Cepeda: Trump era takes a toll on Hispanics’ faith in America

In contrast, non-Hispanics are feeling better about the U.S. because of their perception that national economic conditions are “excellent” or “good.”

In fact, there’s really no decoupling of the effects of Latinos’ negative feelings about life in the U.S. from the past three years of Donald Trump’s candidacy and presidency. During this time, anyone with ties to Latin America has been made to feel like a criminal, an interloper and a threat to America.

Is it really a coincidence that the year of feeling bleak about our future in this country was topped off with a holiday season that was particularly difficult for Latinos, who are collectively mourning the recent deaths of two children, ages 7 and 8, while in custody of U.S. Border Patrol? Such deaths hadn’t happened in over a decade.

Troublesome year

These tragedies are but another layer in a pile of woes: Trump started 2018 by saying that Haiti, El Salvador, and certain nations in Africa were “shithole countries.” In addition to the human-rights violations at the U.S.-Mexico border, deportations in the interior of the country have stepped up, as have the constant assaults on protections for young, undocumented “Dreamers.” And there continue to be worries about the economic and emotional pain Puerto Rico is experiencing more than a year after being nearly destroyed by Hurricane Maria. I could go on listing the indignities, challenges and low points.

But I won’t because, despite the bad news, there is always still hope for people who can trace their family trees to somewhere else.

Pew also reports, “When asked to assess how the U.S. compares with their country of origin, 85 percent of Hispanics say the opportunity to get ahead is better in the U.S., with similar shares among those who immigrated to the U.S. and those who were born here. Similarly, about three in four (74 percent) Hispanics say the conditions for raising children are better in the U.S. than they are in their country of origin. In both instances, opinions are unchanged since 2011 when the question was last asked.”

As a country, we are young — a scant 242 years old — and our history of accepting new people to the point that they become one of “us” is short. Put into perspective, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ending segregation and employment discrimination is only 55 years old.

We’ve got a long way to go, but we will get there, eventually.

I recently met up with a friend, a Polish immigrant, to talk about projects for the new year. He was sunny, telling me, “Esther, in this country everything is possible.”

That’s certainly the stance of the parents of the students I work with daily.

Families from Africa, Latin America, Eastern Europe and so many other places are all here despite the pressures, the impediments and the bare-faced bigotry they’re sometimes confronted with — sure to the marrow of their bones that this country is the best place for their children and grandchildren.

We’ll find a way to rise to meet our challenges in 2019. We can’t let our newest neighbors — or ourselves — down.