After Joe Biden was elected president, there was an immediate sense of relief among my friends and family. We felt underrepresented under the Trump administration, and for a second it felt like change and prosperity were possible.
The thing that frustrates me most is that I am unable to tell you whether Biden has done anything since his inauguration.
For many of us, I think we wanted immediate change, quick and beneficial answers that would help our country as a whole, but everything in politics takes time.
Biden’s immigration bill would help create a much more direct pathway to citizenship for the millions of individuals living in the United States without legal status.
With a divided Senate, it has been difficult for this bill to fully pass and has received substantial opposition from Republicans.
Since then, there has been a surge of child migrants seeking asylum near the U.S.-Mexico border, and many are blaming Biden for this. The flow and increase in migrant children has caused the Biden administration to struggle in placing them in short-term holding facilities.
Biden promised us better immigration policies yet here we are still keeping children away from their families.
While it is easy to blame Biden for this sudden surge, the reality is that there is a lot more at hand.
The United States was nicknamed long ago as the land of opportunity.
Despite the constant chaos and divide amongst political parties and ethnicities, it is still better than the never-ending war and poverty they are facing in their home countries.
Had my parents stayed in Mexico, my family could have been completely different. We are all college educated and successful, but in a different country those same opportunities are not as easily available.
That is why I understand why parents and families are sending their children here— because we have the power to help, to change the outcome of their future.
When asked about giving a message to those considering crossing the border during this time, Biden said, “We’re sending back people.”
I do not have all the answers, I am no politician but I am the outcome of a successful immigration.
Sending back people is not the answer. It is an immediate solution to an ever growing issue.
They will come back more determined than ever. It has nothing to do with the immigration policies we have or do not have, but instead the constant danger they are facing in their home country.
We need our leaders in office to put their differences aside and settle on a concrete plan. One that does not involve overcrowded housing facilities and racist treatment.
We need guest visas and work permits. We need a legal and efficient way of doing things. Our country is diverse and beautiful, but we need to learn to embrace that and harness the idea that the United States is the land of opportunity.
This issue will always remain, and the country will continue to argue and decline if we do not find a solution soon. Our issues do not lie with our immigration policies necessarily, but with the people behind them.
I hope that in the next hundred days we see some sort of change, some sort of progress. I would like to see a world more accepting and inviting of all ethnicities, cultures and religions.
Why are we not learning more about our neighboring countries and their day to day obstacles? Why are we not using the resources that make us a “first world” country to help those around us that need it most?
Our political leaders need to learn the basic rules of humanity. They need to work on protecting the youth and supporting the innocent.
We need to stop looking at the world through a skewed lens. We need to open our hearts and come together to form a better future, one that exemplifies our diversity and generosity.