I am never the kind of person to get involved in political or social issues.
However, I recently saw a post on someone’s Facebook that seemed patriotic but was actually very racist. The post went along the lines of “Let’s make English the official language in America, if you don’t speak English then you don’t belong here.” A few days later I saw more post saying that illegal immigrants and people of different countries don’t belong in America. I was furious to think how Americans could be so hateful.
I remember growing up and hearing people complain about illegal immigrants and how they needed to be deported. But being here in El Salvador, the issue has become more personal. I sat down with Victor and discussed this topic with him. To my surprise, it is pretty common for someone to leave El Salvador and try to walk to America through Mexico. But many die, get arrested, or are deported.
I now know people that have left for America not knowing if they were going to die or be arrested. I’ve met people that went to America illegally and were deported. That’s just the tip of the iceberg. Victor knows so many people that have tried going to America. He knows a few people that have died trying.
And this begs the question why? Why would someone risk the possibility of dying to go to America?
Well, opportunities, jobs, higher income. Many people in El Salvador are sold on the American dream. They believe that if they go to America they will have a better life. Also, there are only a few economic opportunities here in El Salvador. A person could work in a fast food restaurant for 8 hours and only receive $7 for the day. And that’s the people that are actually lucky enough to get jobs. A majority of Salvadorans don’t have a college degree and so they work in markets and on the streets selling anything possible, almost to the point of selling the shirt off of their own back, in order to feed their families.
When they are given the opportunity to go to America and send money back to their families, they take it. Because for some, it is the only way their families will survive or their children can afford to go to college.
Americans have such a screwed up idea of immigrants. They think that if they come in illegally then it must mean they are some huge criminal, murderer, gang member etc. When actually some of them are fathers, or sons, or mothers just trying to have the opportunity to make a better life for their families.
Imagine a family; a father, mother, and their two children arrive in America illegally. The father most likely gets a job in construction or another hard labor job. He gets paid half or less the amount that American would get paid. His wife stays at home while her children go off to school. The children don’t speak English, but are required to do the same work as children that have spoke English their whole lives. The mother never has the opportunity to learn English because they only have enough money to pay for the bills and maybe send money back to their family members in their home country. And the mother never leaves the house unless she is going to the grocery store.
We then tell the family that they need to leave our country. If she doesn’t speak English then she doesn’t belong here. Really, the basis for being an American citizen is that we speak English? I thought that being an American had much more significance than that. I thought that our country stood for freedom, opportunities, diversity, and standing up for what is right. Isn’t that why the pilgrims came? And yet we want to deny other countries for coming for the same reasons.
I know that there are a lot more political issues involved here such as paying taxes etc. But the point of this blog is to give you a new perspective. It is very difficult to learn a different language, especially if you don’t go to school for it. Illegal immigrants may not pay taxes, but they do jobs that others don’t want to do and receive less pay than Americans would receive. Please don’t discriminate against people of different cultures, countries, or that speak a different language than you do. I am not saying that all illegal immigrants are good people, but lets give them a chance. Let’s make America the country that it used to be.
