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Thursday, January 24, 2013

Letty's Story

Leticia ("Letty") Cano is one of our 2013 Confronteras leaders. For her college applications, she shares the story of her parents deportation nearly seven years ago. Letty and her brother, Fernando, will be attending Confronteras together this year and are currently applying to colleges.

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I will never forget waking up to the sounds of loud and terrifying pounding on my front door on the night of January 26, 2006. As I quickly jumped from my bed and ran out of my room, I saw my greatest nightmare become a reality: my mom and dad being handcuffed and pushed against the wall by ICE officers. As an adolescent, I could do nothing but watch the officers search my home and abuse my parents. That was the last time I saw them.
     
There were no kisses, no hugs, and no goodbyes. Days, months, and years have passed since the event, but it is still vivid in my head. My older sister, my older brother (now my guardian), my twin brother and I have done our best to support each other over these past few years by becoming independent and taking on more responsibilities.

In an effort to cope with the absence of my parents, my sister became an alcoholic and as a result became very depressed. During my junior year in high school, not only did I have to worry about my parents, but now my sister’s addiction as well.  To this day, I take care of her and help her control her addiction. I have spent countless nights with her, lying on her urine-soaked bed in order to comfort her and help her sleep. Nights I could have dedicated to sleep were instead spent comforting my drunken sister.

The experiences I have gone through with my parents and sister have forced me to mature at an early age. Although I could have easily become a rebellious teen, I chose not to because I want to succeed in life in order to one day help my parents get their residency in the United States. In order to achieve this, I have put all of my focus on school so that I may one day become a psychologist. A psychologist that will help people who have been traumatized by horrific events in their lives or are battling through depression. I do not want others to go through what I have and have no one to confide in or help them.

In spite of my parents’ absence in my life, I have learned to manage my time effectively so that I can tackle the most rigorous courses available at my school and still take care of my sister. When I graduate from college it is not just for me, but for all of the people who have assisted me.             

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Welcome! Meet the 2013 Delegation

Meet our incredible 2013 Confronteras Team at one of their most recent trainings in preparation for the Confronteras 2013 trip this February.

Ten local high school youth will travel to the USA-Mexico border to develop a deeper understanding of immigration, human rights and the role of state and national policy in immigration. This is an annual trip sponsored by the Child Leader Project-- a local, youth-led non-profit dedicated to creating safe spaces where young people engage issues they care about in real ways.

This will be our second delegation for Confronteras after the start of the program last February 2012. The initial idea was conceived by CLP intern and leader, Sara Crowder. Youth leaders in the Arlanza community identified "Immigration and Deportation" as a top concern for their communities. In response, CLP youth and young adults developed the Confronteras program to provide skills, life experiences and travel experiences that would address the issues that youth identified as most important to them.