Immigration from the P.O.V. of A Mexican-American

Immigration is a topic that has not gone away nor has anybody come to terms with what will be done to deal with the issue. Will 800,000 immigrant children be rid of their legal status? Will the president actually commit the inhumane act of splitting families? What will happen to those who are deported? All these questions have been left unanswered in the immigration discussion and quite frankly, it is unfair. It is unfair that people do not know what will be done to them, their whole lives at stake and in the hands of men and women who despise them.

Fear. There are immigrants who walk around in fear of being deported and taken out of a country that they respect. There are children who live in fear of not being able to see their parents. There are aunts, uncles, and cousins who fear not being able to see each other anymore. The talk of mass deportation has not led to safety, in fact it has led to undocumented people getting hurt. A walk in downtown Los Angeles is no longer that, but it is getting thrown into an ICE car without notice. Living in their own homes is no longer safe, as officials will bang on their doors and take them from their families. It has led to many people believing that because their president calls illegal immigrants animals that they are right to treat them as such.  

Now, I understand wanting safety and living in a country where bad things don’t happen, but that won’t be solved by mass deportation. Sending those who not only help the economy back to a country they needed to escape will not make this country safer. It will divide it. This issue of immigration runs deeper than safety, it is blatant racism and profiling of colored people. There is especially bad stigma surrounding the Latino community, I will admit that, but because one commits a crime does not mean that we all are criminals. We have instilled into our children that the Hispanic community is one that should be avoided because they are “dangerous”. We are in gangs, we sell drugs, and we come to the United states to take and not give. We come to the United States to live freely not take your jobs or corrupt your communities.

Building a wall will not keep these people out of the country. The simple truth is that when someone is in danger, they will do anything to escape that danger. No one simply decides one day that they are going to leave the only country they know to migrate to one where they will be harrassed. No one leaves family behind to go to another country to commit crimes. They are coming here for a reason, and that reason is constantly ignored. It needs to be noticed that these people, are people, not here to do bad but to help their families succeed.

Take that into consideration when you want to split families apart.