A couple of days ago I talked with 21-year old college student Susan Haslett from Tempe, Arizona, whose family is from the United States and Mexico. She is marching at the March For America in 12 days and here is what she told me:
Susie Haslett with John Perkins, a prominent figure in the faith community and in the Civil Rights movement, who endorses Reform Immigration For America.
My story starts in Mexico, but it is still very much a part of the American dream. My mom always wanted to live in the United States, but had to move back to Mexico, and was determined to get back to the States. My father was American, so through him I have citizenship, and that’s how my mother and I were able to come to the States. I feel pretty lucky. As a result, I’ve been able to reap the benefits of being a US citizen.
That’s where my story starts. But then, as a student at Arizona State University, I was more awakened to the fact that here we are, we’re all trying to achieve our dreams. I see that some of my peers are brighter than I am and work harder than I do, yet can’t achieve their dreams. This made me realize I can’t take for granted what I have, yes, but also that I want others to have the same opportunities that I have.
Half my family is Mexican so I’ve also grown up hearing and experiencing this issue firsthand from relatives. Border crossing was part of our vocabulary, almost nonchalantly, like it wasn’t a big deal.
Like: “Oh, your uncle is going to try to cross today, so we might have him over later tonight and have him here for a few weeks.” Or my grandfather was here for some time on a visa and he’d talk about his visa expiring and not knowing what to do. He’d wait at Circle K with other day laborers to be picked up to work in the fields for the day. But I was too young to recognize what exactly was going on. Over the years, I had lost sight of these experiences until 2006, when big marches were taking place. That rekindled in me the pains of the community, my community.
I volunteer for an organization called Crossroads Youth Intervention, a Christian organization in the heart of the inner city in Phoenix, Arizona. I work with at-risk youth. A lot of these youth are undocumented or have parents who are undocumented. We do activities with kids like color and draw with them, play soccer with them, tutoring, and taking them on summer camp trips.
That’s where my passion is — to foster a community of love and help them overcome hardships. I want to instill in children a sense of worth.
It’s heartbreaking to see these kids faced with the challenges of the current system. I think about one student in particular, who had graduated from high school, and loved playing football and wanted to play in college. But because he wasn’t documented he couldn’t throw that football. It made me want to pursue this issue more. If we love our community we have to speak out about the injustices in the community.
I’ve been inviting people to the march. My convictions are set so I am jumping on the opportunity. I have family in other states and am telling them they should come to it. Friends on spring break whom I’ve asked to join me are excited. We’re having an echo event here in Arizona for those who can’t go to DC, it’ll be a venue for people to raise their voices and make themselves known. With the political climate here, it’s a different set of challenges and it’s far from DC. We’re also doing some phone banking this weekend. I stress the urgency of the cause, and that this is our last push forward.
We encourage you become a fan on the March For America Facebook page and then invite your friends to march. Or you can sign up for the March For America on our website.
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Categories: Arizona, Faith, March For America, Washington DC, comprehensive immigration reform, immigrant rights, immigrant stories
