Opinion: Undocumented community, you are not alone. The fight continues

This year's elections have brought a lot of emotions to the undocumented community. Every year we see our loved ones get their hopes up about a possible immigration reform but nothing ever happens.

Now that Donald J. Trump won the 2024 presidency, many fear his promises of mass deportation. Starting that process while ignoring the need to fix the status of millions of people who have already been living in the United States for decades—some who were babies when they got here just like myself is ignorant. Haven’t we suffered enough? 

His approach to getting rid of the undocumented is inhumane and inconsiderate. Trump's deportation push is expected to utilize the military, diplomats and other government workers. He plans to use the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to draw legal challenges.

For most of my childhood and up until my high school years, I lived in fear of getting deported and ultimately getting separated from my family. As a kid, I was taught to never talk about my immigration status or the immigration status of my family to anyone. A secret that I kept to myself for many years.

When I was about seven years old, I remember my apá getting pulled over by the police. To this day, I shake when I get pulled over. Because the police haven’t been nice or trustful to our Latino community. I’ve also witnessed multiple times how they have treated my father like he is nobody. Trump has repeatedly cast himself as the "law and order" Republican. While he was on the campaign trail, he called for police officers to be entitled to "immunity from prosecution." 

In February 2023, Trump outlined his "plan to restore law and order," which he claimed would involve a "record investment in hiring, retaining, and training" police officers across the country, as well as strengthening liability protections for law enforcement. The former president also stated that he would tie Justice Department grants and federal funding to the adoption of "stop and frisk" and other similar tactics by local police agencies.

When I got older and became a citizen, I realized the power of having documentation , which is having a driver's license, going to college, working, and buying a house or even a car. These are all things that we need to achieve the so called American Dream.

Earlier this year I attended a marcha where farm workers, DACA recipients and immigration reform allies gathered together to march the streets of Los Angeles. Witnessing how many people are still fighting the cause for the undocumented community, brings so much joy to my heart. I recall stopping at the immigration facility and seeing people inside the building waving at us with their phones as we marched and shouted, “Si se puede!¡ Si se puede! ¡Si se puede! Aquí estamos y no nos vamos.”

That day we marched and urged Congress to pass the registry bills that will provide mass protection and a pathway to citizenship for millions of undocumented individuals. The registry was last updated in 1986 under the Ronald Reagan Administration.

Successive measures, such as the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRAIRA), stressed enforcement with no legalization safety valve. As a result, more than 20 million immigrants suffered deportation, and their families were traumatized by separation. Others fear that law enforcement and immigrant workers are left unprotected by a system that ignores them.

As of now, deporting every undocumented person is simply not possible and I know my community, the Latino community, would not let this happen. The right thing to do for politicians is to discuss and approve immigration reform.

Family and friends, you are not alone. Immigration reform, now! ¡ Si se puede!