A teenager has gone viral for his emotional testimony at a council meeting at the city of Hillsboro in Oregon where concerned residents gathered to talk about ICE activity in their community.
The 16-year-old broke down
A 16-year-old boy, who was identified as Manny, told the Hillsboro City Council at a meeting held on Tuesday, November 4 about his worries that ICE might take away his immigrant parents.
He broke down crying as he spoke to the community.
The boy expressed his worries
“I just want to tell you guys that I’m scared for my parents to walk out their house because I might not be able to say goodbye to them if they go to work,” the 16-year-old said.
“I might not ever be able to say bye or see them again if you guys don’t side with us.”
The meeting had three hours of testimonies
“And I’m scared because of it, because they fought so hard to come here and choose a life for their kids,” the boy added.
The council meeting saw three hours of public testimony from Hillsboro residents who shared their fears over ICE’s controversial enforcement, per NBC affiliate KGW.
This comes as part of Trump’s plan
ICE’s recent actions come as part of President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration, as reported by KGW and the Hillsboro News Times.
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Trump has vowed to implement ‘the largest deportation operation in the history of our country.’
It’s been causing controversy
The way that enforcement has been getting implemented has sparked controversy with reports of US citizens being swept up as well as families getting divided and more similar cases.
But the White House has insisted that these policies are only about law enforcement.
A person from DHS has spoken about it
Speaking to NPR in April, Tricia McLaughlin, an assistant secretary with the Department of Homeland Security said, “We don’t want to have to be in the position where people are being arrested and detained.”
“But if they’re in this country illegally and they don’t leave now, that’s what we’re forced to do.”
The boy urged council members to help
At the city council meeting, the 16-year-old urged council members to oppose the federal enforcement.
He said in his emotional testimony, “I hope you guys do side with us because we are fighting for our rights and we are getting treated like animals because people judge us by the color of our skin and the way that we talk.”
He expressed his fear of what could happen
“I’m scared that all of us are going to have to fend for ourselves,” Manny said.
“I’m scared that one day at school that I’m going to be held by [officers] I don’t know — people that are covered, people that I can’t identify because they wear masks and they don’t properly ID themselves.”
Manny asked the council to ‘do something about it’
“I’m tired of telling my mom and dad every day after school, ‘Have you seen the new video of ICE pulling someone over because of the color of their skin?’” the boy went on.
“I really hope you guys do something about it, because I do want something to change,” he added. “As a 16-year-old, I shouldn’t be scared. I should be focusing on school.”
