Dear President Obama…a letter from COED, Ginno Huarroc
June 21, 2010
Barack Obama
President of the United States
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C.
Dear President Barack Obama,
My name is Ginno Huarocc Sanchez. I am writing you this letter on immigration after having done my research for my US/VA History class, I have researched the controversial new immigration law in Arizona that is about to go into effect on July 28th of 2010. I am writing you this letter as the last part of my project with the hope that you will read my letter and perhaps feel the pain which the immigrant community and I are going through every day. I wish to share my experiences as a young Latino and what I think will happen in Arizona after the law SB-1070 goes into effect in July.
First let me briefly tell you my story. My family and I came to this country five years ago through a visa lottery program at the United States embassy in Lima, Peru. I was twelve years old when I arrived. I knew very little English but like every other kid I was enrolled in school, Francis C. Hammond middle school in Alexandria Virginia. I quickly learned English and climbed my way out of English as a Second Language classes. I finished eighth grade and went to Minnie Howard Jr. High- T.C. Williams’ campus. On the fall of 2008, I started high school at T. C. Williams’s high school, where I am now a rising senior preparing to graduate with an advanced Diploma and I plan to go to college to pursue my goal to become a pediatrician.
During the past five years I have encountered lots of discrimination due to my age and the fact that I am a young Latino immigrant. For example the many times I have gone shopping and I have been followed closely by security guards. Now there is the new immigration law in Arizona, SB-1070. This new law asks police to stop undocumented immigrants but since it is not possible to identify illegal immigrants by appearance alone, racial profiling must result. It will increase racial profiling and discrimination.
The fact that many people have forgotten that Latinos are not the only immigrants coming into the United States will add to the unfair racial profiling of Latinos. Also people who are just giving a ride or picking up a day laborer who is an undocumented immigrant will get punished with charges of smuggling and trafficking in people. English teachers in Arizona are being re-assigned because they have heavy accents or cannot pronounce some words correctly, I understand that under the “No Child Left behind Act” teachers have to be fluent in English but after the Immigration law it becomes questionable if this is just a cover up of racist acts which will go on “under the radar”.
These things remind me of history class when we studied the times after the Civil War ended and the end of Reconstruction period. Following the civil war and Reconstruction, Jim Crow laws were in force in the south and African Americans were deprived from their civil rights and human rights. Something not as obvious is going on in Arizona but will bring the same consequences. Even though this law does not affect me or my family, because we live in Virginia, it adds to the fear the of the immigrant community experiences by seeing lots of good, hard working people, with great moral values getting deported every day. Most have left their families behind to give a better-quality life to their families. Some have American children born here.
When I was in Peru I always heard “The United States is the land of opportunities” or “in the US the streets are paved with gold.” When anyone talked about the United States the stories were always positive and encouraging. This is why many people risk their lives crossing the border to come here to try to give a better brighter future to their families.
President Barack Obama, the immigrant community who has helped you in your campaign and is not seeing you make any progress about immigration. Therefore you are losing a big supporter. My suggestion to you, Mr. President, is to at least make a public speech directed to Arizona to stop their anti-immigrant ways because this country was wrought by immigrants. You should support the ending of laws like SB-1070 and programs like Secure Communities in Northern Virginia. Laws and programs like these only bring fear of interacting with the police. Also, you should draft a comprehensive immigration reform law and announce it to all the media so we, the immigrant community know you are on our side. When rallies comes to your front steps at the White house, the least you could do is take a couple of minutes from your busy schedule and just salute the people who have supported you and still have some hope left that you will listen and choose to help us people that like my family and me who support the work that you do. Never forget the people decided that you should be president. Don not let the people down because there is strength in numbers and the immigrant community is an increasingly big number.
Yours truly,
Ginno Huarocc
Rising Senior at TC Williams High School
Alexandria, Va
I hope that every American, regardless of where he lives, will stop and examine his conscience about this and other related incidents. This Nation was founded by men of many nations and backgrounds. It was founded on the principle that all men are created equal, and that the rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened. All of us ought to have the right to be treated as he would wish to be treated, as one would wish his children to be treated, but this is not the case.
I know the proponents of this law say that the majority approves of this law, but the majority is not always right. Would women or non-whites have the vote if we listen to the majority of the day, would the non-whites have equal rights (and equal access to churches, housing, restaurants, hotels, retail stores, schools, colleges and yes water fountains) if we listen to the majority of the day? We all know the answer, a resounding, NO!
Today we are committed to a worldwide struggle to promote and protect the rights of all who wish to be free. In a time of domestic crisis men of good will and generosity should be able to unite regardless of party or politics and do what is right, not what is just popular with the majority. Some men comprehend discrimination by never have experiencing it in their lives, but the majority will only understand after it happens to them.