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Welcome to Missing Light, a site dedicated for individuals whose family members are being deported or are in danger of deportation.
At times it feels as if you can't seem to grow without some kind of guiding light. A light many of us depend on even after becoming adults. Not just a light from which we feed on, or derive clothes from but a light from which our smiles, courage, hope, values, and laughter all take shape and form. This is a light that carefully paints a canvas, subtle at first with its delicate tints, but lays in the most important background of who it is we are and why it is we feel like crying and suffocating at the thought of this light dimming out. Some of us call this light mother. Others call him father, some uncle. Some times this light is cousin, or aunt, and others mourn when this light is called sister.
I feel that many Americans today don’t seem to understand why it is parents cross the boarder. These parents did not wake up one morning thinking, “Gee, I wonder what it is I can do to really make Americans angry?” These parents woke up to cries of children who were hungry, and gunshots from neighboring gang fights. Some these parents woke up to the clenching fists of political repression, others to the dreams of seeing their children walk to school with shoes instead of barefoot. Some just wanted to escape like many of our American ancestors did. We did these things not because we wanted to harm anyone but because we wanted to see a future; because we were thinking with the American dream. We did these things because we couldn’t find another way of doing it; because we were tired of seeing bloodshed and waiting for uncertainty.
Many of these children face uncertainty. They see their parents get taken away, and they see adults around them scramble around trying to do something, but the child does not understand, all he knows is that his mother is not there. And eventually, the scrambling stops and the adults stop moving, because there isn’t anything “we” can do. Is it really the parent’s fault that this happened to their child? Is it really their fault that they tried to make sure their child would go to a school that taught something, and that he would go to school wearing shoes? Is it their fault that they made sure their child wouldn’t be selling candy at a corner with their mother to help support the family as costumed in many Latin-American countries? Does it really sound like the parents were trying to do something selfish? Would a person cross searing hot deserts at the bottom of a truck with 11 other people just for the fun of it, or cross 9 miles of ocean in a floating piece of wood just to bother us? I assure you that there is more to this then you may think, and I encourage you to read what it is I have to say, if not for my opinion, then for the sake of at least knowing why it is our parents did the things they did, and why making the suggestion of sending an American citizen who can barley speaks Spanish (or not speak it at all) to his/her parent’s country is not a very well thought idea, or why sending an American citizen to foster care is not the same as actually feeling the warmth of who it is we call mother.
If you have a family member who is being deported, or would like to share your support or stories about the suffering deportation can cause, don’t be shy and visit the forums! And if you have written any lengthy essays or well written research paper supporting our cause, please don’t be shy and post in the Opinions and Essay forum located in the Family Separation category. This is my first time making a forum so if you have any ideas for improving the forum, please feel free to post in the Ideas and Suggestion forum located in the General Discussion category.
At times it feels as if you can't seem to grow without some kind of guiding light. A light many of us depend on even after becoming adults. Not just a light from which we feed on, or derive clothes from but a light from which our smiles, courage, hope, values, and laughter all take shape and form. This is a light that carefully paints a canvas, subtle at first with its delicate tints, but lays in the most important background of who it is we are and why it is we feel like crying and suffocating at the thought of this light dimming out. Some of us call this light mother. Others call him father, some uncle. Some times this light is cousin, or aunt, and others mourn when this light is called sister.
I feel that many Americans today don’t seem to understand why it is parents cross the boarder. These parents did not wake up one morning thinking, “Gee, I wonder what it is I can do to really make Americans angry?” These parents woke up to cries of children who were hungry, and gunshots from neighboring gang fights. Some these parents woke up to the clenching fists of political repression, others to the dreams of seeing their children walk to school with shoes instead of barefoot. Some just wanted to escape like many of our American ancestors did. We did these things not because we wanted to harm anyone but because we wanted to see a future; because we were thinking with the American dream. We did these things because we couldn’t find another way of doing it; because we were tired of seeing bloodshed and waiting for uncertainty.
Many of these children face uncertainty. They see their parents get taken away, and they see adults around them scramble around trying to do something, but the child does not understand, all he knows is that his mother is not there. And eventually, the scrambling stops and the adults stop moving, because there isn’t anything “we” can do. Is it really the parent’s fault that this happened to their child? Is it really their fault that they tried to make sure their child would go to a school that taught something, and that he would go to school wearing shoes? Is it their fault that they made sure their child wouldn’t be selling candy at a corner with their mother to help support the family as costumed in many Latin-American countries? Does it really sound like the parents were trying to do something selfish? Would a person cross searing hot deserts at the bottom of a truck with 11 other people just for the fun of it, or cross 9 miles of ocean in a floating piece of wood just to bother us? I assure you that there is more to this then you may think, and I encourage you to read what it is I have to say, if not for my opinion, then for the sake of at least knowing why it is our parents did the things they did, and why making the suggestion of sending an American citizen who can barley speaks Spanish (or not speak it at all) to his/her parent’s country is not a very well thought idea, or why sending an American citizen to foster care is not the same as actually feeling the warmth of who it is we call mother.
If you have a family member who is being deported, or would like to share your support or stories about the suffering deportation can cause, don’t be shy and visit the forums! And if you have written any lengthy essays or well written research paper supporting our cause, please don’t be shy and post in the Opinions and Essay forum located in the Family Separation category. This is my first time making a forum so if you have any ideas for improving the forum, please feel free to post in the Ideas and Suggestion forum located in the General Discussion category.
