Martin Moreno was volunteering at Virginia’s Cardinal Elementary School on a recent Friday afternoon when he was asked a familiar series of questions.
The two students he was working with, one from Mexico and the other from Guatemala, inquired about his favorite soccer players and where he鈥檚 from.
Moreno and his friends help during the hourlong after-school program that allows students to interact with art. After the introductory questions, a girl he was working with asked,
The interaction, Moreno said, is the latest in a series of conversations he鈥檚 had with fellow students about fears and anxieties surrounding U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids and deportation efforts. Those feelings, he said, extend to his classmates who were born in the U.S., but are still worried about being bullied or having their family separated.
Moreno attends Yorktown High School in Arlington.
鈥淚t鈥檚 terrifying hearing the stories … including people in my grade and younger kids, talk about ICE, the fear they have, and how they don鈥檛 want to be deported,鈥� Moreno said. 鈥淎ll these sort of things are traumatizing. For the past few months, it鈥檚 just been terrible.鈥�
The interaction with the elementary schoolers caught Moreno off guard. But with the kids seemingly enjoying the art exercises, he didn鈥檛 want to ask them any follow-up questions.
When the students finished the activity, Moreno asked them whether they felt safe where they are.
鈥淭hese kids are 8 years old,鈥� Moreno said. 鈥淭hey do know about the fear of being deported, and not just being deported, but ICE and all these sorts of things. They鈥檙e really interesting, the way they talk about it and the things they know.鈥�
According to over 520,000 people have been deported as of October of this year. It’s all part of the Donald Trump administration’s efforts to expel millions of individuals who are in the U.S. without legal permission.
Though it’s difficult to pinpoint how many children have been separated from families that have been deported, migrant children and children of parents without legal status can be sent to shelters for nearly a year.
Moreno said he has spoken to teachers about the anxieties he鈥檚 heard about, but in most cases, educators aren鈥檛 鈥渁llowed to talk about personal things with students. Therefore, they can鈥檛 really help with that.鈥�
When he hears directly from someone about a similar worry, he recommends a distraction and urges them not think about it.
鈥淏ut it seems like they’ll always have this trauma and they can鈥檛 stop talking about it,鈥� Moreno said.
The conversation at Cardinal Elementary motivated Moreno to write a story about his experience.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not just about the immigrants itself, it鈥檚 also about how the U.S. has always been a place for people to come, and now it feels like it鈥檚 not our place anymore,鈥� Moreno said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e seeing this a lot with kids. Kids don鈥檛 even feel safe, or they don鈥檛 feel welcome in their own country.鈥�
“As a country, it鈥檚 really devastating to see these things happening,鈥� Moreno said.
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
漏 2025 海角精品黑料. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
