High school is difficult.
For many of us, our lives revolve around constant questions. Will we get into our dream school? How should we resolve that fight with a friend? The future can be scary — it’s impossible to know everything it holds.
But for others in our community, worries over the future go far beyond that: Will they still be able to see their father tomorrow? Will their close friend get deported?
Even before his re-election, President Donald Trump vowed deportation of all undocumented immigrants. The last few weeks have passed in a flurry of confusion, fear, and uncertainty. Trump unconstitutionally ended birthright citizenship, revoked humanitarian parole for refugees from Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Haiti, and posted an “ASMR” video of immigrants in shackles. His allies are attacking sanctuary cities — cities that prevent local law enforcement from arresting people on immigration charges.
A vast majority of the “criminal aliens” Trump vowed to deport are not, in fact, criminals. From 2012 to 2018, undocumented immigrants committed crimes at less than half the rate of US-born citizens, and just over half the rate of documented citizens. His claims, false at best and malicious at worst, have fed into the more than half of U.S. adults who support increasing deportations.
The undocumented community is a critical part of many key sectors of our economy, making up around a fifth of agriculture, maintenance, and construction workers in the U.S. They pay billions in taxes as any legal immigrant or citizen would. Demonizing these people for the actions of a few is plain unfair, and dangerous.
Mass deportation means more than anonymous flashes on the news. It means a future filled with fear for our peers, our classmates, and our friends. And this doesn’t just affect undocumented students. Many citizens and legal immigrants have undocumented family — grandparents, uncles, parents, sisters and brothers. These students — many who are here from the hard work and sacrifice of those family members — now live in fear that their loved ones will be taken away.
These students and families are integral to our student and local communities. That is why The Talon stands with our undocumented community. We applaud the school for doing the same: It has made Red Cards available for all who need them, and is hosting informational talks on immigrant rights and resources available to the undocumented community. We encourage the LAHS administration to continue this important work.
If you have a negative, callous, or apathetic attitude to this important part of our community, please reconsider. Regardless of your political beliefs, we ask you to have compassion for your neighbors. No one deserves to be attacked and threatened for who they are.
