by Craig Wiesner – San Mateo Daily Journal – December 23, 2024
Many of you will remember the song “All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth,” written in 1944 by a New York school teacher. Asking his students what they wanted for Christmas he noticed that many of them were missing at least one front tooth. Thus inspired, it took him around 30 minutes to write that song. He was stunned by how it took off across the country, resonating with so many people, like little me, who had once made that wish. For years now my husband and I have had a ritual when a birthday, anniversary or holiday like Christmas is coming. We each ask the other “What do you want for….?” Both of us, feeling like we have everything we really need, typically respond with the answer “YOU!” Back when I was wishing for front teeth I never could have imagined being so blessed to have someone I love to wake up next to every morning, and seeing dear friends lose their most precious loved ones, I am grateful for that gift every day. As I drafted this column I found out that a neighbor just lost his wife of over 30 years after a long and terrible battle with cancer. Hold on tight to anyone you love, as long as you can!
Sadly, I’m soon expecting many people in our country to suddenly find themselves separated from someone they love, someone they wake up next to, look forward to seeing after work, who greets them after school. After the election, a local teacher told me that some of her young students came to her crying. They were afraid that people in their families would soon disappear. One in eight children in the Bay Area has at least one undocumented parent. They’re your neighbors, your child’s classmates. President-elect Donald Trump, in a recent NBC News interview confirmed his plan, starting January 20th, to deport millions of people. Asked if that meant separating families with mixed immigration status where one or more members of that family are U.S. citizens, he said yes. He added that he would “humanely” remove the entire family, including children who are citizens, if they agree to be deported together.
Prior to mass deportations, many targeted people will be detained in jails and internment camps. If mass deportations worry you, the National Immigration Law Center, the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, the American Civil Liberties Union, Amnesty International, the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity, and locally, organizations like La Raza Centro Legal (lrcl.org), the Immigration Institute of the Bay Area (iibayarea.org), and National Lawyers Guild SF (nlgsf.org) are important resources for immigrants which I encourage you to support. We should also urge our local officials, city councils, county supervisors and other property owners to refuse to lease land, buildings, jail cells, or other facilities to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for detaining people. Not in our town.
So, this is one thing I’m opposing. It is equally important to remember what I’m wishing and working for in the United States: Universal single-payer world-class health care, free high-quality pre-K through college, paid parental and family leave, universal affordable child care, criminal justice / restorative justice reform reducing prison populations, an end to the death penalty, equal rights and access for all, voting rights for all and at least 90% of eligible voters actually voting, immigration laws that effectively manage our borders – welcoming people from around the world, labor laws protecting workers, including migrants, from exploitation, restorative measures to heal the wounds of historic injustices like slavery and racism, massive reductions in: carbon output – hunger – poverty – food waste – cancer – heart disease – dementia – diabetes – substance abuse – and all forms of violence. I wish for our people to live longer, happier, healthier, more connected lives where they can dream big dreams and work to achieve those dreams without being held back by prejudice or corruption. I wish that those with the most would pay their fair share so that everyone can live their best lives and that those with the least can still live safely and comfortably within their means. I wish for a country where those who can’t survive on their own, through circumstances over which they have little or no control, are fully supported with love and compassion and have whatever they need to live full lives with comfort, dignity and respect.
Can these wishes come true? I can’t help but think of actor Joseph Gordon Levitt playing a wing-flapping foster child in the movie Angels in the Outfield. Despite stinging defeats, his character Roger, praying for his team to win so he can be reunited with his father, helps fans and the baseball team believe that they can win their division championship. His catch phrase: “It could happen.” Si Se Puede!