A Gold Cage is Still a Cage
The US is made up of millions of immigrants yet most are stuck in a free country where they do not have the freedom to leave – literally speaking, yes, I am aware anyone can leave the country if they really wanted to but that’s not the point I'm trying to make. Most immigrant families cannot achieve anything similar to the “American dream” in their home countries which is what drives them to come to the US and provide that dream for their children.
Even then, they don’t make enough money with the labor they provide for in the US to go through the expensive process of becoming a citizen and those who make it to the process can wait up to 10 years. Having experienced the deportation of my father and living in a mixed-status family, I have lived up to every challenge as a child of immigrants. I am aware of how easily freedom can be taken from the undocumented. Never once have I hesitated to take an opportunity, especially when going abroad because I have the privilege of being a US citizen but feel guilty knowing that I have many family members who can’t do the same.
Freedom is being allowed to travel abroad, not worrying about being separated from your family and taking part in elections that continuously decide your life – which is why naturalization or a pathway to citizenship is so important. A song that resonates with me is a song called “Jaula de Oro'' (The Gold Cage) which talks about the struggles of being undocumented in the US with language barriers, deportation, not being able to visit home therefore feeling like a prisoner in the US, aka the gold cage.
I cannot completely take away from how far the country has come and how freedom has been earned in the US. With the 4th of July coming up, my cohort and I decided to take a walk through memorials to remind ourselves of where freedom came from for US citizens and the importance of celebrating Independence Day because you can quickly lose sight of that when your community is constantly being targeted. As US citizens and children of undocumented immigrants it can be difficult to celebrate freedom in a country that only praises your freedom and continues to politicize and pass harmful policies towards your family and millions of immigrants that provide a lot here.