My message: Don’t make immigrants feel any less

Dear future president,

We live in a world where we always look at the negatives of every problem. Immigrants, are they really the problem? Or is it just the lazy people with “rights,” referring to the people who actually have a right to be in this country that cause these problems?

As a member of an immigrant family, I can tell you that my family are not criminals.  They didn’t come to this country with the intention of turning this place into something bad. They came for better futures for themselves and their children. I am not saying every immigrant is good and came for good reasons because there are some immigrants with criminal records.

A big problem I see with our immigrant families is that some tend to feel less and less every day because of what people say about them. Because of us―immigrants, people have what they have today. We build the buildings they work in, we serve and cut the food they eat. Do not speak less of immigrants because they’ve put in as much love to this country as you have.

I know Latinos aren’t the only ones suffering from racial profiling and I know I’m not alone in this. We are one nation, we shouldn’t discriminate against our own people, especially the immigrants that make up this country as well.

Sincerely,

Emily Lopez

Los Angeles River High School

Los Angeles, Calif.