I was born in 1979 in Managua, Nicaragua, Central America. Just weeks after the Sandinista revolution came into power. My father was affiliated to the previous government, so he traveled to Costa Rica to lay low. At the time many men affiliated to the Somoza dictatorship where jailed or worst. My dad suspected that he would be persecuted, so he left before things got out of hand. He left my mom very pregnant with me and my older brother and sisters. In her condition it was dangerous for my mother to travel plus the neighborhood would get suspicious if we all left at once. It didn't stop them from outing my father and my family. She had her run ins with soldiers looking for my dad but by the grace of God, things never escalated.
In 1982 my father had spent 2 years alone in the Washington DC area preparing for us to join him. He like us had passed the border illegally. We later all qualified for amnesty because of the war in Nicaragua. After crossing the Mexican American border with someone else's green cards we spent 2 weeks with a family in Texas until my father was able to buy us plane tickets to fly home. I was a month shy of 3 when I met my father again. I still remember him wearing his Ray Ban shades when he picked us up at National Airport. We lived in Northeast Washington DC when we first arrived. We were some of the first Nicaraguan families in the area. We would eventually relocate to Langley Park, MD.
When we lived in DC, we were one of the only Hispanic families on the block. The first kids we played with were African American. They never treated me differently. After moving to Maryland, there were more Hispanic families in our vicinity. Back in the early 80’s Langley Park had experienced White flight. Many Central Americans and Caribbean families had moved in alongside a few African American families that stayed. Since those days the demographic has changed to mostly Mexican, Salvadoran, and African immigrants. I'm the mid eighties we moved to Beltsville which was also an integrated area but wealthier that our previous address.
Today, I am an American citizen. I've lived in the United States for 36 years. My parents were both citizens, they retired and moved back home. During my lifetime there were 3 separate Republican administrations and 2 Democrat. Yet I have never felt discriminated against or been made felt like unwanted by 27% of American voters. I am an immigrant and I stand by all those families torn apart by this administration's unfavorable disposition towards immigration. Not only was this great nation founded on the sacrifice of immigrants from all reaches of the earth but immigration in the 20 century had boosted the economy. Agriculture has thrived because of migrant workers. Not to mention the countless companies and small businesses owned and operated by immigrants the children of immigrants across America. Unfortunately all of this progress is regressing based on the anti-immigrant and xenophobic rhetoric that has been injected into the American consciousness by our current administration. Suddenly being racist is considered a part of being a real American. Not respecting people's religious rights is also American. People think they can talk down to hardworking immigrants that choose to speak Spanish because there no official language in the United States of America. There is nothing in the Constitution that states that we have to speak English. English isn't even our native language. Cherokee is more American than English.
They accuse us of violating the Constitution by simply wanting a better life for our children. When in actuality the Constitution was written to open our doors to people who were persecuted and wanted the ability to think, live and work freely. They even created a bill of rights. That does not say that we were all equal unless we came from another country. The only right they are will to fight for is the second amendment, so they can have the right to kill us if they feel threatened by our presence. The problem is that they are always threatened by our presence. Not just immigrants either. They see anyone who is not white and male as a second class citizen. America is no long the great land of opportunity it once was.
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