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Tuesday, November 8th, 2016.
I had just gotten off the bus from school. With nerve-wracking anticipation, I approached my mom and asked, “Who won the election?” “Trump did,” she said. With those two words, I could feel a knife pierce my chest, and fear instantly rushed over me like a wave. I asked my mom if this meant we were going to be deported, and she responded with a chuckle, “Of course not, why would we?” “This boy on my bus said that Trump was going to send all Mexicans back to where they came from,” I responded. She paused…. ”don’t worry about that sweetheart, we’re going to be okay.” In the back of my mind, however, I was still consumed by my fear.
At the time, I was only 9 years old, and I had no concept of immigration. I didn’t know what “documented” and “undocumented” meant, and I certainly didn't know what “alien” meant. As a 17-year-old high school senior at the commencement of Donald Trump’s second term, I’ve learned far too well what those words mean to different people.
Laws Targeting Immigrant Communities
Since his first week in office, Trump has already deployed and retracted several immigration laws, as an attack on the Latino community in the U.S. This includes policies like The Laken Riley Act, repealing the 14th amendment (in the works of being repealed,) and the Venezuelan TPS Program (being repealed in April of this year.) With the latter of the three being essential for the safety of many Latino kids and families.
The Laken Riley Act allows for officers to detain any non-citizens who are accused - not yet found guilty - of crimes that range from small, petty crimes to theft-related offenses or instances of assault and homicide (including DUI-related fatalities.) This act denies people their constitutional right of due process of the law, and it targets immigrants regardless of their documentation status, meaning lawful immigrants, such as visa holders, asylum seekers, and lawful permanent residents, can and will be affected by this law. In other words, this law turns the fear of immigrants into a witch hunt that can result in long and unjust detentions.
With the repeal of the 14th Amendment uncertain, many individuals are terrified that after a lifetime as American citizens, their citizenship can be revoked just like that. The 14th Amendment grants birthright citizenship, allowing anyone born in the U.S. to automatically become a citizen, which ensures that children of undocumented immigrants born in the states receive full citizenship. Trump seeks to end this practice. Through this process, he will only displace families, by dropping them into a country they risked everything to flee and leaving them with potentially nothing. His initiative would roll back over a century of progress in civil rights.
Written by: Leandro Carreo
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