more focusing on what brings us together. And ICE had created that inner fear and made enough damage in the community creating that fear and anxiety. So, we didn’t need their presence, but they had that tactics won that already, when it comes to fear and anxiety. So, I was focusing more on bringing these girls together, and then partners together. And then when the community comes together, we create the shield and protection for the girls.
Miller: Why soccer in particular?
Subedi: So, for me, I played soccer all my life, and Portland claims Soccer City USA. So, Portland, soccer is very big, especially in refugee immigrant communities. And also, there are a lot of barriers for girls to be part of soccer. So, language barrier, cultural barrier, and especially after COVID, girls are not coming back compared to other genders. So, it was very hard, and then also my newest way of giving back is countering fear ICE has created.
Miller: How do you do that? I mean, it seems like, and I say this with respect, it was hard for you to counter the fear in your own household. So how do you conquer fear for strangers?
Subedi: When I came to this country, in Portland, especially, with $10 and a plastic bag. I had nothing to wear. And now, Portlanders empowered me. And I’m empowered. I feel empowered and a lot of support from the community. So I have nothing to lose than to counter fear and provide that safety for the girls in the community.
Miller: How did you spread the word about this?
Subedi: So, we had a lot of partners. We had 32 partners and East Side Timbers co-hosted this. I know these community leaders, where they live, they know where I live. So I spread the word through community leaders and I went to community gardens. I went to ethnic stores, all this and went to temples and churches. So, I spread words through those channels.
But also, my volunteer job is 5:00 to late evenings or up to midnight or weekends, holidays, going and meeting those girls and then asking them and talking to them. You know, they were fearful, they didn’t want to leave the house, they were scared, especially the parents. So when we have solution within the community, that’s more generational experience and expertise. We don’t have to do a system way of survey or a focus group. We have this really, really good ideas in the community.
So now there are the fears of not getting to the practices, I think communities are coming together with the greater solution of carpooling, or maybe doing a live stream game so that parents can stay in a safe place and watch those games.
Miller: There did seem to be a paradox here. Your aim was to create this safe space where young athletes and their families would have less of a fear of federal immigration officials showing up. But this was an event specifically for immigrant and refugee families. I can imagine some people thinking, well, you’re just going to make us a bigger target. How did you respond to those concerns?
Subedi: So, as I mentioned, partners and families were concerned about ICE showing up at the field. As I mentioned, they had won that game of damaging, having that enough damage in the community and just having the tactics and fear. So I was more focusing on bringing community together. Even if there was a fear. I found some of those girls were very determined, very resilient, so when I announced this, I knew they would come together, they would score, they would celebrate, and they know the community would have their back.
Miller: What was the event like?
Subedi: I heard them talking in their language. I saw them dancing. I saw them having connections made. There was a joy there, and I felt like they were safe.
Miller: You say you heard people talking in their language. How many languages were represented? What countries of origin?
Subedi: Dozens of languages, dozens of languages. I was unable to track because of this fear and anxiety, but maybe I can do a better job next time and track, but more than at least a couple of dozens. And then, you know, soccer doesn’t need the language, you just need a ball and community to come together.
Miller: You had local law enforcement on hand all day, I understand. What were those partnerships like?
Subedi: I had the conversation before that day. They were there to provide the support and not a kind of policing role, and they were there talking to audiences and participants and creating that kind of safe place for them. And more than our human rights advocates and police department, their communities came together. Some of those never played soccer but they are there for the girls.
Miller: We last talked in 2016, ten years ago, when you were a delegate at the National Refugee Congress in Washington D.C., and we learned in that conversation, I mentioned briefly in my intro, that you came to the U.S. in 2008 – that was with your parents and three siblings – and you just said with $10 and a plastic bag, everything you had in the world. What does the U.S. mean to you now?
Subedi: So my accent has improved, I think. I’m still learning, so it’s no more new discoveries every second, it is maybe in a week or two weeks, three weeks, welcome to America, welcome to Portland moment.
Miller: But you are still being surprised or learning things about this country 10 years on?
Subedi: Oh yes, oh yes. And then...
Miller: Well, more than 10 years on.
Subedi: Yeah. Oh, yeah, I think it’s 18 or 19. I’ve been trying to track, but all this, I think, is taking out those memory already.
Miller: I guess, really, maybe the heart of what I’m wondering now, in the time we have left, is if the last few years have changed the way you think about the country that you are a naturalized citizen of?
Subedi: So reframe that question in different –
Miller: The fact that we’ve just spent the last ten minutes talking about a soccer tournament you organized so young girls could feel safe playing a game. This is your country, you are a naturalized citizen of the U.S. I’m wondering if the last couple years of the Trump administration has changed the way you think about the United States of America?
Subedi: Definitely, yes. At times, you know, I wanna leave this place and then maybe when things are better, I come back, right? So, as a U.S. citizen, I think I can do that because I have a U.S. passport, but also I see the family, you know, they were born here.
So, yeah, there are times, woke up in the middle of the night and… what are we doing to this country that people hoped for? I came to this country to have a better life, and then all this anxiety and the fear, all this through family and communities divided, all this. And I think, even when the Trump administration is gone, after three years or so, I think it will take like a longer time to come back, and that mental health and the anxiety.
Miller: Som Subedi, thanks very much for coming in. I appreciate it.
Subedi: Thank you, Dave. Thank you.
Miller: Som Subedi is a founder of Bottles to Soccer, and he recently helped create the Refugee and Immigrant Girls’ World Cup Soccer Tournament in Portland.
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