The end of the year approaches and most students are ecstatic to finally by leaving the suffocating abyss of high school. Look out world: class of 2018 is coming right at you! Yes, this is a very happy time of the year. Seniors are finally going to put to practice what they’ve learned in their 13 years of schooling.

Considering some of the factors most graduates take into account after high school:

• Competition for college and jobs
• Financial concerns
• Career path
• Health concerns
• Sleep deprivation
• Staying in touch with friends after high school
• What? You’re supposed to be an adult now?
• New responsibilities
• STRESS

It’s no wonder the American Psychological Association (APA) found that 41.6% of college students have varying degrees of anxiety. Yet all this trouble should lead to a chance at being successful. A chance for a better education and a higher paying job to sustain a family in the near future. But many will not have that chance. Latino immigrants at Timpview won’t have the same opportunities as their classmates. Because of their illegal immigration status, many colleges withdraw scholarship offers. With the increasing chance of getting deported, is it worth the chance?

Some of our Latino immigrants participate in Latinos in Action and work for what they can do in Timpview regardless of their circumstances. Aylin Rodrigues, the president of Latinos in Action shared, “Being with people who are like a second family to you is beyond amazing. Latinos in Action is a place where we learn to love others and ourselves. It is a place where you learn your own talents and see the people around you do the same.” Every other week, Latinos in Action engage in community service projects, tutoring kids, and visiting Centennial Middle School to teach the importance of going to college.  

An anonymous Senior recalls her father warning her that because she wasn’t born in this country, “You shouldn’t get your hopes up for much”. Especially now that President Trump has made it shockingly clear that he has no sympathy for those migrating from “sh**hole countries”. This anonymous student partakes of the Immigration policy enacted by Barack Obama, DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) but because of the emotional rollercoaster she’s endured since Trump’s election, she is losing hope for the future. DACA let’s people who came in the country illegally as children receive a two year, renewable period of deferred action from deportation and become eligible for working in the US, though it doesn’t lead to a path of citizenship. In a country made up of immigrants, the anonymous student is just as American as anyone else. The roots of her mind were nurtured on American soil. Why shouldn’t she be allowed to soar?

Texas and 24 other states threatened to sue Trump last year if he didn’t remove DACA because it was unconstitutional for President Obama to have enacted it in the first place. That September, Trump announced he was going to remove DACA and told Congress he’d give them 6 months to come up with an alternative. To pass policies for immigrants is in the hands of Congress, yet Congress is putting off the issue. We need something done and we need a reform now. Many are losing opportunities they’ve worked hard to have.

Those protected under DACA are also known as Dreamers and the issue has pushed many to far, with some committing suicide, some being diagnosed for anxiety and depression. Nayeli Chavez-Dueñas, PhD, associate professor at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology, reported that Dreamers have a higher risk of suicide and depression because of the excruciating wait and the increasing uncertainty of receiving help. The 6 months given to Congress ended in March, and Congress has refused to enact a replacement for DACA. “Instead of focusing more on what is constitutional, we should be focusing on doing what is right for these kids” concluded Timpview’s English teacher Mrs. Van Orden.

On April 1st, Trump tweets in all caps: “NO MORE DACA DEALS” as he grudgingly complains that the liberal laws of “Catch and Release” are making the border more dangerous as more “Caravans” are coming. Let’s fact check.

There has been just one caravan that Trump is referring to which people came here fleeing from gun violence in Central America and that now resides beside the wall in Tijuana, Mexico, hoping they will receive permission to pass. They’ve traveled tightly together as a form of protection from kidnappers, muggers, and rapists stalking along the migrant trail. Trump declares that the big flow of people crossing the border want to take advantage of DACA, when it’s evident from their struggles, they just want to escape the violence of the country.

If anything, Trump should be proud. During Trump’s presidency there has been a 40% drop in illegal entries on the southern border hitting a 46 year low.  As Trump and Congress refuse to lift a finger, the replacement for DACA won’t happen, an overwhelming amount of Timpview graduates will become subject to deportation.

That’s when we lose.

We are the future of the country. We are the future politicians, teachers, doctors, voters, and so the list goes on. We are the ones who will bear the weight of the American flag and who will change the future, for the future generations and for ourselves. We must lift our people because they deserve the chance that the American dream promised to every color and shades of our people.

“We cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget about progress and prosperity for our community…Our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations and needs of others, for their sakes and for our own.”

-Cesar Chavez