Post #7: An eye-opening realization on immigrants in the U.S.

YDEV 501

WEEK 7: An eye-opening realization on immigrants in the U.S.
  

Growing up being gay and Asian (Chinese) in the Philippines was very difficult. I spent most of my adolescent and early adult years living a double life. The first life was how I presented myself to the world -- going to school, forming friendships and relationships, working my first job, etc. and yet all that time, I've created and portrayed this facade that I thought I had to be in order to be respected and accepted by society. Then I had this entire different world that only me and very few people know about. A world where I can be myself. Sadly, there were only few places and avenues that I got to be the real me. This was when I started dreaming of the day that I get to go to the U.S., be "free" and live the 'American dream'. From that moment on, I made it a mission in life and by the grace of God, I am here in the U.S. and I'm living the life I've always imagined and wanted from a very young age.

Coming here in this country wasn't easy. It took a lot of work, time, patience, sweat, tears and money to become a lawful resident of the U.S. Even now, I feel that I have to exert more work and effort than my colleagues who are born U.S. citizens because I care about being seen as worthy of having the "privilege" to be living and working in this country. Moreover,  I always have the fear that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) at any time, can look at my records and deport me if I have anything less than an excellent record in all aspects of my stay here in the U.S.

 

These are just some of the everyday struggles, challenges and fears I go through as a lawful foreign-born resident. This being said, I can only imagine how difficult it must be for individuals (especially young people) who are undocumented immigrants and how their rights, lives and future are being taken away from them with the new policies and orders enacted by the Trump administration. I must admit that I didn't know about DACA, the DREAMAct nor who the "DREAMers" are until it started appearing on the news. And even when I started getting an idea on what these policies are all about, I am shameful to admit that I had the view based on my own experiences of being an immigrant, that no one should be given the rights and benefits of living in the U.S. if one came here illegally. I thought that it is unfair for people who came here illegally to demand equal rights and benefits because they don't deserve it -- they didn't go through the same process as me.

 

I remember voicing this out to my partner before and he was enraged. He sat me down and gave me a long angry lecture about the said topic and to make me understand how my thinking (although can be seen as valid with some points) is not right because things are not just black and white. He was the first one who enlightened me about the DREAMers, how it's not right for them to suffer for being what they are when 1) they didn't have a choice because most of them were brought here at a very young age, 2) although given their status, they are law abiding citizens and 3) we don't know the reason(s) why their parents had to illegally move here in the U.S. All these and the fact that even with these policies that protect their rights to be in the country, it still takes a lot of work for them to remain here with all the rules and processes they have to undertake.

 

After reading the article, 'Caution, we have power', and how it dwelled upon the topic of undocumented immigrants being attacked, made me realize how serious this matter is in our current time and how, although the crisis not something new, it has been amplified by the current administration with xenophobic rhetoric and aggressive anti-immigrant assaults on multiple fronts. It saddens me how I read and became aware of the so-called school-to-prison and school-to-sweatshop pipeline that is a reality for most kids who are considered undocumented immigrants. How because of the current systems in place and administration that we have, some of these kids have this mentality of 'learn to be illegal' upon graduation from high school and are pushed into the shadow state.

 

Being an immigrant myself, I strongly relate to the topic about the rags-to-riches discourse of meritocracy wherein if you work hard enough you will succeed and achieve the 'American dream'. This has always been my thinking ever since I came to this country. In relation to my constant fear of being deported, I've always made sure that I work hard in everything I do (work and school) because then, I can achieve my goals and continue living my 'American dream'. Whether such a meritocracy exists is debatable, but what I do know is that having this mindset helps me a lot in staying on the right path to success (and a better future). This being said, it infuriates me that for many young undocumented immigrants, this kind of thinking (way of life) is not believable because they have this constant state of insecurity as they pursue higher education aspirations. It's like they never stood a chance of having a good life because of their status in the country. No matter how hard they work or whether they are a good person with huge ambitions in life, their future is being impeded and for some, taken away entirely in mere seconds because of our current systems.

 

I strongly gravitated towards the topic of immigration because in some way, I relate to it. And with everything that's going on due to our current administration, I believe that we need to show more care around these kinds of topics/ issues. With this, I end my post by highlighting the terminology, "carino conscientazado", which is a critically conscious care praxis that seeks to dismantle structural injustice. I very much like the quote of Reyna Rivarola where he stated that taking care of each other is itself a form of power. It's amazing how a simple act of caring goes a long way in helping others who are in need and down and that in a way, caring shows unity and strength as a community/ society.