Dear Future Mrs. President,

As a sophomore in high school, I have begun thinking about my future, my calling in life. I have been thinking about my career, my future family, my future country. As I ponder, I am overcome with fear. Fear that one day, my family members and loved ones will be taken away from me. I fear that more families will be broken apart. I fear that children will not have that parent figure in their lives, loving and supporting them throughout the way. I fear that our country will be against one another because of where one comes from, and not be united as one. What is the United States of America without being united?

I come from a city in Los Angeles called Pacoima, where everybody is one. It is approximately 90-95% Latinos and the other 5-10% are of other ethnicities, like African-American. Even though a majority of the citizens are Latinos, we are all different in our own ways, and that is perfectly fine. At the end of the day, we learn to embrace our differences and embrace each other. Why? Because we are all still human. Unfortunately that is not what others see; they see disgust in being a certain ethnicity. They believe Latinos are thieves. They believe that a certain ethnicity are rapists, etc. They want absolutely nothing to do with them and will do anything to get rid of them, so their best option is to deport them.

I am afraid that one day riots would just start and destroy our cities and country because of the thought processes some people have. I fear that violence would break out and cause the whole country to go mad. I fear that people will be hurt. I fear that children will suffer the consequences. I fear for our country because by constantly picking at certain ethnicities, you are triggering them and motivating them to execute a violent crime. I fear that most of the children will be homeless. They will not have their parents. No love, no support, a rage for the government will eventually bundle up into an act of a sin.

I want immigrants to be seen as fighters. They come to this country to fight and overcome as many obstacles in life to live happily with their families. They do it for their children to have a better future. They do it so their family could live better, happier. They go through hell and back to cross the border, just to work as hard as they can to become better people in the end. They work hard for themselves. They work hard for their families. They work hard for our country. So why are they always being looked down upon and scolded?

I want immigrants to be portrayed as fighters. I want immigrants to be respected, like Americans. I want immigrants to be praised for their determination and hard work. I want immigrants to be treated as equals. They are not thieves. They are not rapists. They are not sex-offenders. They are human. They are hard workers and they are determined to be the best people they can in order to make this country great again.

Mrs. Future President, I want you to embrace immigrants for who they are-equally amazing. I want you to stop deportation. I want you to stop the destroying of families. I want you to stop the racist violence. I want you to put the united in The United States of America.

Sincerely,

Bettzy Castro