The Harsh Reality | Teen Ink

The Harsh Reality

May 25, 2017
By vanessa_m BRONZE, Austin, Texas
vanessa_m BRONZE, Austin, Texas
1 article 0 photos 0 comments


“I Donald John Trump do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect, and defend the constitution of the United States so help me God.”


I.


Maria:


Somehow the day managed to match my mood. It was raining and I knew this wouldn't be a great day. Going into school made me view things differently. I felt like part of me had lost hope and my life was gonna change. November 8, 2016 my life was turned upside down. My family was now in danger, they could be deported at any moment without notice. Donald Trump winning the election against Hillary Clinton was a devastation.
As I walked into class some of my classmates shared similar emotions as I did. We surrounded ourselves to talk about what had happened the night before. My friend Adriana told me that her parents were scared to go out now due to this situation. Trump wanted to “Make America great again,” by deporting all the immigrants and unfortunately our parents were some of them. I turn around to see the girl I hate, glowing with happiness, as if this day couldn't get worse but I knew it would.


Hannah:


I got up extra early today because my parents wanted to go celebrate. We had been supporting Donald Trump since day one and everything we hoped for came true, I could now call him President Donald Trump after he won against Hillary Clinton. I knew our lives were going to change and his promise about making a wall would come true, my mom said that was a blessing.


When I got to school I walked into my first period class. I saw all the Mexican girls sitting in a table crying and talking which I'm sure was about the big L they had just taken. And of course the girl I didn't like was there, Maria. I smiled at her as I pointed at my shirt which was a picture of Trump. I saw her get up and walk towards me. “Make America great again, may the power of our new president Donald Trump help unite our wounds. You are such an ignorant person for sending those texts,” Maria exclaimed. I admit I did send that text to quite a few people mostly because they assured me that Trump was gonna lose and I had just proved them wrong. “Clinton didn’t stand a chance,” I replied, “On January 20,2017 Trump will enter the white house and his plan will take action.”


II.


Maria:


I used to think what Trump promised to do would never get passed or actually put into action. But as the days got closer Inauguration day I began to get scared, because what if it actually happened. Schools all over Austin, Texas were planning blackouts and walk outs in order to protest Trump going into Presidency at the white house.


I walk up to Hannah the morning of Inauguration day. I knew she was bothered by the fact that many students from our school were going to participate in the walk out.


“Hannah, are you walking out today?” I exclaimed.


“Shut up Maria, there is nothing you guys can do because Trump is now President and whatever you do is not gonna change that. Soon your parents will be deported and I hopeyou leave with them too,” Hannah angrily responded.

 

“You’re so selfish, you don’t know what’s gonna happen and we will prove you wrong!”


Hannah:


The argument that I had with Maria got me really upset. Who was she to call me selfish, if anything she was being ignorant by attending the protest. She should be thinking of the people who have been in the US their entire life working for what they have and can change when intruders like her family come.


It was about to hit 3:00 p.m. and I was prepared to watch the nonsense that was about to happen. These people can’t accept the fact that they have lost and walking around downtown wasn't gonna change anything. As soon as they began to walk out I was one of the few people to remain in class. My parents had always told me that their voice would never be loud enough so we didn't  have to worry about Trump getting out of precedency.


III.
Maria:


As weeks passed by since the inauguration day and things began to change. They presented on the news as a new sheriff Sally Hernandez entered they began to show their power. Immigration and Customs Enforcement also known as ICE were all over the cities. They went around to public places looking for someone with a criminal record and ask around which eventually lead to many deportations.


The next morning my Mom, my sisters and I were grocery shopping and it was a really good day. I couldn't remember a day where we have bonded and laughed so much together. As we were load our car with the groceries a black suburban slowly passes by and stops. A man with shades asks, “Do you happen to be Julia Mendoza?”


“No sorry my name is Juana Gonzales.”


The man quickly got off his car and asked to see her identification papers and migratory status. I notice his name is Alex and he was an ICE officer. My sisters and I looked at each other with worried faces because my mom was an immigrant. He doesn’t even let us respond before he takes off his cuffs and starts putting them on her. We beg him not to take her but all she says is “Maria cuida a tus hermanas y blamable a tu papá para que venga por ustedes, las amo con todo my corazon.” When they drove away my Dad soon came to pick us up. I was in shock, how could this happen to us? What will happen next?


Hannah:


It was a regular day and I was spending the day with my Dad. We were going to go to eat lunch but first we needed to run some errands that my Mom needed. We were in the parking lot for quite a while since my Dad said he needed to make an important call so he stepped outside. As I waited I looked trough the news from the day before reading more information about what was going to be Sally Hernandez’s next plan of action on immigration, when my Dad said he was done with his phone call.


As we walked down the parking lot I heard people crying so I turned around just to see Maria and her sisters. I wondered what was going on but I soon realized Maria’s mom was being pulled into a suburban. I quickly recognized the man that was pulling Maria’s mom, his name was Alex. But I questioned what he was doing here and then everything pieced together. Alex was a close family friend who worked for ICE and I'm sure it wasn't a coincidence he was here. I remember telling my Dad that Maria had been asking me if I was participating in the protests on purpose because she knew that I was in disagreement with her.


“Dad was your important call Alex.”


“Hannah, you know someone had to do something about these immigrants and the sooner we get rid of them the faster we will ‘Make America Great Again.’”


The author's comments:

What I want people to get out of mt story is that they should really charish and appreciate what they have because others might have it worse. They should also put themselves in others shoes and try to understand what they are going trough. I was insiped to write this because of the current events that are happening. I wanted to portray how these things affect people and how it can make them feel since I have seen my friends an classmates experience these feelings.


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