is dreams. Rarely is there pressure toward immigrant children beyond self-motivation to become great corporate leaders. Rather, the journey of going to school, enrolling in any form of higher education, and working hard enough to earn a regular salary is satisfactory enough for the parents who have sacrificed an entire world as equally familiar to them as my own life is to me. In an interview with Ezra Klein on Vox.com, Hillary states (in reference to the 11 million undocumented immigrants living within the United States), “I have met many of them – in fact, we all have, whether we acknowledge it or not…these are people who are already contributing to the economy, whose children are in schools, who are really absolutely committed to the American dream.” It’s uncommon for an immigrant parent to desire extraordinary circumstances, to expect anything above living a stable lifestyle. Though we learn from an early age that our transgressions unto a new country come at a price, there must be a setback for the benefits of escaping a third or second world country more easily than others. At the age of fifteen, immigrant children begin to wonder why it is that we can’t enroll in driver’s education. The answer being the same cause for worry when we discover that FAFSA declines aid to immigrant children lacking a Social Security card. The same interview with Hillary saw her state, “We already know that undocumented workers are putting about $12 billion into the Social Security trust fund with no anticipation at this point that they’ll ever get anything out. They’re paying payroll taxes; they’re paying other forms of taxes — state and local as well as federal.” The FAFSA program is meant to benefit rightful citizens of the United States, and rightfully so. We pay taxes to stay in good standing in a country we do not legally belong to; it is, in all honesty, a fair trade. However, at this stage, the journey so familiar to us all begins to fork off into unfamiliar territory. At this stage most parents begin to google phrases such as “how to pay for college” or “how to apply for a loan”. Imagine the disillusionment of a parent forced to search “how to pay for college, no FAFSA” or “financial aid for college, no social.” With limited resources, and thousands of equally qualified immigrant children, it’s a wonder how many of us have found the means of paying for higher education. Ezra Klein states that “scholars have estimated that the number of families living in extreme poverty, under $2 in cash income, has skyrocketed in the last 20 years.” The term “need-based” became a form of competition between families who ate stale bread and those who ate spam for all meals of the day. Qualifications like GPA, high school class rank, ACT, and SAT scores became so much more important than our parents had imagined. Scholarships and grants to fund students who were in every other way ordinary eventually boiled down to a matter of who can win the sympathy game. So here we are, students, sons and daughters of immigrants, living our lives just the same as our peers, or at least trying to. With the oncoming stakes of the presidential election, there is a new concern added to our lifestyle of balancing academics, friends, and family — the possibility of saying goodbye to the life we have built. An NBC News article written by Benjy Sarlin and Alex Seitz-Wald in September 2016 stated that Trump would,
“immediately remove any undocumented immigrant arrested for a crime.” While I do agree that immigrants disturbing the peace should face the consequences for their crimes, Trump’s definition of crime is considerably different from what I expected. The crime of illegally entering the United States will be sufficient to deport someone, and so will the crime of staying within the United States past a visa expiration date even though entrance was entirely legal. “Though it’s true that some in the U.S. illegally have criminal records, the majority of those have violated only immigration laws or committed other nonviolent offenses,” states the Los Angeles Times in an article written by Brian Bennet in August 2016. Children who entered without choice and achieved the American Dream, an American livelihood and a comfortable lifestyle derived from honest work, risk the possibility of being uprooted and deported entirely without amnesty. Of course, there are some comforts that could be found if I returned to my parents’ home. It would be a chance to start over in the native country to which I belong, to familiarize myself with the forgotten culture I am associated with. It would be a chance to reconnect with family I had forgotten existed, to share my own stories of the native country similar to my mother’s. It would be the freedom of not worrying about documentation or discrimination. It would be the ability to be treated as an equal amongst my peers. But the distinctive element here is choice — rather than embracing my freedom, this radical change would be forced upon me. Staying in the United States is a tradeoff for a better education, a more fulfilling career, and an overall better quality life, despite the legal setbacks. Very simply: people immigrate to the United States for a reason. The presidential election is right around the corner, and with each passing moment there is more information released on immigration issues. I implore you all to delve deep into this issue before voting, as it is a policy that will affect millions of families, as well the United States’ socioeconomic status. But beyond that, look around to your friends, your family, and the people surrounding all of us who will likely be affected by the new policy, whichever it turns out to be. We have become part of a culture that celebrates diversity in all forms, whether it be ethnicity, sexual orientation, race, or gender identity. It would be unfortunate to see the United States take steps to purge its diversity, a distinct characteristic of its splendor.
VALERIA ACOSTA sophomore | emerging media & comm. Valeria likes cats and pretending that talking about them doesn’t annoy people.
november 2016
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