This past week, Joaquin Luna dressed up in a tie and suit, kissed his mother goodbye then shot himself in the head. He was only 18 years old. He didn’t kill himself because he was being bullied by his classmates or because he didn’t feel loved. He killed himself because he thought his immigration status as an “illegal immigrant” would hinder his success in life. He felt, like many other undocumented immigrant youth are feeling right now; hopeless.
In 2010, syndicated columnist and author Dan Savage created a YouTube video with his partner Terry Miller to inspire hope for young people facing harassment for being gay. This was in response to a number of students taking their own lives after being bullied in school and Dan Savage wanted to create a personal way for supporters everywhere to tell LGBT youth that, yes, it does indeed get better. But as we watch the video of Joaquin’s mother crying and as thousands more await their educational fate on the passage of the DREAM Act, can we look at our undocumented youth and tell them it gets better for them? Where’s the outrage? Where are the celebrity videos telling our youth that it gets better? Where are our politicians whose sole purpose is to represent the people they serve?
Our students want to learn and give back to society. They are willing to work hard and fight for their dreams because that’s what our parents taught us to do. We can no longer sit by and wait quietly for Congress to pass the federal DREAM Act because they have shown us that their personal political and financial interest is more important than Joaquin’s desire to become an engineer. The blood of this young man is on your hands. All of you who didn’t have the courage to pass the DREAM Act in the lame duck session last December.
Joaquin was bullied but not by his peers. Politicians, shock-talk radio hosts and other xenophobes have attacked our students on television, in the news and on the radio. We are told that we are not welcome and should be “shot and killed” in places like Alabama, Georgia and Arizona. Our students are internalizing this hate and political bullying and are now resorting to taking their own lives. This is preventable. Our students just want to learn. Is that so difficult for you to understand?
Does it get better? Are you working to make the DREAM Act a reality in your state? Please join the fight and do something about the current situation because our Dreamers need help. The only way it gets better is if we all join in and help our students succeed in passing the DREAM Act at a local, state-to-state level. Get involved and let’s fight for Joaquin’s vision of equality. Let’s hold them accountable because we cannot let this happen again.
For more information on how to get involved with the DREAM Act please visit the following sites:
http://reformimmigrationforamerica.org
