The matter of deportation has been a very heavy topic as of lately, with President Donald Trump making it very clear that deportation was an issue he was going to take care of as soon as he was in office. Although people who pose a serious threat need to be taken out of the country, separating families who desperately need each other is inhumane.

In early September, the president announced that the DACA program was going to be discontinued. A program that helps 790,000 immigrant children thrive in education and careers was going to be taken away from them. It wasn’t the fact that these children were going to be taken out of the only country they know and sent somewhere they’ve never been before. These people are having every single opportunity they have worked so hard for taken from them. They are people, children, who have no criminal records, and are either employed or receiving an education. If this decision was truly to protect our country from these so called dangerous people, shouldn’t we be focusing on criminals? Not innocent children or people who wake up and go to work just like every other American?   

On September 29, a Carlsbad man, Gaston Cazares was deported and taken to Tijuana, a place he’s not even from. Gaston travelled to the U.S.  illegally 22 years ago and has since checked in with ICE every single year to renew his stay. This year he would be told he could no longer stay and that he would be deported. This man is a father and a husband. His children, one an autistic boy and the other a senior in high school, have lost their father, and he won’t be able to witness walk across that graduation stage. A man who has worked to provide for his family is being sent away all due to him wanting to give his family a better life.

Being someone who has family that is put at risk from being separated is not only nerve wrecking, but it is something no one should have to deal with. A child shouldn’t have to go to school with the fear of receiving a call saying that their mom or dad is gone. We shouldn’t have to think about not having them at our graduation ceremony, nor should we have to prepare our goodbyes to the most important people in our lives. I understand it is hard to see us as regular hard working people when stereotypes constantly surround us, but that’s all we are. We are here to work and see our loved ones succeed, just like every other person in this country.

These people are coming to this country to receive better lives, to provide their families with more than they’ve ever had. Whether we agree with deportation we have to see this as a bigger issue, you are supporting the separation of families. We are supporting mothers, fathers, daughters, sons and friends never being able to see each other again. For those who can’t speak out due to fear, we will stand by you.