A thunderous bang collides into the door, with loud voices escaping through the cracks. ICE is here. My undocumented parents were asked, ‘Are you a citizen of the United States of America? ¿Eres ciudadano de los Estados Unidos de América?” My parents stared at each other with a look of horror. As they told the officers the truth that they were undocumented, I realized that I was never prepared for this day to come. The officer told my parents they were required to return “home.” But we are home. As I heard this sentence, my heart sank after digesting that I had lost the two people I had spent years growing up with within just one hour. They said, “Mija, take care. We love you so much. We will contact you soon.” I gripped my parents as my eyes rushed with burning, salty tears. I screamed with pain as I fell to the ground and my body went numb. The officer spoke to me but I couldn’t hear him. I couldn’t even look at him. But he looked at me with no guilt. He told me to get up from the ground and dragged me into a car. I was soon put into foster care. No family wanted me, and I didn’t either. I wanted my family back. I just wanted to go back home.
Many immigrants come to America to obtain new opportunities and provide their children with a better life than they had as children. Many immigrants arrive in America for their children to be American citizens, hoping their children will receive an advantageous education and find better jobs with better incomes. While some immigrants come with the mindset of working and making money to go back to their home countries, most don’t leave; instead, they start families in America. Many immigrants may have to leave their country due to dangerous situations, such as criminal violence, human smuggling, drug trafficking and armed gangs. America can be a safer place for immigrants to escape this violence.
“Immigration is leaving your home to [move to a new country],” Sarah Altareb, English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher, said. “[It is] new and scary, but you do it because you need to, you feel like you need to … whether that’s for education, for better opportunities [or] for safety.”
Immigrants can come with high expectations of the United States, such as making a lot of money to send back to their home country. A lot of jobs can require citizenship or identification causing a challenge for immigrants in getting a job. Many immigrants might envision the United States as similar to the movies, which can be far from reality. Many immigrants have to learn a new language and adapt to the unique culture America has compared to foreign countries. When coming to America, some immigrants will have families who help them to get a stable lifestyle; however, immigrants who come alone with no family members have to learn how to gain a stable lifestyle. Many immigrants travel thousands of miles with hope for the “American Dream.”
“I feel like everybody has the right to be hopeful and hope for things,” Altareb said. “Good things for awesome things to happen.”
The new president of the United States, Donald J. Trump, has centered much of his campaign around immigration. He plans on doing many mass deportations, which affect families, communities and children. Mass deportations will cause many people to lose their parents and families and separate them from each other. Trump has also signed a bill ending birthright citizenship and forcing the separation of families at the border. Trump’s team’s strategy is to remove the nation’s asylum protection system and dismiss human rights at the border leading to mass issues for the country’s economy and the work fields.
“[There was a situation] in Florida [people talked] about, [where immigrants] take jobs but when the jobs [were] finally open, nobody wanted to take [the jobs],” Elena Martinez (10) said. “Immigrants take the jobs that the usual American citizen feels too good for.”
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids have begun in certain parts of the country. ICE has plans to raid many populated cities such as Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Boston, Miami, Denver, Houston, San Antonio and Dallas. However, this is just the start of mass deportations. Recently, a raid occurred in Bakersfield, Los Angeles, where farm workers and day laborers were working when border patrol agents in unmarked SUVs were seen taking people outside of gas stations and Home Depot. These are common places for day laborers. These raids were spontaneous and resulted in dozens of arrests. Desoto County District Attorney Matthew Barton proposed a bill allowing bounty hunters to report undocumented immigrants in Mississippi for a $1,000 reward. This program is meant to address illegal immigration and enforce immigration laws. Many children will be left without parents and placed into the Foster Care system, which currently has almost 400,000 children.
“I think [families] were really affected because I personally went through this,” Diana Hernandez (10) said. “My dad got taken away from us … it was really heartbreaking [and] shocking … it was during school.”
After the raids, a protest arose. Bakersfield residents spoke out about the raids and border patrol’s unforeseen actions. Many children of immigrants showed up to support their parent’s rights. The Rapid Response Network and United Farm Workers Foundation gathered to protest the arrest of many undocumented immigrants. Many of the protesters’ posters were about the ICE operation, keeping families together and being united. Unfortunately, the main reason these events are taking place is due to the stereotypical idea that many immigrants have bad intentions.
“[Immigrants come] here illegally, [and] when people think of illegal, [people] think bad,” Martinez said, “[People] think instantly of criminals and bad influences.”
The American Dream is the idea every person has an equal opportunity to achieve success and have a better life in the United States. This dream promises freedom, equality and success through hard work. Many immigrants dream of having a house, car and a family. Many immigrant parents just have the dream of having their child be born here. Others dream of being the first in their family to get into a university and have a degree. All immigrants have different dreams and success is the key to most of these dreams.
“The American dream [for me] is like being able to strive when you weren’t able to, it’s to grow in a place [when you] weren’t able to, it’s the land of freedom,” Martinez said. “You’re free to become somebody.”
