Lewiston, Maine, U.S.A. – A few months ago, I joined a Youth Journalism International project that I would call an extraordinary, life-changing piece of work for my writing career.
Listen to the author read this story:
The project is called American Reflections: Young voices on an old promise, and it centers around uplifting the stories of immigrant and first-generation youth in the Lewiston-Auburn community.
It’s work that I will always cherish, and I am honored to have been a writer on this project.
Meeting and interviewing these community members really changed my perspective on what America means to me.
I wake up every morning, start my day, and live my life without having to worry about whether I have enough food at home, whether I might be kidnapped, or whether I need to flee to a different place because of violence or acts of terror.
Being born in America gives me a privilege of safety that not everybody has access to.
I am not saying that America doesn’t have instances of violence, or that it is always safe for everybody. What I am saying, though, is that being born in America gives you privileges and opportunities that being born in other parts of the world might not afford you, like access to an education, a variety of jobs and a home that you don’t have to constantly flee to escape violence.
Because I was born here, I don’t have to experience those hardships.
I think a lot of us as Americans sometimes forget the privilege we have just by being born in this country, and we take it for granted.
When I was interviewing Bright Marshall, who is originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo and now lives in Maine with her family, she said something that stuck with me:
“Being American means a lot more to immigrants than it does to Americans,” Marshall said. “And it’s because we have to fight for it.”
I agree 100% with this statement because immigrants have literally had to cross oceans, seas and land in some cases, leaving their homes and communities behind because of acts of terror, violence, food insecurity, or other instances of injustice.
Even after pushing through all of that to come to America, they still have to deal with anti-immigrant bias from some people.
Yet they continue to fight for themselves and their communities to make sure their families get the best possible opportunities. They do this so their kids can live a better life than they did, a life free of displacement, violence, and terror.
I found that every one of the people I interviewed had shown incredible strength and survival skills during the darkest, most challenging times of their lives. They persevered to come to America so they could secure a fresh start, a successful career and a life that grants them real opportunities.
Immigrants bring their culture and their history, making our country a much better place for everyone. Immigrants deserve to be respected just like every other person. They are needed here, and they deserve to be here.
Currently, we are living in a very challenging political landscape with anti-immigrant rhetoric coming from the Trump administration.
In this post-9/11 America, some biased people unfortunately still blame immigrants for the terrorist attacks in New York through xenophobia and other discriminatory views.
We need to fight anti-immigrant policies and laws, and hate overall.
Under orders from the top levels of government, organizations like Immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE are doing everything in their power to dehumanize immigrants and asylum seekers – people who are just trying to do the best for their families.
We must stand up. We have to fight for the rights of our immigrant neighbors and stand against the injustices they experience, so they can live the safe, happy lives they truly deserve.
I am happy that immigrants are here in America. They make our country better.
Carlos Fra-Nero is a Reporter with Youth Journalism International.
Read more from the YJI series American Reflections: Young voices on an old promise by clicking on the logo below:
