A Fulfilling Life Endeavor Anonymous

“¡No podemos, mi amor!” Recently, while visiting my abuela, she told me she couldn’t afford to buy me my favorite caramelo. Growing up, I spent most of my summers with her in Argentina. On our walks back from the farmers market, we would always stop by a kiosko to buy Rhodesias. On this day, she couldn’t afford it. President Macri’s policies had made things like candy too expensive.

Around that same time, Trump was saying: “They’re bringing drugs. They’re criminals. They’re rapists.”

His words stung. My parents aren’t criminals. They immigrated to this country to live the American Dream. Under Trump’s policies, this would have been impossible. At age 17, my dad fled Uruguay before finishing high school. He had to learn a new language and worked two low-wage jobs to survive. He is now a small business owner who serves hundreds of people in our community, and has inspired dozens more including myself along the way. This makes him a champion, not a criminal.

In 2016, during one of the events I organized for the Hillary campaign, all the attendees were asked why the campaign meant so much to them. After a quick “raise your hand if…” poll, I realized that 30 out of the 32 teenagers in my living room that evening have immigrant...