We Stand Together
I am a Chicana, born and raised in the United States, but a couple of my closest friends were brought here roughly around the age of four from their birthplace in the country of Mexico. Their parents wanted a better life for their children, they wanted that so-called “American Dream.” Who could blame them? So life went on for them, building friendships, getting a job, establishing their place in the city of Orange. Recently the leader of our country, Donald Trump, decided to put an end to a program that had allowed my friends and so many other children to not worry about one of their greatest fears‚Äîgetting deported to a place they didn’t call home. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is a program for minors who have been brought into the United States by their parents illegally. It allows them to receive renewable temporary protection from deportation and also it allows them to apply for a work permit. My friend Luisa, was one of the few that were not afraid. She went to rallies and protests in the weeks after the announcement. She spoke about it on every social media platform that she could get her hands on. This girl was not going to let someone take away all that she had worked toward for so long. She was a leader that was able to metaphorically reach out to others who heard her story and bring them out of the shadows so they would also be able to proclaim theirs. A reporter came up to her at one of the protests and she was able to share what she believed in with all of Channel 5. I remember my mom waking me up early in the morning shouting into my room “your friend is on tv! Your friend is on the news!” but through the fogginess of just waking up, I didn’t realize what was going on until Luisa posted about it on her Snapchat story later on. A week or so passed and she was on one of the front pages of the LA Times, a picture of her sitting in a library with a bunch of books about immigration surrounding her. There was an article including her opinion on the ending of DACA situated right next to it. This girl took something that could potentially ruin her life in California and turned it into a force of her own voice to not only stand up for herself but for others all in the same situation she was in because of the end of this program. I am not directly impacted by this decision but thousands of kids around the country are. I could not imagine being in their shoes right now with that fear of being deported possibly becoming a reality. I am third generation so all of my immediate family is from the U.S. and therefore, I do not have a first hand experience of what it’ like to come over to a new country and start a new life. But my grandparents came here from Mexico with their parents so I’ve heard stories of their travels, especially from my grandpa’ experiences. He lived up in northern California as a young boy, after his parents brought him here from the state of Sonora, Mexico . Whenever I visit, he tells me stories of working in the fields or in assembly lines‚Äîjust endless little jobs he has had ever since he was young. He worked early in the morning and late at night while going to school, which led to countless sleepless nights, all because he wanted to help provide for his family. As he told me these stories I could not fathom the idea of going through what he did as a child. I was raised with getting everything I wanted, not ever having to worry about a roof over my head or food on the table. So to hear his story made me feel even more grateful about the way that I was brought up, but also makes me feel empathy for the hundred’ of other kids that most likely had similar experiences to his own. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of families from all over the world that have come to America, trying to make a better life for themselves. Working the jobs no one wants: the graveyard shifts and hard manual labor that most people would never even think as an option. Immigrants do all the unwanted things that us privileged people in America will not do and they do it with a smile. They are just happy to have a job to be able to provide for their family. So even if I am not an immigrant I will stand with those who are, in hopes of restoring this wrong into a right.