To the Editor:
In the Sept. 10 issue of The Martha’s Vineyard Times, Juliana Da Silva wrote an article describing the story of Leandro Miranda, an illegal immigrant from Brazil living on Martha’s Vineyard (“Leandro Miranda followed opportunity and family to Martha’s Vineyard”). Mr. Miranda’s only publicity until that time had been regarding his misdeeds. He had been presented as a “bad” person who should not be in this country, and should be deported.
In Ms. Da Silva’s article, she and Mr. Miranda reminded us that every immigrant to this country is a person, a human being with hopes and dreams, a person seeking a better life, most often away from poverty, war and/or violence. In spite of the pain of leaving the familiarity of home, family, language, and community, immigrants are willing to leave their homes, endure the dangers and expense of travel, and sometimes the fear of deportation.
Ms. Da Silva and Mr. Miranda also remind us of the stresses and fears that an undocumented immigrant might feel that may lead him or her to illegal acts, for example, trying to evade the police.
With the exception of native people (already here) and African-Americans (brought here against their will), we are all immigrants or the descendants of immigrants. We or our families came here with similar hopes and dreams, a passion for a better life and commitment to working hard. We also brought our human imperfections and the probability we would make some mistakes. If borders were not open to us legally, and if pressed by harsh circumstances in our own country, or if our family were here, we might have come here without documentation.
It should not be hard to put ourselves in the shoes of Mr. Miranda. Thank you, Juliana Da Silva.
Cynthia Aguilar
West Tisbury