It’s sad that, when deportations happen, the most affected people are children. Families are being torn apart by these deportations in America that take place every day. The sad reality is that the Trump administration doesn’t care; he just wants them out of the country. An Arkansas teacher recently shared a story about a student whose parents were recently deported. However, there is a somewhat happy twist to this story thus far, and it’s all thanks to a teacher.
Nat (@nat.norwood) posted a TikTok video captioned, “We have to do better.” She explains that she’s a high school teacher and experienced something upsetting and frustrating. She says, “Basically, one of our teachers is now going to be fostering one of our students.” The reason? The child’s parents were deported. The child was going to be homeless and the Department of Homeland Security showed up at the school. However, Nat said the child is “brilliant and kind” and they weren’t about to let her be taken into foster care.
Nat continues by saying that she doesn’t care who you voted for, but “this is not the way to handle immigration.” She explains that children should have a “bright future” and not have to deal with something so devastating. She asks people to understand that the child’s parents are gone and that she’s now living with a teacher. Nat said that she understands parents in these desperate immigration situations. If it meant breaking the law, Nat said she would do whatever it took to “get her kid out of a desperate situation.” If most of us dealt with that scenario, I’m sure we’d do the same.
Commenters solidly agreed with Nat on this issue. One person stated, “If you support this… you’ve absolutely f*****g lost the plot and I don’t want to hear you talk about god, religion, or morals because you have none. This is not normal. This will NEVER be normal.” Another person spoke on behalf of the teacher who stepped up for the child at Nat’s school, “Your co-worker is a hero.”
One devastated commenter shared their own personal story: “My son came home devastated today bc his Palestinian friend has to go back to Palestine. He asked me why the US is sending his friend home to die. He’s 9. I have no idea how to navigate this conversation.” Nat replied to the commenter, “This shouldn’t be something they have to think about as kids. I’m so so sorry for your kiddo and his friend.” Putting children and their parents in this situation is just cold-hearted evil, and there’s no way around that. Here’s to hoping future generations learn that this is not the way to handle things. Maybe their experiences will guide them to be the change in the world, and we can only hope for that.
