Use Your Words
I’ve listened to the anger in my 86 year old grandmother’s voice as she watches the country she believed so strongly in fall apart at the seams because of a white male billionaire. My grandparents sacrificed everything to be a part of this country. My grandfather came to this country at 14 years old to work on a plantation in Hawaii so he could send money to his family in the Philippines. Despite the bullying and antagonizing, he served in the Navy to earn his citizenship. My grandmother was in her 20’s and came to this country to be a nurse; she dedicated her life to the health of other citizens in this country. They sacrificed the ability to communicate and be understood by their children so their kids could assimilate and be accepted in a way that my grandparents never were. Despite the trauma, this country gave them hope that there was a better opportunity at life, maybe not for them but for generations of family after them. They sacrificed everything to experience a democracy that allowed them to dream and believe and not once in my 25 years of life has my grandmother ever let me forget that dream. Every time things got hard she would cook my favorite Filipino dish and remind me to work hard, finish school, and get a good job so I could drive a nice car and live in a nice home. After living in the U.S. for over 60 years, my grandmother still fights for that dream for her kids, her grandkids, and the generations she may not be around to see. I’ll be damned if some terribly fake tanned fuck face ruins it for her, for me, and any family I choose to grow.
My family’s immigrant experience is so similar to many of the families fighting for those same dreams today. It feels wrong to sit by and watch the atrocities of this administration knowing that the very country they’re seeking for solace is the same country committing the most violence.
I’ve included a link below that puts together a letter you can send to your representatives (it does all the work for you) that fights to restore legal services for unaccompanied children.
