Today I said goodbye to my cousin and her husband. They’re self-deporting to Mexico. He is an “illegal” immigrant, but the better term is undocumented. He has lived in the United States for over 10 years now — he speaks English perfectly. He and my cousin have started a small renovation business which has done well and one that they pay taxes on. They have four young kids. They go to church, their kids go to school and they are not criminals. The one “crime” that you could pin them for is having an undocumented husband.
However, they have tried to make him a citizen, or at the very least a resident. After $10,000+ of lawyer fees and the new administration’s mass deportation and anti-immigration policies, they have found that it is literally impossible for him to become a citizen without moving back to Mexico for 10 years. After those 10 long years, they will try again. Who knows if he will be accepted. But to keep their family together, they have decided to move.
I write this to show that bad immigration policies not only affect the “illegal,” but it affects U.S. citizens too. My cousin could live in Mexico and not see his wife, kids, family, friends, etc. for 10 years, OR his wife and kids could move to Mexico with him. Simply put, there’s no other option. Because of a decision made 10 years ago and the inability to repair that “wrong,” our family will be separated. Policies really do impact more people than you think.
My cousin and their family will move quietly. They will go to Mexico, where they’ll learn Spanish, adapt to a new environment, make new friends and have family visit, but it doesn’t change the fact that it didn’t have to be like this. If there were ways to help the undocumented gain citizenship, I wouldn’t be posting. But I am, because my family is important. To make America great again, we need to create pathways to citizenship that keep families together.
Sarah Mackay
Orem
