Shirley Tan

Shirley Tan was born in the Philippines, where she holds citizenship. Shirley Tan currently resides in Pacifica, California with her twin sons and her spouse, Jay Mercado.[1] During her teen years, her mother and sister were murdered by her cousin.[2] She studied in the United States and moved to California in 1986, when she overstayed her tourist visa to be with Jay Mercado, an American citizen.[1] Tan returned to the Philippines for a short time, but decided to return to Mercado because the murderer of her mother and sister had been released from prison.[2] Tan and Mercado met through their parents, who knew each other through Rotary International.[2] The couple is still living together today, and they entered into a domestic partnership under California law in 2004.[1]

Tan gave birth to twins in 1996.[1] In an effort to become legalize her status in the United States, Tan applied for asylum in 1995.[2] She was informed of the denial of her application 2009.[2] She was arrested on January 28, 2009, at 6:30 am by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents for remaining illegally in the US,[2] before being tagged with an electronic monitoring bracelet and released back to her home.[3] Tan wrote a letter recounting her experience to Senator Dianne Feinstein of California:

"My agonizing, humiliating and tragic experience started when I got in their SUV. My partner ran to the car and saw me being handcuffed and she broke down to tears. They handcuffed me. I was taken like a criminal. I thought it was the lowest point of my life, but when they transferred me to a van and I saw two men in it and had bars in between us, it was something I cannot imagine that will happen to my life. I was taken like a criminal. I was praying so hard for me to wake up, but it was not a dream. I was actually there. My heart was beating so hard, my whole body was shaking and I felt so nauseated with what was happening to me."[3]