By Yessica Banda-Hernandez, Guest Writer
While Americans hotly debate how to handle illegal immigrants entering the country, some teens here at Indian Trail High School & Academy express anxiety and depression because they fear family or friends may face deportation.
“Immigration haunts me partly because I have seen the effects of it through my parents,” said an Indian Trail junior, who requested anonymity to protect her family. “The constant fear that is present when they go out somewhere, when they turn on the television just to see the news on the arrest of hundreds of illegal immigrants who were then sent back to their countries along with their hopes for the American Dream.”
The student describes a childhood where she wasn’t normally allowed out of the house to go to parties or go far for special events because her parents were fearful of any mistakes they could make that could result in their deportation.
Any small traffic infraction like speeding could result in arrest and the forceful removal of everything they worked hard to build over the years, she said. This constant fear has also caused consequences.
“My mother, a year ago, was thrown into a deep depression because of that fear and the isolation that came with it. She really missed her family in Mexico and had spent more than a decade away from them and really wanted to see my grandmother and grandfather,” she said.
Another Indian Trail junior also stated that she is afraid because she has friends that aren’t legal. The young female states that the president’s new laws could affect her life along with her friend’s life, limiting their freedom and ability to speak up.
Hispanic teens described an increase in racism and suggested that President Trump’s anti-immigrant and aggressive language has encouraged people to behave in hateful ways that Americans once considered unacceptable.
“It contributes to racism in this country since the president is supposed to be the face of the country and him saying those types of things makes many people within the country think that it is ok and acceptable to say and do things against immigrants,” the student said.
A Bullen Middle School student recalled an incident at a store where she was helping her mom by translating Spanish to English. A man walked by the aisle they were in and made insulting remarks about the language they were speaking.
A Business Academy junior shared her own encounter. While out with friends, occupants in a van passing by yelled “Mexicans, go back to your country.’’
According to a 2018 report by Voice of America, a U.S. government-funded multimedia news agency, the number of hate crimes reported in the United States jumped 17 percent last year, the largest increase since 2001 when terrorist attacks on 9/11 fueled hate crimes against Muslims and people of Arab descent.
Several Indian Trail High School & Academy students say they feel they are being forced to pick a side, getting influenced by many sides. They are following the news, including events under way at the U.S. and Mexican border, where Immigration and Customs Enforcements (ICE) is responsible for identifying and investigating vulnerabilities regarding the nation’s security.
The students had mixed views on what ICE is doing. The way they were separating families just because parents were illegal was terrible and must stop, several teens stated, but deporting illegal people that have committed a serious crime, such as homicides, rapes, and drug or human traffickers was justified.
“I think what they are doing should have been done a long time ago,” said Nicole Bergendahl, a Communications Academy junior. “I think that all illegal immigrants should be deported and then given the opportunity to come back legally.”
For a Business Academy student, Trump has gone too far when it comes to children. He shouldn’t have the authority to forcefully separate families and incarcerate and relocate small children away from their parents, she said.
“I believe that only someone heartless would do something so sickening,” she said.
Indian Trail students said immigration is a very delicate topic, with all students approached willing to talk only on condition of anonymity. For several, it was hard to approach without scaring them.
Teens with immigrant parents and/or relatives live with the fear of not seeing their parent and/or relative for a long time and not knowing when the last time they see them could be.
“Some of these people have built their lives, families, have jobs and are stable with their income here, and they’re going to get deported all for not being able to choose where they were born or for being born in a different country and escaping and/or wanting a better life in America,” the Bullen Middle School student said.