KARINA FLORES

Senior

keflores@goshen.edu

I’m a little embarrassed now about the way I reacted in the first few days after learning that Donald Trump is going to be the next president of the United States. My initial reaction was utter shock that formed into burning anger and finally subsided into deep fear and despair.

In order to understand my reaction, you have to know that I am a Mexican American. My father immigrated to this country from Mexico. My best friend was brought to the U.S. illegally when she was 3 years old. Her mother came to the U.S. as a Honduran refugee during a natural disaster but snuck in her 3-year-old daughter. Another one of my closest friends was brought to the U.S. as a child and is an undocumented student with a dream of becoming a nurse.

My fiancé was brought into the U.S. illegally from Mexico when he was 12 years old to be reunited with his mother.

The fear was very real that if Trump follows through with the promises he made during his campaign, I could lose the people I love the most.

So, the days following Election Day, I cried and began preparing myself for the worst. I was thinking, If my fiancé gets deported, we could live along the border so that I could cross into the States every day to work, and If my fiancé’s work permit is taken away, we can have a courthouse wedding and move into an apartment to save money. I even thought, We can move to Canada!

The reason I feel a little embarrassed now about my initial reaction to the election is because I should know better than to worry and stress about the future. As a Christ-follower, I know that I should “not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, present [my] requests to God” (Philippians 4:6).

I don’t know what God is doing, but the Bible also says that “[God] changes times and season; [God] removes kings and raises up others” (Daniel 2:21). I have to have faith that God is in control and that no matter how much I oppose the things Trump has said, I have to pray for God to soften Trump’s heart and give him the wisdom to do what’s best for Americans and immigrants alike.

To those who are also afraid, I will say the same thing that Jesus said in Mark 5:36: Don’t be afraid; just believe.