A More Decent Human Being

By Natalia Ibarra Mendoza / Fall 2020

Dear friend,

Social system are known to be huge parts of the societies that we live in, also many of the social systems that we have I our societies tend to affect how people behave and act. One of the most important social systems that we have in our societies are law, religion, art, science and so on, personally I have navigated through many of them but there is a couple or at least one that has affected my life the most. There is different parts and faces that are within the social system of the law and, what I mean by that is that there is different groups and norms that are within these broad topics that is the law. Even though we follow the law every single day, even when we don’t realize that we do because we are so accustomed to doing so, there is different aspects of the law that tend to only be focused on specific people such as immigration and that is what I am going to focus a bit more on.

When it comes to the law and specially immigration law there is so many structural obstacles that are affiliated within this social structure/system. In immigration alone there is so many inequalities and the sad part is that many of those inequalities not only come from those that have not immigrated themselves but also some mistreatment can come from those that know the struggle that is immigrating which is the most heartbreaking part of it all which is one an ideological obstacle that many of the immigrants face. Many people hate to be confused or placed in the same category and sadly when people think immigrants they mainly think Mexicans, for some reason people forget that there are many other countries than just Mexico and Latin America and that Mexicans are not the only people that migrate. Which is why I believe that Mexicans get such a bad reputation because every single immigrant is just assumed to be a Mexican. Mexicans having such a bad reputation when it comes to immigration you can just imagine how much harder they have it with immigrants not having their backs and with the people that don’t want them to immigrate to the states. Believe me when I say that an immigrants worst enemy is another immigrant that considers themselves white. Just because they achieved what they always wanted after coming to the states, instead of helping and doing good they turn their backs on those that are just starting. When you are an immigrant you start form the bottom and you work yourself up, you not only have to prove yourself of what you are capable of but you also have to prove others that they are wrong about you. There is so many stereotypes that come with being an immigrant specially a Mexican immigrant such as that, we are violent, rapist, drug dealers, dumb and honestly just straight up criminals.

I dealt with the biases all my life, my family has been seen as one of those families that broke the law to be here my mom was even once arrested because ICE believed that my parents’ marriage was fake and that it was all just because my mom and my stepdad got married and we got our residencies to live in the U.S. My mom was held in a cell for around 72 hours, I was only 6 years old and to this day I can still remember that day with so much clarity. But those hardships that my family faced as immigrants only made me stronger. Being an immigrant also taught me that not everyone is a good person but also that not everyone is bad either. It’s almost like you develop a seventh sense on who you can and cannot trust, and believe me when I say trust your gut and that instinct because those feelings are there for a reason.

The best advice that I could give anyone that is about to navigate what is the immigration system, is to remember how strong you are, the hardest part of the whole process is getting the strength of living your home and leaving your loved ones behind. Never lose sight of where you want to go and what you want to achieve. Another piece of advice that has helped me throughout my life as this advice can fit into anything in life, and that piece of advice is to proof everyone wrong, when someone tells you that you can’t do something or that you are not smart enough, strong enough or that you are not enough to achieve one of you’re goals, just prove them wrong, don’t engage in argument or in confrontation when people are anyone tells you these things, just simply kill them with kindness and prove them wrong. That will not only show that you are one hundred percent a better and more decent human being but you are also proving them wrong without even fighting them but without them even knowing they were a motivation, with their hurtful words they only motivated you to be better than them and be better than what you ever believe you could be.