"Dear Mr. President..." A DREAMer's message to the next leader of the United States.
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00:00The future president should focus on immigration.
00:03Immigration has been weaponized by different political parties,
00:08and right now we're in desperate need of leadership,
00:11where we see undocumented immigrants as an essential part of our nation,
00:16where we uplift them, nurture them, instead of demonize them.
00:30Dear future president, my name is Reyna Montoya, I am 29 years old,
00:44and I am the founder and CEO at Aliento, a community-based organization where we
00:50transform trauma into hope and action with the immigrant community.
00:54I am a DACA recipient, and being a DACA recipient in this moment
00:58has been filled with a lot of anxiety and stress.
01:02Growing up as an undocumented kid here in the state of Arizona
01:06was very nerve-wracking, and I had to face a lot of barriers from not being
01:10able to pay in-state tuition to constantly driving
01:14with the fear of getting deported. Unfortunately for me, a deportation
01:18meant to be sent to a country where my dad
01:22ended up fleeing violence. He unfortunately was kidnapped,
01:25and this is something that is so deep and personal to my heart,
01:29because I don't want no child, no kid, to constantly have sweaty hands and a big
01:35beat in their heart, thinking and worrying about,
01:39this is the last time that I'm gonna see mom and dad.
01:42I know that as a nation we can do better.
01:56Dear future president, I wish that when you become elected you work with
02:01your Congress to ensure that we're not longer
02:04seeing so much suffering, pain, and trauma just because we lack an
02:08immigration status. There's 17 million mixed immigration
02:13status families, and we need you in this moment to take
02:18leadership, to work with Congress, and pass a
02:22legislation that is gonna allow us to live in peace,
02:26and to continue to contribute to our neighborhoods,
02:30to our cities, to our state, and to our nation.
02:34I want every single person in the United States and around the world
02:39to know that no matter what the outcome is in this election, there's a lot of
02:44work to be done. We have a unique opportunity to do
02:49We have a unique opportunity to touch our hearts and to think about
02:55the future that we want for our children, for our
02:58grandchildren, but more importantly, who are we going to
03:03be right now? Who are the type of people that we
03:07want to be and that we will be? Are we gonna be people that are closing
03:11doors and creating barriers? Or are we gonna be those
03:16who our grandchildren are gonna be talking about 20 years from now
03:20about how we will trailblazers and how we said
03:24we are gonna lead with love, we are gonna lead with compassion,
03:27and we're gonna welcome the stranger.