After Super Tuesday, Many Immigrants Worried

A Hispanic man’s sign during a protest against Donald Trump, front-runner for the Republican Presidential nomination, says it all. Photo By: Anadolu Agency)

By Felicia J. Persaud

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. Mar.2016: The morning after Super Tuesday and a night spent considering which Caribbean nation could be my next home while tossing and turning contemplating my future in the United States with a Donald Trump Presidency, I logged on to my Facebook account to find that many of my immigrant friends also were worried and contemplative of their future in the U.S.

Some, who have called this country home for more than 20 years, shared thoughts of going back “home,” while others boldly urged their own friends to get ready to move.  Many Caribbean residents were also concerned after reports of the wins by the Republican front runner seemed like an episode of “Mad TV” to them.

“Come back home,” many urged.

And then my phone rang and rang again. This time it was my aunt who called me to voice her concern and ask my opinion of her buying a property back home “just in case Trump wins.”

She then shared with me the concern of several others who had called her to express their anxiety over a Trump win as they know that the “Make America Great Again” mantra that is driving so many to support the son of a bigoted landlord, simply means there will be no place for blacks and immigrants in this country.

That has been made clear through the rhetoric being spewed by Trump from the launch of his campaign to now; his refusal to denounce the KKK’s support; his continued anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim comments and the treatment of the several black protestors who dared to exercise their constitutional right with a silent protest as Donald and his band of Pasty Nuts rallied.

The fear is palpable. Even Caribbean roots actress Zoe Saldana, who ironically is being criticized for not being black enough to play Nina Simone, recognizes thi. Soon after the election results she Tweeted: “We are living through scary times in America right now… #SuperTuesday.”

It gets scarier reading Trump supporters comments online, many of whom are drinking the kool aid because they finally have someone who can say what they themselves feel.

Take for instance this comment appearing on a Right Wing blog: “Instead of returning illegal Mexicans to the border for repatriation, you take them by ship into the Gulf of Mexico ….Tell them this is how they will always be sent back, it should cure them of returning, if they survive.”

Still I have to dig deep and believe for all of us that the madness will end come November and we will be saved the fear and global humiliation being heaped upon us.

I have to believe South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham’s analysis that the GOP will lose with the “nut job” at the helm because they would have driven away the fastest growing demographic in America forever with their bigoted rhetoric.

It is why immigrant voters must turn fear to action by ensuring they go out en mass to vote. And for those who still are holding on to their green cards tightly, it’s time to let go, become a citizen and vote, before that right is taken away forever.

The writer is CMO of Hard Beat Communications, which owns the brands News Americas Now, CaribPR Wire and Invest Caribbean Now.