Let's be clear, I am a white, economically comfortable, native-born American. I cannot possibly come close to understand the suffering of those who are crossing the border to seek asylum. But there's something about this issue that feels close.
I'm trying to dissect it.
Maybe it's because I am a first generation American on one side of my family. Maybe it's because I am married to a Latino who is a greencard holder by marriage to me, and our bilingual children are first generation Americans on his side. My loved ones were privileged and lucky enough not to need to risk death to cross gang territory and a desert to come here and live the dream. That stroke of good luck, and the fact that I did nothing to deserve it, is not lost on me. Those children at the border, in some other mix of fate, could have been mine. I could be that mother in a cage holding them tight so they don't have to sleep on cold gravel.
I am outraged by my country's treatment of our neighbors' most desperate people, the vast majority of whom are good hardworking honest folk who deserve a fair shake at asylum and to be treated with dignity while they wait.
And you bet I'm going to vote on this issue in 2020 and every other chance I get.
Ingrid
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1 comment:
Your writing perfectly encapsulates how I feel about it as well. Thank you for using your writing to help me peel these layers back and, in the process, find my voice too.
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