Award-winning student news since 1978

The Brookhaven Courier

Award-winning student news since 1978

The Brookhaven Courier

Award-winning student news since 1978

The Brookhaven Courier

The Courier questions candidates part 1

By Andres Reyes

Senior Staff Writer

As the race for the 2016 Presidental candidacy approaches, questions are being fired from all sides and The Courier is weighing in.

As part one of a three-part op-ed series in which two Courier staffers will give their thoughts on a possible candidate. First up is Republican front-runner Donald Trump.

Let’s give a huge round of applause to Donald Trump. Not only has he opened my eyes, but the eyes of millions of citizens. And no, they are not all documented.

I don’t mind Trump’s stance on illegal immigration. In fact, I am grateful he has brought up the subject and mentions it to every reporter who has the opportunity to interview him.

Trump is a wildly successful businessman, but the more nonsense he spuouts, the more people start thinking about issues people who live in America illegally have to face.

Almost all of his interviews include his view that illegal immigration is bringing crime to the U.S., or some anecdote about how Mexico, China and Japan are stealing our factories and jobs. Then Trump caps his diatribes off by stating he will be the president who “makes America great again.”

But I’m not buying into the hype.

I’m tired of this endless loop our country is stuck in. The idea that our jobs are being stolen is poisoning our country. Yet every single election, politicians declare their plan to end the forigen theft.

But why do Trump and his supporters think people are just being handed jobs? Aren’t Americans supposed to seek their own jobs and have pride in the fact that they worked hard to gain and maintain employment?

“The U.S. has become a dumping ground for everybody else’s problems,” Trump said in his presidential announcement. “When Mexico sends their people, they’re not sending their best … They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems [to] us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists.”

A small percentage of that may be true, but Trump seems to think Mexico is deliberately sending people to the U.S. just to bug us. Trump says these things as if Mexico is supposed to be exporting their best and brightest, like we are the New York Yankees snapping up everyone’s best players.

The problem lies with this country. Deporting those who entered the country illegally isn’t going to magically make all crime go away. What the American people should be focused on is making sure parents are teaching their children morals, and that children without parents are not forgotten. That would be a more effective way of stopping crime in this country.

So many values are being lost, and it’s just going to get worse if we continue to blame others for our problems.

Trump says he wants to build a wall to keep people out, but that’s not a solution. Maybe if America worked toward creating clearer pathways to citizenship, or worked with other coutries to stifle inequality, illegal immigration wouldn’t be an issue.

As much as I dislike Trump, I won’t be worried if he becomes the president. In fact, I don’t think any Hispanic should be worried. There are bigger fish to fry.

The biggest problem I have is with the Latino population. If those who are living in America illegally want to stay here, they shouldn’t just be afraid of being removed from the country.

They should act. Not by crying out that the world isn’t fair, or going on Facebook and posting pictures of Trump’s hair, but by getting their documents ready and becoming U.S. citizens – it is that simple.

Latinos need to try their hardest so they won’t be deported, not only by becoming legal citizens, but by contributing to their communities; by proving Trump’s stereotypes wrong. More Hispanics need to become the doctors, lawyers and engineers of the world. If they would like to stay in the U.S., nothing is stopping them.

Rapper Armando Perez, also known as Pitbull, said in an interview with Univision reporter Jorge Ramos: “[Trump] is not stupid. He is not arrogant. He knows he is pushing buttons, and he is going to keep pushing that button so they can keep talking about him.”

However, Ramos warns us to take Trump seriously by going to vote against him. “It is so important to go out and vote,” Ramos said during an appearance on the show El Gordo y la Flaca. “16 million Latinos will go out to vote next year. Barack Obama won by fewer than 5 million votes, so 16 million Latinos will have the power to elect their next president.”

If by chance Trump is elected president, would it really be that bad if we were deported anyway?

From what I can see, people in Mexico are more passionate about their hobbies, sports and love. The routine life here in the U.S. seems like a step down.

The only difference worth noting is you’ll probably make more money in America. But what good is money if you’re not happy? I want Hispanics to rise to this spectacular occasion and show that we belong.

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