Dear Mexican “Illegals,"

Welcome! Welcome to America. How are you, my relations from another nation? I hope you are doing well. I hate that they call you lovely people racial slurs and “illegals” but I will get on to that part later. You probably got really scared for a second thinking I was going to be a full blown racist white American. Gotcha!

I am Mohawk from the border-town of Akwesasne. I cannot completely relate to what you are experiencing, because my people were fortunate enough not to experience the same wage differentiation that you guys do down in Mexico. I am also from a reservation in the Northeast, so I cannot fathom the heat and exhaustion that comes with working all day in the fields in southern California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas for little money.

What I can relate to, more so than those of white America, is how it feels to live on your ancestral homeland for as long as history can remember, and then having that taken away. American society forgets that before the Louisiana Purchase, and even before the Spaniards conquered the place, that these lands were once inhabited by indigenous people.

History is easily forgotten when they do not want to remember it. As a person who deals with crossing the U.S.-Canada border daily, I completely understand the feeling you get when you are forced to cross a border that the invaders put there. To make matters worse, they make it seem like you are the ones invading their territory.

I think the concept they pose to people of indigenous heritage, like us, that they will be compassionate enough to allow a “clear path to citizenship” for “illegals", is hilarious.The only ones without a legal right to be here is them, but they conveniently forget that part when it comes down to it.

I know in the wake of the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election, you guys are terrified; scared of what will happen if Donald Trump takes office. You are probably all scared of this “wall” that Trump keeps on promising he is going to build. Trump keeps referring to the people coming in from Mexico as “rapists” and “murderers” because he is a bigot. This is no real reflection on your character, just his, or his lack of.

So in closing, besides welcoming you into America with open arms, I’d like to remind you that you are not in the wrong for wanting to come to America for better opportunities. In fact, you have a birthright to this land extending back farther than anyone could imagine, so do not ever let anyone take your dream away from you. I am going to leave you with a little saying my mother used to recite to me; We do not cross borders, the borders cross us.

Have a great day, and once again, welcome!

Sincerely,

A Border Crosser.