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“Ya nos vamos” (Where’re leaving now).
“A donde?” (Where)
“Vente andale, agarra lo que necesitas” (Just come, get what you need)
I barely had time to grab my marbles and action figures before being rushed out the door. From what I remember at 6 years old this was the third time my mother was trying to run away from my dad. This time, she took an opportunity to run as far as Phoenix, Arizona.
In Phoenix, we stayed in my aunt’s garage. It was a big change for my two sisters and me. Back home we had our own room. My mom worked really hard as soon as we got here. She used to be a paralegal, but now she was cleaning offices day and night. I rarely saw her at all. Sometimes I would wake up at night when she came home. We sang a song together or talked briefly before she dosed off to sleep and I was left awake hugging her; that was the extent of our interaction for a long time.
When we did have a chance to talk she would tell me to focus on learning the English language. “Como le vas a entender a los Power Rangers pues” (How are you going to understand the Power Rangers) she used to say. She told me that by the time I learned English we would have our own apt. I spent every day learning the ABC’s, singing kid songs in English, watching the Power Rangers. I would re-write randoms notes my aunt kept from the time she took her citizenship test. "I pledge allegiance, to the flag, of the United States of America..." Six months after arriving in Phoenix I could speak conversational English, and my family had their own apartment.
My mom instilled in me the value of hard work and perseverance. She also instilled within me a sense of justice and the rule of law. That’s right, even an undocumented woman can value the rule of law. When we speak of immigration reform, she knows that she broke a law. She understands that she should pay a fine, her taxes, learn English, get in line, etc. What she does not understand, however, is why local police departments focus on breaking up families instead of catching dangerous criminals. I tell her that immigrants are an easy target, and as a result politicians/law enforcement personnel like Joe Arpaio, who has 40,000 outstanding warrants in Maricopa County, decide to break up families instead and make our communities less safe.
“Mijo, I got in a car accident.” Those are the last words you want to hear from a family member. If they’re undocumented, after worrying about their health, you start worrying about when you’ll be able to see them again, if you'll see them again, start worrying about how those left here would be affected without them. Luckily my mom was not hurt and everything worked out. The woman that hit my mom’s car did not want to get her insurance involved because her premium would cost more than fixing her car herself. So the cops were not called. My mom, of course, drove away with a damaged vehicle and swollen pride. To get her car fixed she needed to file a complaint with her insurance, meaning she needed a police report, from a police officer she would not call because she feared being asked about her legal status. Twisted uh?
People ask me what drives me, and I always tell them hope. I knew about hope long before President Obama was elected. The President and I have a deep connection actually. President Obama once said “my daddy left me, I needed some hope. My mom was a single mother, I needed some hope. I did some things as a teenager, I needed some hope…I was given love, an education, and some hope.” I can relate.
But the President keeps telling me “I never said it would be easy.” I don’t even know if that’s supposed to be a call to action or an apology anymore. He says it so much it’s starting to sound as an excuse.
It’s not going to be easy, but America can’t advance with communities unwilling to call the police and police departments trampling on the rights of American citizens.
It’s not going to be easy, but American can’t advance with American families being separated.
It’s not going to be easy, but America can’t advance with hate groups using the immigration issue to recruit and with the media assisting that process.
It’s not going to be easy, but America can’t revamp an economy while leaving it standing on a broken immigration system.
It’s not going to be easy, but Mr. President you knew that when you ran for office, when you promised America Immigration Reform would be a priority in your first year in office, when you promised that the DREAM Act was something that could be passed immediately.
I not only hope; I act. It’s time President Obama starts acting as well.
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