J.E. #3B

The militarization of the border is nothing new to me; however, it is not something I really look into. I don't really need hard facts, statistics, or testimonies to know that this type of occupation exists along the border-- my family has suffered from it both directly and indirectly. As a child of undocumented immigrants, la migra and border patrol is something I grew up knowing about, something I grew up fearing without necessarily knowing why. I don't need to be told how ruthless ICE can be because I have felt it in my own home. I feel it everyday I live without my parents. No, they did not get deported, but they moved away to avoid this fear becoming a reality. I have lost my parents and my siblings to these immigration policies and I almost physically lost my dad once or twice because of the harsh conditions existent along the border. I understand that national threats are very real and that there is a need for a border patrol, but I do not see the need to police and harass people along the border as much as border patrol does now. It seems to me like the whole agency has lost sight of what the "real targets" for the agency are. It has legalized the harassment of thousands, if not millions, of people along the border-- most of which are innocent, honest, hard working people only looking to prosper for their family's sake. This type of brutality is unacceptable, but to be honest, I don't know how we can work to make it different. Maybe I see it this way because this is all I have ever known. I do, however, look forward to a day where families are no longer separated, where innocent bystanders are no longer harassed to death, and where all immigrants are given the chance of a better life. With all due respect to the profe and my peers/classmates, fuck la migra.

This is an image of my family that now lives in Yucatan, Mexico (my dad's native town). My mom is missing because she took the picture. Myself and my younger siblings were all born in L.A. To make a long story short, we moved to Mexico when I was 13 because my parents feared deportation and I moved back to L.A. when I was 15. I have not lived with them since. I miss them everyday.