Brigett Bravo

Brigett Bravo

Brigett Bravo,11th grade, Grayson High School

Gente de Guerra When talking about hispanics/latinos what goes through your head? Probably the delicious food andthe culture so vibrant and full of parties. For me, being a 16 year old hispanic is something amazing. You seetwo different worlds, one here in the US and one in your parents' country to visit the familia. It would be myfavorite part of going on a trip to Mexico or Peru since my family members are there. But when I go there Icompare that country with the US, what they don't have. I have learned why so many people risk their livescrossing as immigrants illegally into the US. risking their families or leaving their families behind. They riskeverything just so they can work here and give their families back there at least food on their table. Thegovernments in south, and central america are very corrupt. For example Peru is where my mom wasraised, and all the presidents that we had in Peru are in jail because of the corruption they caused bystealing money from the citizens. Also in Mexico there is a lot of stuff going on. And then people have theaudacity to say “ go back to your country.” This phrase has been said to countless hispanics everywhere andall the time, when people don't know the circumstances. Many people are killed even persecuted in theirhome countries. What happened to “that all men are created equal?” All we do is come here to work andmake it a better easier living. Many people have said they only come here to take our jobs. Not many peoplehere have the right to work, it's just that a lot of people don't take the opportunity to. At least once a daydriving to work, school, the park or even to eat lunch you find a hispanic group working outside in the heatdoing landscaping, working on roads or cutting grass. So there is no excuse for saying all those thingsbecause we are humans too and not “Aliens”.What has affected me the most of the immigrant experience was seeing hispanic families rippedapart. I don't see a point in taking away children from their parents, who gave birth to the child. For me ithurts being separated from my family especially a mom and a dad because no one in this world can act likethem. Then the photos of children in cages broke my heart. It was horrible how they could take them awayfrom their parents and put them in cages, why not just send the whole family back to Mexico to their homestogether. They have no reason. And on top of that the reports of the kids being raped by the officers andborder patrol. What world does that, do the people even see us as human beings or just animals. Manypeople say what they like to say to us “aliens” “illegal” “invaders””you are making America bad”, all of thosephrases I've heard but it doesn't make sense. “Home of the free,” free for certain specific people or for all? Ijust hope our voices can be heard about how we suffer, a lot of women that are at the border in a cagegetting their uterus taken out, children in cages, children playing on the see-saw one on one side of the walland the other on the opposite side. Sounds like the boy in the striped pajamas, a wall separating them. Thisis the hispanic experience sufferment, strong work to only be put down and stepped on by excuses of otherpeople, people saying and treating us like nothing, people saying go back to where you came from, that isthe immigratian experience we are still living with today. People saying what they want without knowingwhat pain we hold in, and what will happen if we go back to our pasts from which we/they tried so hard toget away from.