Staff Reports
Ah, the modern-day saga of self-deportation! Who would have thought it would become a reality show, complete with emotional goodbyes and family suitcase-packing montages? Yet here we are, hearing the tale of the Mendoza family deciding to bid farewell to their Pittsburgh home and head back to the land of tacos and sunshine, all because of the big, bad wolf known as immigration enforcement.
Sasha and Julio Mendoza, along with their child, have taken what some might call the road less traveled–a voluntary exit, stage right, from the United States. Julio, who crossed the U.S. border from Mexico when he was just 11 years old, has spent his life in Pittsburgh, growing into what some might say is a Steelers-loving native. But as media reported, the fear of immigration crackdowns has this family trading their American life for an existence south of the border. Not a bad consolation prize, if you ask me!
CNN, usually no stranger to doom and gloom, broadcasted this family’s farewell tour with somber tones and plenty of sighs. But oddly enough, what was meant to be a tear-jerker didn’t garner much sympathy. People cheered the scene of a family packing up their lives and heading for Mexico as if it were the latest blockbuster movie. Maybe it’s the plot twist we didn’t see coming–undocumented immigrants deciding that self-deportation might just be the better option as opposed to anxiously waiting for a knock on the door from immigration officers.
Now, CNN found itself in unfamiliar territory, possibly doing the work of a Trump administration, showing how it can be to self-deport. It’s a commercial for do-it-yourself deportation! The family, opting not to risk their luck with Alligator Alcatraz or another dreary “mega-prison,” left the place Sasha once called home, and yet CNN’s depiction only seemed to highlight the family’s emotional and difficult decision-making process.
Some might wonder, if you’ve married an undocumented immigrant, what did you think would happen? Love, after all, doesn’t always follow laws or paperwork. And yet, decisions have consequences, and the Mendoza family is a prime example of how choices made along life’s journey can lead to more decisions–even ones involving jetting off to a new country. At the very least, they could start a trend. Because here in the land of opportunity, if you choose to do things the legal way, then patience and paperwork are your best friends. But hey, maybe they’ll get a reality show out of it. Stranger things have happened.
