Deportee

Donald Trump and Steven Miller’s ethnic cleansing campaign can’t be seen just as numbers of people deported. These are real life people with real life stories that need to be told. This Times piece lets a few of the deportees tell their own stories. One of them is 54 years old. He had lived in the United States for 51 years. You should click and read but here’s just a few of them repeated here.

Miguel Mendoza, 28 years old, 20 years in the U.S.

How they dropped us off in Laredo was very inhumane. Armed border agents threw sandwiches on the ground and told us to leave and never come back. I love America, but I don’t like how they’re treating people, especially immigrants. They see us as dogs or worse.

José Humberto Castro, 43 years old, 19 years in the U.S.

American breakfast is the best. I miss the taste. I liked going to this restaurant for my hash browns, bacon and orange juice. They always smiled at me, they remembered my order. I know why Starbucks puts your name on the cup — it signals that you’re part of this place.

Laila Martinez, 25 years old, 13 years in the U.S.

All I ever wanted was to finish high school, go to college, get a job. I wanted to go to the University of California to study marine biology. At first, I wanted to be a vet. But then I thought, “Why settle for vet when I can go and explore the sea and study marine life?”

You can see why Trump’s fascist followers wanted these people kicked out. Wanting to live the American Dream, go to college, get coffee at Starbucks. Definitely an existential crisis for whiteness happening here.