By: Roxanne Castillo
HOUSTON – Many years ago, citizenship really didn’t matter when it came to law enforcement. If he drove a vehicle and the police stopped him, citizenship was never questioned. If you worked for a company, citizenship was never questioned. Taxes were always deducted from your check and it was understood that you had a job and came to work every day, regardless of citizenship or not.
Where are we now in the United States of America? Where do we find ourselves as humans, as a race and as a community, in regards to the laws and our citizenship?
50 years ago, if a Hispanic emigrated from Mexico, Honduras or El Salvador, he came by any means necessary, whether legal or illegal. They came to the United States for the American dream, obtained employment for themselves and their families. Hispanics could get work anywhere and citizens were never questioned. They worked in the field and in companies. These were jobs in everyday stores, however, the America we live in now doesn’t even allow you to drive a car without worrying about citizenship.
Due to the color of our brown skin, I should be worried about being stopped by the police, worried about not being a citizen of the United States; Fear that if you drive to work picking up your children or running errands, such as going to the grocery store, the police could stop you. Not only can you be asked for a driver’s license and insurance, but also the citizenship police have the right to ask if you are a citizen. So what happens if you are not a citizen of the United States? Are you going to jail? Is your car towed? Are you finally deported to your home country? What happens at the end? Something has to change, there has to be a difference!
And so, that’s part of the reason why we established this newspaper. Being able to say what we have in mind, how we feel and what we are thinking. What to do? On a positive note here I am. Here we are trying to provide guidance and real events to survive in America today, where people risk their lives for the American dream.