Dear Mr. Trump,
You are running for President.
Now, I understand why you believe you are the most qualified for the job. Trump Tower speaks for itself. However, it is one thing to run for President, and another to cut off millions of potential voters within seconds. I am talking about your speech in which you said, “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re sending people that have lots of problems. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists.”
Besides the fact that this quote is a blatant generalization and based on stereotypes, I would like to make something very clear. The United States of America was founded by immigrants. These people left their homeland because they believed they could forge a better life for themselves and their successors, and cultivate freedom within their communities. As a Mexican-American, I have seen a similar pattern within my own family. I have seen my grandparents and my parents callous their hands, and break their backs for their beliefs, with one belief shining above all others -- the belief that America was, and is, the land of opportunity.
What the Mexican people are proud of is also the very same thing they are trying to escape from. Their country is torn by corruption, riddled with drugs and violence and crime. The vast majority of Mexican people making their way into the United States are desperate for work, for pay to support whatever is left of their families. They are the working class who smile each time they come up to my register at my workplace; I am the only one who knows how to speak to them in their native language, Spanish. They are my best friends' parents who invite me warmly into their homes, hiding the past and the poverty that surrounded them as children. They are my grandfather -- bilingual and raised on a cattle farm in Guadalajara -- struggling to find work with no more than a third grade education.
These people are not rapists. They are not drug runners. They are not bringing crime. Yes, they may have many, many problems, but only as many as the next human being trying to survive in a fallen world. I will give to you that no matter what, with any influx of immigrants, not all of them will have good intentions. This is inevitable.
What I want my generation to understand is that racism, hatred and stereotypes are not what this nation needs. Our nation needs a leader who is prepared to face the reality that the Mexican people are here to stay. I am one of many, many children born of Mexican descent, trying to make the American dream survive. I want you to give my people a chance.
My friends, my family, my livelihood, all the parts of my life, are forever influenced by my heritage. I can’t take this away or change it even if I tried. I want to be proud to be a Mexican, but I also want to be proud to be an American. Mr. Trump, America needs you to try -- to try to understand what it truly means to be an American, and what it means to turn their dreams into a reality.
