By: Mariangela Velazquez, Youth Reporter
Recently, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, also known as ICE, has been a problem all over the country. With people going missing, others getting killed, and families being torn apart, we as a whole see this on social media, and we get scared. Now imagine these same people being in your hometown.
ICE has been in Bakersfield for a while, which has caused a lot of stress in the community. People all over feel scared and worried for their families every time they go out. Imagine feeling like you won’t see your family again if you leave for a little while.
That is one of the scariest things you could feel. Constant worry over where your dad, mom, sister, brother, or best friends are. It is not fun feeling that constant fear and worry, as it causes more anxiety in people.
Seeing the stories of families being torn apart and people being shot and killed simply for being in the wrong place and exercising their First Amendment right, all in Minneapolis, is terrifying, as we know this might take place in our own home next.
People have spotted ICE in many areas all over Bakersfield and Kern County, and they are scared for their families. ICE has continuously shown that they do not care about laws and actual criminals. They have clearly shown that they are only after Hispanic people and people of color, taking anyone down who gets in their way of getting to them, even if that means killing.
I personally hope that one day, people who are all for ICE realize that all they are doing is ruining lives and families, families who are just like theirs. We have brothers, sisters, cousins, parents, grandparents, and even pets just like they do.
We play with our friends, we enjoy eating good meals, we like going out and watching movies, we have partners we love and can’t wait to see every day. We are human, and we all bleed the same; we are not criminals simply because our family chose to come to the USA for a better future. We deserve to be treated just as well as the next person.
We are workers, we are people, no matter what color we are, no matter what language we speak, no matter our race or ethnicity. We are brothers and sisters in the name of Christ, so why would you want your brother or sister to suffer? We are believers in the Lord, just like they are; we follow his rule and read his word every Sunday morning, night, or afternoon, just like they say they do.
Life has become increasingly scary with all the loss and chaos around us, so why don’t we, as a community, get together and enjoy the fruits of life instead of destroying one another? It makes no sense if you want a peaceful life. People trying to separate families don’t think about the one rule we all learn as kids. Treat others the way you want to be treated. Do you want your family torn apart? Do you really want your parents taken from you, or your siblings separated? Not really, right? So why do it to us?
It is selfish to think that the suffering of another family will bring safety and peace or even greatness to yours. Terrorizing people left and right to have a “Greater America” is awful.
Not to mention that some of the people doing the terrorizing with ICE are people just like those being arrested, Hispanics just like us, they are brown and have Spanish accents, they don’t even have an “American” accent. Why on earth would you want to hurt your own people? If you think it’s fine to step on others so you can get by, then I don’t know what you stand for. How do you not have a sense of morality?
People need to start making better choices when it comes to handling others. It hurts to see so much pain in the world with very little good to outshine it. As humans, we need unity; we need others to strive, so for everyone to continuously hurt one another over something as simple as race and ethnicity, even culture, it’s saddening to see.
Instead of trying to push a violent narrative and lies, why don’t we highlight the good, like the people getting together to help each other in these hard times? When communities got together to help uplift people with songs, food, and overall good moods.
Although the presence of ICE is haunting us day by day, I hope we keep living our lives and come together as a community. It’s important for us to take advantage of the time we have with friends and family because we never know when it will be the last.
