Status
Location
Ten years on this side
Two kids and a long-term partner.
He speaks the language and follows the laws,
But he is second class
Because he lacks legal status.
He came when he was eighteen
On a whim
Because his brother asked him to.
He never intended to stay.
He never considered a life here when he first came.
Racial profiling sends him to jail
And ICE puts a hold on him.
He is in jail for four days,
Misses work and loses his job,
The job he uses to care for his family.
Bone chilling cold and a thin blanket keep him awake at night,
But thankfully he is separated from the hard criminals.
Outdoor time is looking at four concrete walls and a sliver of sky.
Meals consist of small portions that taste badly.
The sink, the only source of drinking water, is connected to the toilet
And he has trouble drinking it because it feels dirty.
When ICE takes him, they cannot believe his record.
Only a couple of misdemeanor traffic violations match his fingerprints.
The officer is surprised he speaks English.
He is surprised he does not drink,
Does not do drugs,
Is not in a gang,
And only goes to clubs to play music with his band.
He is told he can leave if someone picks him up,
But he only has half an hour.
He tells the guard to send him back to Mexico
Because it takes at least forty minutes
Since he lives in a different city.
The guard asks for my number
And he calls me.
After verifying he lives with me
Cares for me
Cares for our children
The guard says he will be waiting outside,
Waiting for me to pick him up.
This is against standard protocol,
But the guard has a heart
And this man has a good record.
After forty minutes of speeding,
He is in the car,
An excess of facial hair and body odor,
Wanting nothing more than a drink of water.
The days of telling my children
I do not know when their dad would be home,
Of having to try to explain why their mother is a wreck,
Has finally come to an end,
But the problem persists.
My family is okay
For now
But my children will grow up
Learning to question whether their dad will come home,
Asking if the police are the good guys or the bad guys
Because they might take away their father.
This experience has defined us
As a family.
He tries not to owe money
And his best friend has agreed to take care of us
If he is ever taken back to Mexico.
He has given up his family,
Which he has not seen in ten years,
To be here with his family.
I enrolled in college
Taking out tens of thousands of dollars in student loans
To learn about the law,
To be able to help others,
And to take care of my family in the future.
The children, still young,
Already act like the police are the bad guys,
Yet they do not understand why,
Not yet.
I plan the conversations I will have
With them
If anything happens.
I plan the conversations I will have
With them
When they are old enough to understand
And I wonder if their opinion of their dad,
The man that chases them and screams like Hulk,
Will change
When they understand he is second class
Here,
That he has no rights
Here,
That he could be taken away at any moment
Here,
And I wonder if they will be scared,
I wonder if they will be angry.