I give thanks to God every day for his great love and protection. For many years Casa Juan Diego has given us refuge and we are grateful for all they do for us.
I am a mother who loves her two sons. The older was born in Mexico and the younger was born here in Houston. My husband and I did not have the intention of staying her to live in the United States, but we realized that in our country we did not have many options. And we knew that our sons would have a better future here.
I always worried more about my older son. When he arrived in this country he was a baby in diapers. He grew up like all American children. He discovered that he was undocumented when they asked him, “and when will you go back to Mexico?” I remember how uncomfortable he was. He did not know about international barriers, he didn’t know about rights to be born here or there, of expired passports, or of crossing borders without official inspection. He did not know.
He knows that he is Mexican, but he does not know how to be so. He knows little about Cinco de Mayo, about Emiliano Zapata or Benito Juarez. What he does know is all about George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and other leaders who fought for the greatness of this great nation, and like so many other youths he embraces the dream of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I Have a Dream” (that he proclaimed 50 years ago). No to discrimination, yes to equality and respect for all. A dream difficult to make reality, but it is a living dream and gives hope to many young people.
As a mother I ask God to move the hearts of the Congress people to make this dream a reality. My older son who arrived here as a baby in diapers is now in a community college. My younger son who was born here is now in a prestigious university. The difference was the birth certificate and the social security number. My dream is that both of them will graduate from the university so that they will have a better future.
I know that hundreds or thousands of young people are in this situation and I want to ask all the mothers: Let us unite in prayer each day as we awaken that the all-powerful Lord will touch the hearts of the members of Congress, Senators, and the President so that these young people can very soon see their dream become reality.
Houston Catholic Worker, Vol. XXXIV, No. 5, November-December 2013.
