Content warning: this article mentions topics of sexual assault, racism, and political violence.
I wondered if this article was even worth writing after Election Day. To know that for the next four years, I’ll have to live in a country led by someone who believes I shouldn’t have the right to exist in the same land they reside in. I had to wake the morning after election night with the resignation of not knowing what would become of me and my family as Donald J. Trump claimed a seat in the White House for a second time.
I’m an immigrant, one that even with legal migration status in the U.S., is not able to vote. My life and rights depend on those of the American people, and an overwhelming dread devoured me the night of Nov. 5 as I observed each state turning red. There are millions of immigrants—both legal and illegal—who have contributed to American society for decades, and yet, are treated as a pest by many members of the Republican Party.
Trump ran a hate campaign. One based on generating a fear of those like me, who came to this country to escape dictatorship or genocide. To him and many of his supporters, I am a promiscuous woman who came here to give birth to a herd of children, and my father and brother came to this country to “take American jobs” or kill others.
There’s no mention of how my father has worked two jobs for the past year, because the economy made it impossible for my family to afford anything, especially the education of two children. As a non-citizen and someone who has yet to be granted asylum, I was not offered any financial aid from the government or university. Therefore, to receive an education, my father, mother, and I have had to make sacrifices.
We are working people, decent people, who came to this country to escape a dictatorship that was going to kill us. Venezuela, in particular, Nicolás Maduro’s regime, a continuation of that of Hugo Chávez, has been murdering millions of Venezuelans for the past 25 years. My people are suffering a genocide at the hands of a dictator who only cares about filling his pockets with money.
I am not a criminal, nor is my family, nor are the majority of immigrants from Latin America. So, that’s why, I can’t comprehend how a man guilty of sexual assault and 34 felonies could be a better option than Vice President Kamala Harris, a woman with experience and education.
In observing the Harris campaign and the Trump campaign, the difference was clear. One advocated for the American people, including the middle and lower class, immigrants, women, and members of the LGBTQ+ community. The other spouted lies and racist remarks to fuel the toxicity of his followers.
It feels suffocating to be unable to voice my beliefs, to depend on the human decency of others and hope they do not vote against my rights. Each time I watched a Trump speech, I perceived in him the dangerous and dictatorial behaviors of Maduro and Chavez. But, it didn’t matter.
It didn’t matter how much I told people about how dangerous his behaviors were, about how I could see the dread that would overcome the entirety of Venezuela once those (fraudulent) election results were called at midnight. I was told I needed to get educated about this country, that I was not even American, so I should not speak about elections I can’t even participate in.
I wonder if my vote would have mattered in this election, especially when it was whispered in the solitude of my room, while my peers and friends were able to make theirs loud in public. I felt useless that I could not help in this election and vote for the choice that would keep democracy in place. I belong nowhere in this country, and after the results of Nov. 5, this knowledge was enhanced in my mind.
So, I am here to tell Americans that there were thousands of people in this country who, like me, made their silent vote for democracy. We contribute to this society, we tire and humble our bodies for jobs we are overqualified for because our degrees from third-world countries are meaningless in this country. Immigrants are a key factor in how the U.S. has been able to become a first-world country, but to politicians like Trump, we are nothing but garbage.
I watched people in my country die from hunger, lack of medical treatment, and directly at the hands of the government. When I see Trump speak so loudly about being a “dictator for a day,” or “mass deportations,” my skin starts prickle and my heartbeat quickens, because I don’t know what will be of immigrants once he’s in office. To have a candidate say he will be a dictator is terrifying for someone who was born and raised in a dictatorship that prevails to this day.
That’s why I chose to finish this article—because if I do not speak now, my voice might not ever be heard. For this reason, even when I have no choice in this country, the choices you and other Americans make will still affect me. Your vote is not just for you, but also for me, my family, and millions of immigrants.
Therefore, as a country, we must stick together. We must strengthen our union, which will be threatened once Trump and a Republican majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate take power. Kamala Harris’ concession speech made me feel a sort of safety I had been deprived of since that Tuesday night. I believe she was right when she said, “Only when it is dark enough, can you see the stars.”
Dark times will come, but if we unite, we’ll be victorious. Democracy must remain in this country, and if you hold the privilege of being a citizen, I simply advise—that when you go and cast another vote that will influence the U.S., I hope you keep in mind the lives of those who don’t have that privilege.
Vote for those who can’t—vote for unity, not division.
Vote for democracy. Vote for equality for all.