Dear President,

I am a 14 year old freshman in high school. For the past few years the government has not done much about families being separated due to deportation, but I believe that more can be done.

          Between 2009 and 2013, half a million immigrant parents of a citizen child were deported. Families should not have to be separated due to deportation. After all, the Unites States is a “free country”, so nobody should need papers to be able to live in the United States. Deporting a parent causes a long lasting harming effect on a child's well-being due to living without their parents for possibly the rest of their lives or for a very long time. An example are my cousins ages 7 through 9 that are currently living without their dad due to the fact that he was deported. It is heartbreaking to see, some days they feel really empty and I have to cheer them up or remind them who their dad is by showing them pictures or telling them stories about their dad. In other words, keeping kids away from their parents causes a lot of pain and trauma that usually affects the kids for the rest of their lives.

Parents work for nothing

Brought you here to make you something

You showed me a place where you can be who you are

Wanting a better life for himself, his wife and kids were his only crime

Couldn't find a lawyer to view your case

I will miss you, and I’m sure you will miss me too

         These are the emotions you feel when someone you love gets taken away. According to Migration Policy Institute, The emotional and behavioral harms experienced by children following a parent's deportation were exacerbated (causing problems, bad situations, or had negative feelings) by difficulty or inability to communicate with their deported parents. Children with deported parents also have difficulty accessing conventional health, mental health, early education and social services, often because of limited availability or lack of provision in languages other than English. This is why we need to give immigrant parents of a citizen child proper documentation, so they won’t be separated and be able to live happily and in harmony. Thank you for taking valuable time and reading this.

Sincerely,

A hopeful student