by Michelle Santos

    Do you ever imagine your family being torn away from your arms? This is a question a lot of people can answer differently, some people will simply say no and some will say yes. This is a fear I live with every single day, the thought of my parents being taken away from me. My parents came from Mexico to start a family and for their children to receive a better education, they came to a country not knowing how to speak English and started a family. I can’t imagine living my life without my parents, everything would be so different from how it is right now. My sister would have to work even more than she already does, I’d have to find a job to help my sister out with rent, my brother would have to start learning to be more independent. Everything wouldn’t be the same anymore; people would ask, “what happened to that once happy outgoing girl?”. She’s gone. My heart would be broken into a million pieces, knowing that my family and I would be separated kills me. I think every first generation kid could agree with me, the idea of not having your parents or a family member with you. Some people aren’t as lucky either, the oldest kid could be 10 years old and have younger siblings to take care. The question: “what’s going to happen to us?” spiraling through their heads, some kids are either too young to know what’s going on or some don’t need to worry about it at all so why bother telling them. It’s truly upsetting when a family has to educate their young children on what to do if a situation like this happens, our communities shouldn’t have to live in fear of being separated from their loved ones. A big reason why people come to this country is for their future kids, before this country used to be considered as the American Dream where everyone had rights and were equal. They dream of their kid being successful and happy in life, everything I do is for my parents. My parents have worked so hard for where they are now, they’ve learned how to speak English pretty well, have started a business, and have created a beautiful family. Every single day my parents work so that they can make their children happy, if one of us needs something for school or for a sport, they’ll buy it. My parents never wanted money to be a problem for us and they made sure of it, my parents have worked harder than a lot of citizens who have way more opportunities than them. My parents didn’t want us growing up in fear if something happened to them, they filled those thoughts with happy memories and made us feel on top of the world. Being older now I realize how hard it must have been for them in the beginning, not having the same rights and opportunities as others. Looking for jobs, driving, helping us with our homework when we were little but they did whatever they could to help. All they wanted to do was make sure we were in a good living environment, happy, and all together. ICE has ruined those opportunities for a lot of families and it’s really upsetting knowing kids and adults are in centers being mistreated and hoping their family is safe. Some people have it more lucky than others, I’m thankful my family is still together as one but that doesn’t mean I don’t think about it if one day we aren’t.