Dear brave kid,

I want to start by saying that I am so, so sorry that you have to go back to that place that you left a couple of weeks ago. I cannot imagine living in a place where corruption, violence, malnutrition and drugs are just around the corner every time you want to go and buy some candy from your neighbor’s store.

I know that you took the train, you swam across a river and you ran in darkness to get to this country. I am not sure if you did it by yourself, or if you were accompanied by your mother, father or a friend.

What I do know, or at least imagine, is that you must have a big heart in order to do that. It is not easy to do it, but you conquer your greatest fears and you decided to change your path, and yet here you are, facing deportation.

I have to admit something to you, brave kid. I don’t like using the word deportation. It is such a detached word. When I close my eyes and I think about deportation, I think about all the things that can come to your mind.

I might not be completely accurate, but I know that the word deportation is anything but positive. Facing deportation will shatter your dreams, will tear apart your family, will make you cry and be angry, and will make you question your life. I can only applaud your bravery and tell you that you have my sympathy.

I will tell you what I think is going on with this immigration crisis that United States of America is facing. It is easy for us as U.S. citizens to ask you to go back “home” and to ask the government to secure the borders. At the end of the day, the majority of the people against you living here do not know how it feels to put your life at risk just to fulfill your dream.

I heard that there is a governor who suggested deploying National Guard troops to the border to secure them.

I know, you are not a criminal — I believe you, and I believe in you as well.

Sadly, not everybody thinks like that and many have said that you, brave kid, poses a threat to our national security. It sounds ironic to me that the United States of America, the best country in the world as some say, consider that you, brave kid, are a threat to our national security. It seems as if it is a crime to bring with you hope, dreams and a dose of love.

I know that some of the people that do not understand you may say that they want you here, but you need to enter the country in a legal way. That is a fair point. It is hard for us to understand what it is to be desperate, to fear for and to make big decisions in our lives.

I am going to tell you something, brave kid. You deserve to be here, but in this place that many call home, it is not great all the time. If you have an “exotic” last name, a different skin tone or an accent, you will have to put up with racism. You will hear horrible comments against you that might make you think twice if you really want to be here in the U.S. As soon as you start working, some bosses will try to exploit you and threaten you about calling the immigration agencies — that is how “brave” they are. Watch out for those people, but remember there are many others who are ready to give you a hand and support you.

Brave kid, you have taught us a lesson. America needs to keep you, the kids, and re-examine their priorities. It is easier to deport the harmless, but it is harder to take a look at what our problem really is. If we want to deport something, if we want to send something “back home,” it should definitely be the hate, the ignorance and the stupidity.

We keep forgetting that immigrants built America, and now we want to send you back home. Brave kid, I can tell you that this world is full of contradictions, and that we are not doing anything to help it. The ones that can do something, the policy-makers, have not decided yet to pass the immigration reform that will help so many in this country.

Please be safe, brave kid. If you face deportation please know that you did not fail your family — we, America, failed you.

Sergio Martínez-Beltrán is a journalism sophomore. Reach him at smartinez@statenews.com.