Despite vehement opposition to the Trump administration’s policies on immigration, Oscar chose to stay home on Saturday as hundreds gathered in downtown Aurora for the “No Kings” rally at McCarty Park.
It’s not that he has no skin in this political game. The 19-year-old college student is a U.S. citizen whose parents are undocumented immigrants from Mexico. But instead of attending the rally, one of many held across the country, Oscar agreed to pull together an interview for me with his Aurora family – much appreciated as I’ve been trying for weeks to find such a group to talk personally about the impact “Operation Midway Blitz” has had on their lives.
There are many local residents living in fear since federal immigration enforcement raids have accelerated in the Chicago area, Aurora included. I’m well aware of that high level of anxiety and mistrust because I’ve asked many contacts – social workers, politicians, city and school officials and activists – to help put names and faces on this complex but compelling human rights issue.
The responses I got back echo the one from a young woman in this country through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program who operates a small business here and has no family in Mexico.
“Don’t you understand,” she said, when explaining why she would not speak up even with anonymity. “I lose my whole life.”
That’s why I was so grateful Oscar agreed to this meeting at the family home on Saturday. It really was the only time he could pull the group together because of school and work schedules. Even then, his stepfather – whom he considers his dad – could not make it because of his factory job. But I was able to sit down with Oscar – I’m using only his first name – and seven loved ones, including three siblings, ages 16, 13 and 7, and his mother, who unlike her Aurora-born children, is at risk of being detained or deported.
With her eldest as the interpreter, she talked about the anxiety she’s lived with since coming here from Mexico as an 18-year-old to escape an impoverished life. She arrived with no parents or siblings, no documentation and no easy path to citizenship because the process required a close adult family member to petition for her legal status.
Oscar’s mother is trying her best not to let the children, especially the younger ones, pick up on her emotions. Any tears are saved for private, as are the hard conversations. And she wants to make it perfectly clear what keeps her up at night is not so much her own safety as what will happen to her kids if she and their father are no longer around.
To help ease that burden, papers have been drawn up that would turn guardianship of his siblings over to 19-year-old Oscar. That has given her some peace of mind as she heads to her full-time job at a factory and her part-time job at a fast food restaurant.
“She’s always working so we can have a better life,” says her second oldest, a high school junior who rates his anxiety level at an “eight out of 10” but tries to not let that distract him from school work. Still, the teen admits, he can’t help but worry as he heads home from classes if “this will be the night” his mom or dad won’t return.
Both undocumented parents do what they can to minimize risk. Staying away from their jobs is not an option, but most other activities have been dramatically reduced. And a brand new Ring camera system gets checked every time there’s someone at the door, including when I showed up as expected and on schedule.
“I worry all the time,” says Oscar’s girlfriend and mother of their infant, who becomes emotional when talking about the fear factor. Her own mom is beginning the citizenship process and described it to me as “nerve-wracking to say the least” because it allows officials to “look at me with a fine-tooth comb” as they “reopen my entire file all over again.”
Though also a U.S. citizen, Oscar’s girlfriend admitted she’s even nervous when taking their baby for a walk, noting that, “if I’m around people I’m OK. It’s just when I’m alone with my daughter I get so scared.”
Which is why Oscar says he hopes the rhetoric in this country is toned down so there can be a future where this little girl will never have to worry about getting stopped because of the color of her skin.
Currently in Waubonsee Community College’s HVAC training program, his plan is to switch to criminal justice after he said a relative was shot and killed during an incident involving the police earlier this year. My first impression is that this young man will make a great addition to law enforcement: He is polite, respectful, easy-going and flashes a big smile, even when talking about tough issues.
It’s his sense of responsibility, others tell me, that makes Oscar special. His goal when he turns 21 is to petition for his mom to become a U.S citizen, a process he hopes will only take a few years because of the child/parent relationship.
In the meantime, the family is trying to find ways to bring normalcy back into their lives. When the father gets home from work that afternoon, the plan was for all to go out to eat to celebrate Oscar’s birthday.
“We are,” he told me, “just a hardworking, loving family who wants to do better for the next generation.”
dcrosby@tribpub.com