Keeping faith for "The Illegal Extraterrestrial"

Every year is a different experience, every year I learn something new. But this year, it was like I was dragged from one place to another to hear a message from God. The swine flu, the rain, the new president, the unemployment and bad economy, everything plays an important factor for people to come out and show support to "La Causa" or hide in the shadows and do nothing.

Everything started like any other event, looking for the perfect venue so we can have the greatest number of people involved. We thought that our local Church will be the perfect place. Have a spiritual vigil, community speakers and end it with a mass. Everything looked perfect! For reasons out of my reach, the father from the Church did not let us use the Church as our venue. OK, we started with plan B: a public park. We did all the arrangements, pay the city dues and on May 4, around 4:00 p.m., the majority of the board of directors decided to cancel our event "for safety reasons". What! After all the hard work, besides more people die crossing the border every year than from flu. What about all the people that called me to confirm the date, time and spot. The swine flu is a justified cause; on the other hand, my compromise with the people that called and I said I'll be there. I called the other organizers and said to them "llueva, truene o relampage, I'll be there" So I did.

On May 1st. at 5:00 p.m. I was standing at the Napa Veteran's Park in downtown Napa with my umbrella, a light blue sweater, jeans and sandals. Why sandals? I was positive hoping for a sunny day and something comfortable to walk. Two other members Marcos and Ricky, arrived with their umbrellas too. Their umbrellas were twice as big as mine and they were dressed accordingly to the rainy weather. We stayed there for an hour. Because it was raining so hard, nobody else showed. It was kind of a disappointment because we worked so hard all the month of April and have this canceled at the last minute.

I invited my two good friends to have a cup of hot coffee a few blocks away from the Park. They agreed with me, so we walked to this place that neither of us had ever been before. When we were ordering we noticed that they were setting a small stage with a camera, speakers and a microphone. We thought it was normal since it was Friday and maybe locals go there to have coffee and listen to live music. Each of us grabbed a chair and sat down, we started to talk about strategies for future events, but at the same time we were curious and waited to see what was the show about. We noticed that every person, mostly High School students and young adults, arrived with a guitar on their hands. In less than 10 minutes, about 40 people gathered in the small coffee shop, the six tables were rapidly occupied by them. People started to wait outside of the coffee place, some started to prepare their numbers, and others just stood there waiting for the performance. One of them announced that they will start at 6:40 p.m. and that they only could play 3 songs. After making more adjustments to the microphone, he announced the first person: Julio Soriano Soriano. I believe that besides us three, he was the only Latino there. In the middle of different conversations among the people inside the coffee place, the espresso machine and the rainfall, he approached the crowd by introducing himself. He said something about a mix of Native Indian and Mexican, Illegal Immigrants, and he did not have a guitar with him. These three things got my attention. Then he started to read a poem of his own inspiration. The crowd started to quite down to the point that only his words and his breath were left in the room: “Just imagine! A human wannabe asking for fair wages? Asking for representation, opportunity and justice. Absurd!”

In the less expected place, his words came and reminded me that I have to keep my faith and hope up high because sooner or later, there will be a change in this world where everyone will be treated equally regardless of race, religious beliefs, or gender. To me, he was like a messenger from God. Maybe I am simply doing my job too: Fulfilling and manifesting my destiny.

Marisa Loza

Immigration Consultant

Enjoy this young man poetry.

The Illegal Extraterrestrial

I was born here on earth.
Born from two human parents.
For as long as I can remember
I have lived among the human species.

I can see, touch, and taste.
I can hear and speak.
I have a family; I have emotions.

I’m able to love.

I’m able to hate.

I’m able to cry.

I’m able smile.

I have the same organs that everyone else has.

I have only one brain, only one heart, just two lungs.

Still don’t believe me?

Well, I have 46 chromosomes.

You can check my DNA if you want.

I promise I’m really the same as you.

I’m sorry undocumented immigrant, whoops,

Did I say undocumented immigrant? I meant illegal alien.

Lets not go and call you undocumented immigrant.

We don’t want you poking around thinking that

You have a chance to be like us humans.

Just imagine! A human wannabe asking for fair wages?

Asking for representation, opportunity and justice.

Absurd!

What about us you say, we’re immigrants too?

Well, you see,

We’re the GOOD kind of immigrants.

We were chosen by God.

When we came into these lands, we were simple doing our job:

Fulfilling our Manifest Destiny.

We came to civilize the savage beings of the Americas.

We actually brought goodness to these lands. We made it a better place.

See those great concrete cities spread across the nation? We made them.

See the millions and millions of great cars? We made those too.

See the vast fertile fields with grains, fruits and vegetables? We put those there and removed the savages.

This nation, in fact the whole world, should be grateful for our existence.

Unlike you, who brings nothing useful. You’re just an annoying pest.

You, illegal person, you are not one of us.

You can’t come to us and demand complete human rights and equality.

Or we’ll spend millions of dollars hunting you down when you are no longer needed.

Don’t complain if we take your illegal mother from you and throw her out.

Don’t start crying when your baby is left without parents.

Stay away when we don’t need you or we’ll spend another billion to make the New Great Concrete Wall bigger and better.

But if I’m illegal, does that make everything I touch also illegal?

Why do you eat the fruit I pick with my illegal hands?

Why do you drink the wine that comes from illegal hands?

And why do you go into a restroom and defecate in the toilet that is cleaned by illegal hands?

If I’m illegal, does the air I exhale 50,000 times a day become illegal?

Does it make everyone else who breaths a molecule from it illegal?

Does it make them my accomplices?

What if I die and my body decomposes?

Does my carbon body that disassembles into infinitely many pieces and becomes part of plants and animals still remain illegal?

It must, matter cannot be created or destroyed right?

No, you are wrong, you are not one of us.

Since your annoying me,I’m going to throw you back into you’re illegal home.

Sorry, there is no time to say goodbye to your friends and family.

Hopefully you’ll know which way to go when we dump you over the border into a city where you have never been before.

Well, you, illegal alien

--whose existence is illegal and unrecognized--

Have a nice trip!

After the person is kicked out, a light approaches her and says:

You are not an illegal alien.

But everyone seems to be an alien to this planet.

If we really belonged here then we wouldn’t be destroying our own planet.

We wouldn’t harm human kind.

We wouldn’t use people for labor and then kick them out when we were no longer needed them.

We wouldn’t spend great sums of money on things that destroy, rather than on things that create.

What kind of human beings would have readily available weapons capable of destroying every continent several times over?

What kind of species consumes so much that it causes other species to become extinct.

Would the people from this beautiful planet really allow genocide after genocide to occur?

Don’t worry; you are not an illegal alien.

After all, others tell me that you didn’t cross the border, the border crossed you. Because your family used to live here, but a group of men drew borders on a map and redistributed the land to their advantage.

You have done nothing wrong don’t worry.

But the person was still sad.

She had left part of her family on both sides of the men-made border.

She wished she really was an alien, so that her alien family could come and take her away in a spaceship.

Then she could go wherever she wanted.

Maybe people cared more about aliens than humans.

Maybe people would care more about her.

Julio Soriano Soriano