The day she left with me in her hands, she left her family behind and her old life behind as well just to start a new life in the United States to be reunited with my dad so we could be a family. My mom left Mexico with me in hands to Texas where the oldest sister lived. A coyote came for us and we traveled to Texas. A coyote is a man that helps you cross the border. “I still remember like it was yesterday. It was so hot and I felt like we would never get there but you gave me hope to keep on going, to give you a better future and be a family with your dad.” My mom kept me safe from the bad environment that we were passing through. After a whole day of getting through the desert, we finally arrived in Texas where we met my aunt. We stayed with her for three days, just to clean up, rest and then keep going to get to our destination.
My aunt left us at the bus station and wished us the best of luck. This bus would go all the way to Arizona. “I was scared when we made a stop because I didn’t know the place but also because I didn’t want to get deported back and that could have happened at any time. We never know.” She remembers that they made a stop in this beautiful town but she didn’t remember the name of it and then continued her journey to Arizona.
Once she got to Arizona, she felt a little lost. The driver that took the bus to Arizona saw my mom and helped her out. “I was so grateful for his help, it was like God sent an Angel to guide me.” He took my mom to buy a ticket for the next bus and gave my mom instructions. He told her where to stand to wait for the next bus that would take us to Los Angeles. He then asked her if she was hungry and she said yes. The driver brought my mom some food and a card with money so she could communicate with who ever she needed to talk to. My mother said thank you to the driver and we waited a few hours until the bus got to the terminal to take us to Los Angeles. “I was very thankful for that man because he helped me get to my destination not knowing who we were.”
It took us a day to get from Arizona to Los Angeles. “I was very scared at the time because a rumor was going around Los Angeles saying that a lot of people were getting jumped and not knowing if this was true or not scared me even more because I had my baby in my hands.” Her brother-in-law was there to pick her us up. My mom was really happy to see them again because seeing them made her feel safe and like she was surrounded with familiarity. My uncle then took us to his home with his wife in Oxnard, which was around 1-2 hours away from Los Angeles. We waited 8 days for my father to get there because he had to work on the weekdays. When the weekend came my father came for us. “I was really nervous because I hadn’t seen him in such a long time 3 years to be exact and very happy because we were going to be together and be a happy family.” It was a very special moment for my mother because she was being reunited with the love of her life and our family was going to be reunited now. My father took us to Oakland where our new life began. We were finally a family after all the hardships that we went through and our new long journey began.
There are stories being told about everything you can imagine around the world. Spooky stories to scare kids into listening to what their parents have to say. We also hear stories about what people have gone through in life and the journey they had to get to where they are today. Sometimes we hear about people's immigration story and how crossing the border was one of the hardest things to do. How once they got to the United States things were difficult but managed to give everything to their families so they could succeed in life. But we know that not all stories are the same some stories are tougher than others and not everyone succeeds where they go and things can get tougher in life. That is where people become biased and don’t want to hear about other people’s stories. When people don’t hear a second version of a story or the other side of the story, people become biased and don’t want to hear different. This is one of the reasons why people don’t share their immigration stories. They are scared that someone will judge them, won’t believe them, or are in fear that telling their story will only bring bad things into their life like ICE. Finding a solution for these problems or challenges is tough. Immigrants enter this country in fear. Fear of getting caught and going back to their hometown, or fear of starting a new life and ICE coming to get them. A solution that can be considered is trying to make them feel safe, make them feel like they can trust people. Make sure that people have their backs in bad situations and can trust them. Another solution we can consider is making immigrant stories anonymous so people can hear the other side of things and not be so biased to think that every story is the same and have the same outcome. If we are realistic, not all stories end with a happy ending. Not all people make it across the border alive and that is reality , which is a very sad one.
President Trump has stirred it up for immigrants. He basically created more fear so that immigrants could hide and never come out. Immigrants come into this country with fear of getting caught and on top of that the president creates Mexiphobia and people just stick to the idea of what Trump has said. “Donald J. Trump, who became the forty-fifth president of the United States on January 20, 2017, has made incendiary statements against immigrants, portraying them all as enemies and potential terrorists.”(Verea) Because of all the things Donald Trump has said, it has made people biased and immigrants scared of sharing their story. This affects the way that Mexicans are being seen. Instead of being seen as brave, hard working people, we are being seen as criminals and narcos. Just because we are in fear, we can’t share our stories to let people know that we aren’t criminals we are just trying to help our families out. Donald Trump keeps on feeding in this Mexiphobia and takes away DACA and starts taking every immigrant caught into refugees and separating the parents from their kids. “According to Trumpism, the philosophy, atmosphere, and politics created and promoted by Donald Trump, unauthorized migrants represent a public burden, taking jobs away from U.S. citizens and committing crimes, among other false accusations and perceptions.”(Verea) Due to the words that have been said by our president people now think that we are the enemy that is trying to take away their jobs. If those people heard the immigrants story they would see that, that is not the case. We are not taking away anybody's jobs, we are just doing the jobs that nobody wants to do work in the field, clean houses, construction, janitors etc. Because immigrants are scared to explain their stories people turn biased and are brainwashed with what the president says instead of looking for the other side of the story. A solution to this problem is that Donald Trump is not reelected for president of 2020 and little by little share immigrant stories anonymously. Sharing their stories anonymously will help them feel safe and be able to share what has happened in their lives.
As a community, we have to come together and support each other. We all have our ups and downs and we have to be there for each other. Everyone’s story is not the same and some are sad and happy. Not all stories have happy endings and that takes a big toll on a person. Immigrants coming in to America, takes a big toll on them because they don’t know what is waiting for them or how people will receive them. Some come in fear and can’t find a place to stay in. We should be able to at least hear them out and hear their stories out. This will let anyone who comes in to our community that they are welcome no matter where you come from. If we don’t help each other out, who will? This community should be like a big family and care for each other as one. When people are closed minded, they block any other opinion and become stubborn but we shouldn’t be like that.There are always two versions of a story and immigrants stories are no exception. It’s alright if you don’t agree with what they say, but at least hear them out.
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