I was in my government class and it was the day before election day. My teacher was talking about how voting is important and it affects many people in various ways. She then mentioned deportation and families separating. For me that is a sensitive topic and I really do get emotional about it because of what I have seen. I have seen families get separated and to me that is just really heart breaking. Well I will share a story that I saw on video then my personal experience.

My teacher asked the class if we wanted to see a video about it and she said that is really hits you hard. The video showed a little boy on the bed and he was crying saying along these lines “you are not my mom anymore” “I don’t love you “. To me that is was very emotional and hard to watch.

I can relate so much to this topic and it is a really harsh thing to watch. One Wednesday I remember waking up and I had zero period that day. About 6 a.m. my uncle was up like usual and watering his plants. I soon overheard my aunt asking my uncle to go buy some snack for the kids from the store nearby and so he grabbed money with only work clothes on, socks with sandals, and left his phone.

My aunt was finished packing lunch and was all ready to go to work but my uncle wasn’t showing up. Our neighborhood at the time wasn’t a place that was very safe with that being said a lot of things were going through my aunt’s mind. We couldn’t contact him because he left his phone charging in the room. It was time for me to go to school and well I had zero period. I decided to just go to first because I was worried and wanted to help look for my uncle.

Once I got to school I couldn’t really concentrate because I was concerned about the situation. I of course needed to get my mind of it so I decided to tell one of my teacher that I trust. My teacher told me everything will be fine and I just went with it. That day felt like an eternity as if the time had stopped. As soon as the bell rang I rushed home because I wanted to hear what had happened.

My parents didn’t want to tell me but they eventually told me that my uncle was deported by ICE. By the look on my aunt and cousins face I can tell they were heartbroken. My mom told my aunt that she didn’t have to worry as much because she had her older kids working. My aunt didn’t care about the money even though it was an issue but she cared about the father of her kids, her soulmate. All together they would make the whole house laugh and everything was just better/fun with my uncle.

Many things changed since they deported my uncle and it really impacted the whole house. One thing is that we don’t celebrate dia de los muertos in honor of my uncle’s deceased parents. That was a tradition that we kept going, another is Christmas which is where the family spend time together. We still call and even face time but it is just not the same. He is with my grandparent my aunt’s side and well we hope nobody has to go through that pain. Just keep a look out because they usually use cars that don’t look like police ICE cars!!