21 October 2016

Dear Next President,

My name is Fatima and I go to East Village High School in San Diego, California. I’m writing to you because there is an issue that really concerns me,which is deportation. Many families “around me” are being broken by deportation. There are actually 11.5 illegal immigrants in the U.S and I’m sure a lot of them have families who are at risk of being separated ( Stevenson, “The Fix explains the big issues of 2016”).  I know it may not be the main issue in the U.S, but I feel like this problem needs more attention. (And not negative attention such as Tea Party Republicans give the issue- - generalizing a whole race based on a few people’s actions.)

In Obama's presidency, there have been 2.5 million people deported. I'm sure that the U.S has lost a lot of money because of this. Research states that if there is a mass deportation in the next 10 years the U.S will lose up to $4.7 trillion ( Stevenson, W. Peter, "The Fix explains the big issues of 2016").  I do understand why some people are being deported. Some may violate laws as in committing a crime or other similar things, while others I’m sure are due to violation of laws like not having your green card or having your visa be expired. Honestly, most people who come to this country come with hope, for the supposed “American Dream’. They come from countries that are at war and countries under oppression by corrupt governments. They simply want to give their children more opportunities and escape a corrupt country. For example the problem happening in Venezuela is quite bad at the moment. Venezuelans can’t even afford food because the food is so overpriced. The lines to get food are ridiculously long making it impossible for the people to get food. The children are fainting in class because they have no food in their stomach. Imagine coming home and seeing no food in the refrigerator having nothing to feed your child. Or coming home to find out that another one of your of your close relatives has been killed by criminals. What would you do? Would you stay in a country where you are slowly dying or would you go to America where there is said to be “hope?” Tell me honestly what would you do? Risk your family's life by making them stay in a country where there is no food, a corrupt government, and criminals roaming the streets randomly shooting and killing people for their pleasure. Would you stay in Venezuela?

People come to America for a better life. Yeah, I agree that some people might come here to do illegal things but not all of them are terrorists, rapists, job-stealers, and criminals. This country is viewed around the world as the country of freedom. How is it fair that families are being broken just because their work visa expired? Why is it fair that the U.S sends innocent people back to the place they were running away from? In 2014, 235,413 immigrants were deported. Almost half of them were deported because of criminal activity but how about the other half? They were simply deported for having an expired visa.

Many Americans are worried because supposedly ‘the illegals’ are stealing their jobs. Personally, I find this amusing because usually immigrants have the jobs that most people don’t want to have. For example many of them work as gardeners, nannies, housekeepers, taxi drivers, chauffeurs, maintenance workers, and also construction workers. I’m pretty sure that Americans don’t work so hard in college just to become housekeepers.

At this point, I feel like this turns into a moral issue because if you, Mr. or Mrs. President, don’t do something to stop innocent people from being deported, then what type of person does that make you? I would just like you to give this issue more attention and also for you to do something to prevent innocent people from getting deported.The solution for this important issue is to identify and have records all of the people who are illegally here. Then based on that someone can make the decision of deporting that person. I think the only reason that someone should be deported is if they are a danger to this country or they have any previous crime activity in their record. People who are here just to work should not be deported especially if they have kids.

Sincerely,

Fatima Z.