November 4, 2016

Dear Future President,

Latinos, where the delicious foods comes from. Where colorful, cheerful and loving culture comes from. So why is immigration important? Latino Immigration is so important because most of America is built off of immigrants. Americans should understand that Latinos come to this country for a better life, to escape gangs, but when they get here it's still hard for them because they don’t have support and can’t find jobs because they don’t speak english. According to an article named, Latinos Who Came To Achieve The American Dream Can’t Escape Poverty , it states “A native of Mexico who was smuggled into the United States as a child, Melendez had once dreamed big: to be a bilingual secretary, to own a house and a car, to become a U.S. citizen. Agriculture, she hoped, would be the springboard to a better life — for her and her U.S.-born children, the next generation of a family whose past and future are deeply rooted in the fertile earth of America's breadbasket” Latinos, we don’t come to this country to rape, and commit crimes. We come to this country with a goal, before most immigrants cross the border they have a dream set for themselves, the goal of wanting a better future for our loved ones so they don’t suffer and go through what parents went through in their country.

Some latinos come to America escaping gangs. Specially young people. In 2014 police caught more than two thousand minors crossing the border alone without parents. Just image how dangerous that is. According to, our asylum laws are failing Central American migrants by Laura Tillman, Tillman tells us the story of Luis in the story she adds, “Gang members had been pushing Luis to sell drugs since age 15, he said. Their threats weren’t empty: He’d grown accustomed to crossing the street to avoid walking by dead bodies. (Honduras has the highest murder rate in the world.) Two months ago, he’d had enough. At home in Choluteca, he told his parents that he was going out to play soccer. Instead, he headed north” How sad is this? Just stop for a second and imagine, you can’t say your last bye to your parents, you leave your parents thinking that at night you're going to be in bed. You leave your parents wondering if the next day you’ll be back, wondering if your dead, wondering if these gang members are torturing you or cutting you into pieces. At the age of 15 you see dead bodies all over like if they were a gum on the floor. Tillman also adds, “Luis, 20, has been running from gangs in his native land, Honduras, for more than 1,500 miles, and even now, 25 yards from the U.S. border, he isn’t safe” Luis has been running for five years and still he doesn’t have peace. He’s like a boy standing outside of a candy store, the candy is right there but he can’t have any. He deserves a place to refuge in. His refuge could be the United States of America, but he is an immigrant and can’t just come here. America should accept latino immigrants that are running from violence. Everyone deserves to be safe to have a permanent shelter. Most immigrants escaping are just 25 yards away from safety like Luis.

Unlike Luis I didn’t leave my country without saying bye to my parents. I was born in Ohio so by the fourteenth amendment I am a U.S. citizen. Almost after being born my parents and I moved back to Mexico where my three sisters were, after a couple of months my father left us to come back to Ohio. My parents were separated, my mom saw herself struggling, juggling with spending time with her kids, doing home chores, and being a maid to earn money to feed her four girls. So my mother decided to come to Washington leaving my three sisters behind with my grandparents. She found job here thanks to my uncles. Then we moved out to live with a family friend, my mom would sometimes take me to Mcdonalds after sending money to my sisters in Mexico. A time that I clearly remember is when my mom and I were at Mcdonalds and I sat next to her and I was eating and I heard her stomach rumbling so I told her I wasn’t hungry and I told her to eat the rest. Truth is I was hungry but I cared about my mom so much that I preferred for her to eat. Slowly my mom's economic status became better and she was able to bring two of my sisters to America. One of my sisters got married so she didn’t want to come anymore. My mom has been apart from her parents, daughter and family members for more than a decade.

While I understand that others might not take immigration as an important issue because there’s terrorism going on and other issues like wage equality, and employment. But immigration is important because immigrants are apart of the United States of America. All I am saying is that we're not rapist, criminals, we aren’t bring drugs. Just like Luis some of us are just running away from drugs and violence. Others are coming to America to provide better for our families, like my mother. We are not here to steal Americans jobs, we can barely get a job because of the language barrier, can we possibly steal an American's job? No, we came to for a better life not to bring our problems with us.

All in all, running away from gangs and a dreams strives latinos to immigrate to the U.S. and for this Americans should be comprehensive. Future president, please allow latino immigrants to refuge in this country. Also give out a migratory reform, this will allow latinos better jobs that they can’t get because of not having a social security number. It would also benefit latino teens to better education themselves. And most importantly it will help unite families.

Thank You for taking my letter in consideration. I hope to see change regarding latino immigrants.

Sincerely,

Dalila H.

Foster High School

Tukwila, WA