Fun story on this:
I worked on Hillary's campaign in Florida this cycle (not so fun of a story), and was stationed at an early voting site in Hialeah in Miami. The community is predominantly Cuban and Republican, but I was out doing voter protection and at the time, was intrigued by the amount of Trump supporters there.
After showing up in my Hillary swag, I was immediately swarmed by about 25 Trump supporters who began yelling in my face and attempting to intimidate me. After brushing them off, I noticed about 15 folks dressed in "Cubanos para Trump" t shirts chanting "Build the Wall! Build the Wall!"
I am originally from California and of Mexican descent, and to see an immigrant community chant this shocked me. I went up to the leader of the group, told him my background and asked calmly, "Can you explain this to me?"
His response? "We had to travel shark infested waters to get here. Mexicans only have to cross a 2,000 mile border. We escaped communism and will not allow this country to become communist. We work in our communities, Mexicans don't."
I followed up with, "So escaping drug cartel violence and human trafficking doesnt count in your mind?"
He dead panned looked at me and said, "Give me a break."
I for one am happy POTUS has done this. No other immigrant group in our country receives this special treatment, and the complete lack of empathy displayed that day was appalling.
lol..Sorry for laughing, but this sounds all too familiar. My pops actually had a farm where he had about 20 of your countrymen (many women and children) living on the property..had kind of a strip of apartments attached to the main house. Hardcore Republican, to the point of writing Reagan. He saw their struggle as his struggle. They paid nothing to be there. He just asked for help around the farm.
I remember the difference in tone from my dad and the city I was growing up in (Miami). I was made responsible for looking after a Mexican kid and kinda showing him the ropes around school..helped that I spoke Spanish and the teachers really didn't know how to deal with him..I WAS SEVEN. Like, what the fuck?
He caught an onslaught of abuse from the Cuban kids. I never understood it. I knew he sounded a little different, but he still spoke a language we all understood. Yet, he was this "thing" to be angry at. Again, it was a sentiment that I grew to notice among those I spent so much time with. Always bizarre, but I started to understand.
As I grew older, the story never really changed, just the faces. It went from hating this dude (Francisco Navarro..miss you, my friend), to an Ecuadorian family just moving in the neighborhood. To an influx of Haitians. To just..ANYONE who was deemed different..and it always rubbed me wrong.
No one was here for a handout. These folks were all running for there lives to a country that had hope and promises. They were trying to escape the madness they were trapped in, like anyone else who takes these insane voyages here. They were hard workers, and take no shit parents, trying to teach their kids the same values you'd teach your own.
The fact that anyone that has gone through such trials would shit on another human being knowing they went through a similar situation? That shit always made me bitter..
For all my father's kindness, I lost him to one of these people he cared for. Can't say I didn't have a resentment towards them for a time..I was just a kid, and was surrounded by people trying to blame the whole of Mexico for his death. In the end though, I moved passed all that. These are people in need. We shouldn't be from the same place to empathise with each other..we're all human beings.
Again, sorry for laughing. Even more sorry you went through that bs. Just know that caring people are out there, man..don't let shit like that get you down..