No matter where you go, everyone deserves the right to live with a happy, loving, and beautiful family.
In his 2024 presidential campaign, former and future President Donald Trump made a promise to launch an intensified new effort to detain and remove undocumented immigrants already in the United States. This includes threats to raid schools, churches, and other places usually avoided by ICE. These mass deportations would not only affect individuals but also the family members of these individuals. Any family with a member that is undocumented risks being damaged by a dramatically more aggressive policy.
In an article by CNN Politics, John Sandweg, a former acting director of ICE during the Obama administration, claims that Trump wants to deport men, women, and children with no reason besides getting rid of undocumented immigrants and their families as well. He stated, “There aren’t a million criminals to get. You’re talking about families, and that’s the real concern here.”
Immigrant families and especially young children are being affected by what’s going on in the country. Canal, a small neighborhood in San Rafael where 78% of residents are Hispanic, has started to see a rise of anxiety in children within these families. Parents and elementary school administrators are making these observations.
According to an article by the Marin Independent Journal, many [Canal and San Rafael] families are of mixed status, meaning some members of the family could be citizens while others are not, and families are constantly worrying about being torn apart. Marina Palma, a naturalized citizen from El Salvador said, “Here we go again separating families, separating children from their parents. It’s the end of the American future for some.”
I talked to Margarita Espinoza, an immigrant mother from Guatemala with two U.S.-born children who attend San Pedro Elementary School and reside in Canal. She said she was devastated by the way her children were reacting to the election results and how their anxiety had seemed to increase because of this in such little time.
“I hate that my kids are feeling fear because of what the [president-elect] has announced on the news. As much as I’m scared and how it affects me, I think they’re too young and too little to even understand what this actually means yet it’s affecting them severely,” she says.
Another Canal parent who is undocumented and wished to remain anonymous also said, “This is a repeated cycle in my children. My oldest child acted the same way ten years ago and now my younger son is acting the same: being in constant fear of something happening to me. There have been days where I wouldn’t go to work just to make sure my little one felt reassured.”
I understand this feeling. Being the daughter of immigrant-born parents, it hurts me to see children go through the same cycle I went through: being scared and worrying about losing my parents after seeing on the news that the president wanted to build border walls and break apart families for no reason.
Students at San Rafael High School agree.
Rebecca Magaña, a senior, said, “I hate that I’m seeing myself in these children. They are going to school trying to learn and concentrate, but the fear of losing their parents causes them to overthink and lose control.”
Another senior, Adan Gomez also said, “Eight years ago I would be doing homework at home but wouldn’t be able to focus because my parents wouldn’t get home from work. I wished that no other kids would have to feel the fear I felt yet now it’s happening all over again.”
Parents afraid of what could happen to their family are more likely to keep their children home from school, which can prevent them from learning and spending time with their classmates.
I was able to speak with Mayor Kate Colin, San Rafael’s first female mayor since 1847, who also has a passion for social justice and community rights. She said, “I hope that families and the children in our community know that we understand what is going on and we are continuing to fight on a daily basis to make sure everyone is safe no matter who they are.”
She added, “It is important to make sure that our children go to school knowing their families are safe, which is why the schools do have counseling departments who can personally support an individual child and their families who are worried.”
Colin also stated that there are places where resources and support are provided for anyone who feels like they are in need of support. SAFE Team is a mobile mental health crisis that is open 12 hours a day. Families who are struggling with mental health due to fear are always welcome to call the SAFE Team.
Canal Alliance is also another place to go in person or by phone if support is ever needed. There are multiple counselors there or people who are able to speak and provide needed resources for families.
It really matters to me that our city and community is actively working on making sure families remain together and that damage from more frequent and disruptive raids is minimized. It not only brings joy to me to see that San Rafael is taking the situation seriously, but it also reassures the little girl I was eight years ago.
Making sure our neighborhoods feel safe, especially for our young children, is crucial to their success in schools, being able to learn everyday without worrying about what may happen to their parents. It would be terrible for a branch of law enforcement to be responsible for causing panic and fear in an entire neighborhood of children.
Even though it’s too late to cast another ballot, the next six months will demonstrate the impact on our community. Keep in mind that even if no one in your family is undocumented, you may still lose teammates or classmates, and at the very least see how their lives are turned upside-down. This also applies to anyone who will be eligible to vote in the upcoming four years. Vote against any candidate who wants more families to be broken.
