The Voices of Many… Highlighting the Struggle of Immigrants (Part 1)

Words have not always been used to uplift and empower. In fact, many have been used to discourage, dishearten, and break spirits. Immigrants are far too familiar with this type of language, but after their months or years of struggles, the immigrants in the following stories have gathered the courage to use their words to provide hope to those in their shoes.

The first story of this sequence features a young teenage girl in Guatemala whose father struggled with the law in an attempt to provide for his family. His attempts ultimately led his family to seek asylum in America, but their journey, while successful, was long and treacherous.

(Names have been changed to protect privacy.)

Lucy

Coming from a large family in Guatemala, Lucy (at the time, 14) was the second oldest of four children, three boys and one girl. When her father was her age, his family was poor and struggled to make ends meet. Unfortunately, this led to his involvement in illicit activity, as he did what he thought was necessary to help his family attain the bare minimum. Lucy’s father became entangled in a web of harmful people, lies, and betrayal that only furthered his issues with the law. When he met Lucy’s mother, he had earned a stable but poor-paying job, but when they learned their first child was on the way, he panicked about his ability to afford the child and fell back into a dangerous circle. This continued until Lucy’s early teenage years.

On her way home from school one day, Lucy was horrified to see her house had been vandalized both externally and internally. Their money had been stolen, and her father was nowhere to be found.

Heartbroken and fearful for the lives of her children, Lucy’s mother did the only thing she could think to do- pack what remained of their belongings and seek asylum. She recalls seeing people in green uniforms at the border, thinking she was finally headed towards safety. However, she was mistaken, as she recalls the pain of the snide remarks made about her “exaggerated” desperation and the terror that soon overwhelmed her as she realized she had not reached the safe haven she expected. After weeks of travel, she felt their journey had been without purpose and they were destined to lead a life under the radar. Her children would have to drop out of school. She felt like a failure.

As Lucy and her mother recounted this story, they did not go into detail about how they finally managed to get across the border and secure their place in the United States. When asked, however, about how they would have felt about being provided with information that explained their rights, they gave each other a knowing look. Without a single word, it was understood that the glance they exchanged was of disbelief. Lucy admitted, “I don’t believe we would have believed it. Everyone seemed more against us than for us. It was like they wanted to send us back and didn’t care about the consequences.”

Simply put, they felt uncared for, and their voices were small in comparison to those who were fighting to keep them from freedom. While this is only one story, it defines many, and that’s why ImmigrantARC is critical to the survival of the immigrants in our country and those who are seeking safety within the walls of America.