- Do you think it's like oh okay,
I might have done this and that
so maybe I should be deported,
or do you think it's really unfair?
- I think it's completely unfair.
- I feel like it's pretty fair.
(calm instrumental music)
- Hi. - Hi.
- Hi, I'm Daisy.
- Nice to meet you.
- Hi Crystal.
- Hi. - Maru.
- Nice to meet you Maru.
- So, what country did you come from?
- Mexico, I came here since the early 90s.
- I could kind of tell from your accent cause I like it.
(laughter)
- Thank you I like my accent too.
- I've been to parts of Mexico, like San Martin.
- Is your family from Mexico too?
- My dad is.
- I used to go back and forth, I had a visa,
but the visa expired and that's what ICE is saying now.
They are beginning deportation procedures I guess
maybe because my visa expired and I stayed.
- What is ICE?
- An agency, a federal agency that was created
to hunt down immigrant communities and deport us.
It's called Immigration Customs Enforcement.
For short we call it ICE.
- Ice, ice, baby...
- Yes, but not that cool.
(laughter)
- Has ICE ever tried to come for you?
- Yes, I got this letter saying that I was supposed
to go to a court so they would decide whether
I stay in the country or I get deported.
- I'm lucky that you're able to stay here.
- I'm still fighting my case, it's not been resolved.
The judge hasn't decided yet.
- I didn't know that you're an illegal immigrant.
All I heard was a person that got arrested by ICE,
and I was kinda nervous because usually what I hear
is people that are really really scary.
- I'm not a scary, well, according to ICE I am,
but yes, there's this image that immigrants are dangerous,
and if you think of illegal, it doesn't sound really nice.
We actually say undocumented people
because it's about a piece of paper.
- Are you trying to get the paper?
- I've been trying to get the paper
for many many many years now.
They make it really difficult for us.
And so they created this label of illegal
because then it's easier for them to excuse the treatment
that they are inflicting on our communities.
- First of all, everyone in the US
actually is immigrants except for Native Americans
that were first on this land, so if they start
kicking immigrants out, United States might
be like a abandoned island, because of the ICE.
(laughter)
It could be mostly abandoned.
- So how did you feel when you read the letter.
- I got really really sad because I thought
what if I get separated from my child.
But then I got really angry because
ICE made my daughter cry, and then I told my daughter
everything is gonna be okay, don't worry.
We're not gonna let this bleep bleep bleep
get away with this.
I wanted to go public, and at the same time
I didn't want to risk my family, right?
But I had this inside of me that said
we have to do something drastic because nothing changes.
We call media, and I said I'm undocumented,
I wanna stop deportations.
- As an immigrant, I don't know if I'd do that.
I understand it's for a good cause,
but on your emotional health, I don't know...
- My emotional health will be
horrible if I don't do anything.
- People that move to the US are not puppets
to go ahead and be played around with.
They need to be treated like actual human beings.
- Absolutely.
- I just really hope that they'll let you stay.
- Me too.
- Do you think it's like, oh, okay, I mean I might have
done this and that, so maybe I should be deported
or do you think that's really unfair?
- I think it's completely unfair.
- I feel like it's pretty fair.
- So let me give you an example.
Have you ever heard this guy Justin Bieber?
- Yes.
- You know where he's from?
- Canada.
- Yeah, you know he's had some problems with
driving under the influence.
Have you ever heard of him being deported?
- No.
- But then there's this guy 21 Savage, and
ICE began deportation procedure against him, like me.
What is the difference between
Justin Bieber and 21 Savage?
- Justin Bieber is only from a small place away,
and then 21 Savage, he's probably from a long way away,
and he's probably foreign, or more foreign I should say.
- What color skin is each of them?
- Justin Bieber is a white person, and then...
Yeah, 21 Savage is black.
- And that is the difference.
So, I'm not saying Justin Bieber should be deported,
but there's a clear difference
about who ICE believes should be in the country.
- If you were to be deported,
which I'm pretty sure you're not gonna be,
what would happen?
- I don't know what I would do
because I haven't been in my country for over 20 years.
It's very unsafe, especially for people like me
that are activists, so I would probably not stay in Mexico.
But also I would have to find a way
for my daughter to be with me somehow.
- You have lot of problems,
but I'm pretty sure you can solve them.
- So why do you think people migrate to
the United States in the first place.
- They're thinking that maybe I have a better chance here,
or maybe I could relive or renew my life almost.
- There's a lot of reasons why people migrate.
I haven't met a lot of those people.
I bet there's a lot of them.
The community I get to hang out with
come here because there's no other choice.
Family members are being killed.
A lot of people are being persecuted,
so when people make those decisions,
it's really really hard.
I haven't seen my family in 23 years.
- Wow, I've seen people say
ICE has newly arrested a illegal immigrant,
and now they're gonna leave and everything's gonna be safe,
but they're not gonna be safe, so why are we caring
about all of ourselves and why aren't we caring about like,
"Oh, maybe that person was actually moving here
because they're trying to be safe."
- You're right, ICE likes to create this messaging
that we are dangerous just because we're immigrants.
- How do we get rid of ICE?
- We take the money away from them,
shut down all the detention centers,
let people stay with their families,
and give a fair process
for all of us to stay in the country.
- That's actually a really good idea.
It gave me a idea of where you take a lot of the people
that were victimized by ICE and sent away,
and helping with their stuff to get back,
and maybe getting their homes back.
And the people who worked at ICE should probably
go ahead and be more helpful where
maybe have different jobs where not separating family.
- Yes, actually, why is it so easy
to talk to children and not to adults?
(laughter)
- Thank you, I was running for Vice President of my school.
I lost this year, but I'm gonna compete again.