Dear Uncle,

A few weeks ago I heard that you are planning on crossing the border, and to come back to achieve your American Dream. I wish I could tell you that I am excited about you coming here, but I really worry for you. Yes, I love you and would love to see you again after 3 years, yet at the same time, this country isn’t prepared for you. I don’t mean to scare you but this country is Anti-Mexican sentiment. Let me start off with an example, In May 1990, three white men in San Diego got drunk. After a while, one of them  said that he wanted to “shoot some aliens.” From his house one of those men, using a rifle, shot and killed a twelve-year-old Mexican youngster who was attempting to cross the border. The man was sentenced to only two years in jail for involuntary manslaughter. Evidently, this killer did not value the lives of undocumented immigrants.
          

Throughout the years, white aggression toward immigrants has sometimes reached violent, even hysterical levels. These publications attack Latinos, African Americans, Native Americans, and Asian Americans, who are often called "aliens,"  "wetbacks," and “immigrants.” It is not just ordinary Americans, but powerful whites as well, who create the negative image of "aliens" invading the country. For example, we can look in the San Diego case that the United States judge did not place much value on a Mexican immigrant's life. This is just one example out of many. People such as the newly elected president see us immigrants as a threat to society, rapists, thieves, etc. He has made things pretty clear. Clear enough that he has frightened many immigrants, including myself.
             

People don't think that there could be a possible solution but I do. I think that if the president would just give us a chance to show him and prove that not all of the immigrants are the same. If he were to know us better. He would find that we, Mexicans and Americans share many values, among them family, hard work, aspirations, a desire for justice. He needs to stop judging 122 million people for the behavior of a few thousands. I mention the president the most because many Americans look forward to him. Things have gotten worse since he has been around judging us the wrong way. I was hoping November 8 would put an end to the wave of anti-Mexican sentiment felt across the country.
             

I don’t want to entertain false hope. I can not assure you that tomorrow I would still be here with my family, or that I might be crying because I have been obligated to leave them. We might not last long here. If you get to make it here you would see that Mexicans have already started to wash away like footprints in the sand. You would hear the sadness in other families eyes. You would understand the reason I am writing this letter.
         

Much love,

     Abi