They're immigrants. Their kids are US citizens. And they're scared
"We have Muslims targeted, we have African Americans targeted, we have seen Jews targeted. Now I see that any type of immigrant is going to become more of a target. I don't think Trump necessarily is supporting that stuff, but it's the environment he's creating, and to an extent, the unintended consequences of the environment he has created," Chepote says. "I have talked with my wife. What should we do about that? Should we revisit public schools? Consider home schooling or something? That is something that we do worry about."
Chepote says his job brought him to the United States from Peru 13 years ago. He's proud to be a US citizen. But he says since the 2016 election, the country he loves has changed and he feels he must speak out to help his children before it's too late. Many immigrants like him, he says, hear ominous echoes in President Trump's words.
"In the country where I come from there's also been racism like this in the past. It's like a virus. It's like wildfire," he says. "Once it starts, it's very difficult to stop it. ... We still have a chance."
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A year ago, she confronted a parent whose son had told another daughter she was going to get deported.
"I told him, 'Your son is bullying my daughter ... My daughter isn't going anywhere, she's as American as your son.'"
Since Trump was elected, the mother says she doesn't feel safe for her kids anymore.
"We have a 14-year-old son that is brown-skinned, although my husband is Italian American. My husband and I do not feel safe letting our son ride a bike alone in our neighborhood, in case someone wants to call the cops on him. So we are hyper vigilant," she says. "When my kids are riding their bicycles where I can't see them, in case the cops stop them, I tell 'say your name and address, and say you want your parents because you're minors. Don't answer any question.' I make them repeat that every day, every time they go out."
Before Trump took office, she says she didn't see this much hostility.
Back then, she says, she could be at the supermarket and not fear about someone calling the cops on her family.
Now, when she goes to a store or a restaurant with her family, she brings three or four types of identification, she says. "ICE tried to deport a veteran that is Hispanic and who has an American passport," she says. "The same could happen to me."
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"As a precaution, I carry in my wallet the photocopy of my US passport in case I get stopped. I never used to do that, but you never know, you might be stopped for racial profiling," she says.
When she talks to her daughter, Bravo Groe warns her and her friends to carry a copy of their passports. They might encounter people "who are coming out of the closet now with their hate and racism," she says.
Her kids speak Spanish to each other. They're fluent. She speaks to them in Spanish, too. But now, after Trump's racist tweets, Bravo Groe believes things are spinning out of control:
"I'm really concerned about the news. I need to remind my kids that what happened to them back in 2015, the president is now saying the same things in public," she says. "If the president thinks that a congresswoman needs to go back, can you imagine all the people that voted for him? Do I need to go back because I'm the same as that congresswoman, a naturalized citizen?"
https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/25/us/immigrant-family-fears/index.html
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