Fighting the current immigration nightmare

I had a nightmare that my mom was being deported. I dreamed of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents coming to our home and taking her away. The current climate has unlocked a childhood fear. My mom did not become a citizen until 1997, and in my early years, I was afraid that I would go to school and never see her again. I was afraid that I would be left behind. To see immigration through the eyes of the child is to see separation from your parents, your sense of safety and normalcy. My mother had fled from Nicaragua to the United States during the 1980s during civil unrest in Central America, leaving behind my siblings until they could be reunited many years later. Once reunited, there were years to make up for missed birthdays and missed milestones, and at that point, a blended family with new siblings.

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Currently, children are being separated from their parents, like Federico Arellano whose wife, Christina Salazar, was deported after missing an immigration hearing due to an emergency C-section of premature twins. Though the family had informed the court of the circumstances when they appeared to immigration to address the matter, the wife was taken away and they were left with the choice of having their US citizen children stay with their father or be deported with their mother. I put myself in their shoes and I cannot imagine missing my child’s first steps, first words — moments that I would never be able to get back. Many parents are facing similar impossible circumstances. Another US citizen child, Sara, was on her way to receive treatment for a brain tumor in Texas when her entire family was detained and her seizure medication was confiscated. The entire family was deported, despite the fact that the three children were US citizens.