Okay, y’all, here is something else that PISSES ME OFF. tRump’s immigration hell has Got. To. Go. I’m so upset for this student, I could scream. A 19-year-old college student had a minor traffic violation. Ximena Arias-Cristobal was an honors student in high school and has lived in the U.S. since she was four. Now, she faces deportation.
There’s no way for her to apply for citizenship anymore. Agent Orange shut down DACA in 2017. So, a young lady, who is a shining example that all of us wished we could have been, is going to be deported to a place she doesn’t remember and has never been. The article didn’t say if she knew anyone in Mexico who could give her a hand when she arrived there.
Her father was arrested, too, for a different MINOR traffic violation. Since Tovar is in removal status, he can apply for cancellation of removal on the grounds that deporting him would harm his children, who are American citizens. But if you’re between the ages of 4 and 25, you have *no* options. How is that fair to someone like her?
In the Trump administration’s frenzy to rid the country of every undocumented immigrant, America is at risk of losing yet another young person chasing the American dream. Since President Donald Trump’s inauguration in January, the White House has portrayed its ramped-up deportation efforts as an effort to protect Americans from criminal migrants. The detention and possible deportation of Arias-Cristobal make a mockery of such claims.
We already know that undocumented immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than native-born Americans and are less likely to be incarcerated. But Arias-Cristobal’s case highlights how Trump’s constant depiction of migrants as marauding invaders has meant that all undocumented immigrants are treated like criminals, even those who are contributing members of society. Arias-Cristobal was taken into custody because she didn’t have a Georgia state driver’s license, though, often in such cases, the police issue a citation rather than arrest the driver. During booking, when asked her residency status, it became clear that she was in the country illegally and was turned over to ICE. She was then taken to a detention center three hours from her home, wearing chains around her wrists and ankles.
Really? She’s a *female Honors student*. Yet she was still chained. What the hell is THAT for? She’s not a criminal. She was arrested because she was undocumented, yet if you look at her background, you can see that in no way would she have resisted! But CHAINED? Get outta here! She must have been terrified, and with good reason! By the way, she is being held in the same ICE detention center as her father, Jose Francisco Arias-Tovar, who was arrested two weeks ago on a separate traffic stop. I spoke about him earlier in this column.
It’s become a bit of a cliche to say we’re a nation of immigrants, but it’s also a fact. As her 12-year-old sister, Aurora, who was born in America and thus is an American citizen, told Newsweek about her parents: “They’re not criminals, and they’re good people who came here to make a living for themselves. They came here for a better future, a bright future, and they came here to work and not to be criminals.”
How many generations of Americans can tell the same story?
How does it benefit America to tell people who view this country as a land of opportunity and who are seeking a better life for their children that they are criminals and don’t deserve to live among us? How is deporting Ximena Arias-Cristobal, a 19-year-old college student with a bright future ahead of her, making America great again?
It’s not making America great. It’s making America worse. There is NOTHING we can do for her! If this had happened on January 19, she would have been given a citation and allowed to go on her way. But because it happened this past Monday morning, May 5, she was arrested. Now she’s going to be deported. Dustin Baxter, Arias-Cristobal’s lawyer, stated her detention is a direct result of the Trump administration’s unforgiving immigration policies.
Trump’s supporters will repeat the same mantra as White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, that all undocumented immigrants are criminals. In reality, that’s not true — simply being in the country illegally is not a crime; it’s a civil violation. But, in practice, it’s simply bad policy and fundamentally damaging. Ximena Arias-Cristobal and her father are the kind of people we should want in America. They are a little different from the generations of Americans who helped to build this country and, yes, make it great.
Deporting a man who has planted deep roots in America benefits no one. Treating a 19-year-old, who has lived virtually her entire life in America, as an alien and an “other” to be feared makes no one’s life better.
“Ximena speaks with a Southern twang,” says Dustin Baxter, Ximena’s lawyer. “She has no memory of Mexico. She doesn’t have the paperwork to prove it … but she’s as American as my own kids.”
But because of one wrong turn, Ximena’s American dream has turned into a nightmare. And all of us are poorer as a result.
This is sad. This makes me angry. This makes me frustrated because there is NOTHING I can do. And yes, I’m sure this is happening all over the US. This one is closer to home. She lives in Georgia, and so do I. It‘s kinda hard to be angry with a generalization of how good, upstanding citizens are all being deported. It’s “easier” to be angry when it’s someone in your state. She doesn’t deserve this. It’s not right for her. And she has NO options to become a citizen because she is between the ages of 4 and 25. How is this helping our country to be “great”? It doesn’t, and it hurts. Thanks for sticking with me!
*****And now, please read ******
Zoomers, we are always in need of donations. It’s been an especially rough month, and my own health has not been great these past few weeks, which just adds to the frustration. Anything you can spare will be immensely appreciated. And thank you to all who have donated generously already. Ursula
I’m very sad for her, all those dreams she had just crushed! Trump and his gangster cronies are very bad bad people and we just have to get him out!!
nice article, thank you!
You’re welcome! As I mentioned, I know this is going on across the US, but it hits home when it’s closer to us. I did find out where she lived, and it’s only about an hour and a half from where I am!
Fairness? Justice? Compassion? You will never find those qualities in the present American Nazi Party. Cruelty. Hypocrisy. Violence. That’s their qualities.
Oh, I know, unfortunately, but I can dream, right?
At the same time that his administration is forcing such a promising young woman out to a place she’s never lived in, Trump just admitted 17 relatives of the Sinaloa crime boss “El Chapo” to enter the country. Does anything he does come close to making sense or being reasonable?