September 29, 2016

Dear Mister or Madam President:

I hope that you can realize the problems happening within our own country, specifically regarding immigration. There are families, friends, and communities that are being torn apart because of deportation. I believe that it’s good that people are wanting to come to our country to try to find a better life because of the freedom that we have here. But, there are many people being deported because of their race and not even given a chance to explain themselves. In one specific case, Pedro Guzman was wrongly deported when he was in jail. He was sentenced to the LA County jail for trespassing and vandalism. During custody, he was wrongly reported as a non-citizen, even though he is a US citizen. He agreed to be deported, because he thought that he would be able to go back to his family in Mexico. He was sent to the border with only $3 to survive and a disconnected phone call. He ended up begging on the streets in Tijuana for 3 months with no way to get back to his family. Guzman didn’t even have a reason to be deported, and he was almost killed for it. Guzman is a US Citizen, so being deported isn’t right for him. Sure, he did commit a crime, but he probably would have had a higher chance to survive in the jail than he did when they deported him.

There are many cases like Guzman’s that happen each and every day. People who are being wrongly deported are getting a punishment they don’t deserve, and I don’t see anything right in that. I hope that we can find a way so that only the people who really deserve to be deported, like criminals, are the ones deported, and the people who are trying to start a new life here in the US are the ones who get another chance. 

Sincerely, 

Amelia