Cuban-Americans must effect change for immigrant families

It is easy to feel overwhelmed with the heavy deluge of news constantly being thrown at us. However, it is now more important than ever that we do not become jaded.

While a majority of the population may feel that the separation of immigrant families is longer pertinent, this could not be further from the truth. As of August 16, 2018, there were still 565 children stripped away from their parents/guardians. Frankly, that is 565 too many.

As Cuban-Americans, many of us had the privilege of being welcomed to the United States to realize the American dream, to secure a better future for the path of our children and to safeguard our loved ones from persecution and oppression.

Those of us who fled from Cuba after the Revolution found a long-standing home in the United States. For most of us, our only path was to seek humanitarian relief as political refugees. As Cubans, we were given what some may consider uniquely preferential treatment. The United States welcomed us with open arms and allowed us to apply for lawful permanent residence.

As political refugees fleeing the brutal dictatorship, we faced many obstacles when arriving in the United States. Our family members, many who were proud professionals in Cuba, now washed floors, lived in rat-infested apartments, and relied on the generosity of others to survive. For the most part, we were lucky; we survived and thrived — together. Children were separated from their parents only when parents made the difficult decision to send them ahead when it was not viable to leave as a family.

Those families who arrived intact and decided to remain as a single unit were allowed to do so because Americans understood the immense value of family. Americans comprehended the special and inherent dynamic that envelops a family unit. While Americans have always prided themselves on being a nation of laws, they have equally championed the notion that the “family unit” is at the very foundation of American society.

The Trump administration’s continual “Zero Tolerance” policy contradicts not only our nations’ values as a safe haven for those escaping violence or persecution, but it is also a fundamental affront to our beliefs in the importance of family. These policies leave little open to interpretation and to remain inert to this inhumane operation of separating families is not only egregious, but also takes us back in history to places and times we should never revisit.

Cuban Americans have struggled together as a family, we have suffered as a family, and many have realized the American dream as a family. We have also achieved many successes and have become a powerful base in the political arena. We, as Cuban-Americans, can effectuate change and in fact have a moral obligation to do so. Because of our many political and financial successes, we are in the unique position to take a stand, to demand humanity for those seeking refuge in our country.

The plea to end these barbaric practices and to reunite these children is a call to all citizens and lawmakers. It is a plea for humanity to triumph over malevolence, for love to conquer fear and for families to be protected, not divided. We, Cuban-Americans, are a group of individuals who are all too familiar with degradation and tyranny. We understand more than most how a violent and oppressive government can have a longlasting impact on a person’s psyche. As one who immigrated at the age of 3, I can only imagine the horror of being taken from my family. How would I have recovered? Can anyone recover?

Under this administration, those seeking refuge must now decide which fear is more palatable — the threat of torment, torture, and death or the risk of losing their children at the United States border? We urge everyone reading this to remember the words that have greeted millions of immigrants who have arrived on this soil seeking a better life: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” These words are a fundamental aspect of the fiber of opportunity that is known worldwide as the American dream.

We are a nation of immigrants, of ideas, dreams, aspirations, and we hope a country filled with compassion for all individuals. We as a group of immigrants who fled, fought and survived must now ensure that others are afforded the same opportunity, through a process that is not only lawful, but also dignified and humane.