Site Staff
4/28/2025

I’m writing this unsure of what to really say, or what to talk about. I’m not great with talking about myself for many reasons, but I’ll give this my best shot while trying to tie into current events so bear with me if it’s long-winded.

I’m a former US Marine. I know, they say once a Marine always a Marine and all that, but recent events have made me hesitate to think back on my time in service fondly. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not at all regretful of enlisting and experiencing the things I did, but I don’t feel like the services and the flag and the constitution are there to protect ALL Americans equally anymore.

I’m a US Citizen, and have been since 2013. I was lucky enough to apply for citizenship through my military service, so it was free and I didn’t have to take a test or anything like a lot of others do. I was born in a little country in central America (south of Mexico, not central America as in the mid-west just to be clear) called Nicaragua. I lived in poverty, like many of my former countrymen down there did and still do. I remember our home was basically just a shack with propped up walls, a roof, and partitions for bedrooms. Part of the house didn’t have floors; it was just dirt. Food was not scarce, but we didn’t have any money to regularly buy things like beef, cereal, milk, and other items I can’t really recall not having much of because it’s the opposite now for me; if I want something I can go buy it. Back then though, I recall mayonnaise and that Kraft sandwich spread being a delicacy to me, to the point where I would get very excited for a very generic sandwich spread I can easily get at the store and now barely ever touch.

You’re probably asking yourself what the point of my sharing my poverty was; well, let me tell you.

I came here when I was 9, so when I say I don’t remember the things we didn’t have it’s because it was that long ago. I’m now 33, going on 34.

I was able to come here by way of the 1997 NACARA law*, which in short made it possible for immigrants from Nicaragua, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala and several former Soviet bloc nations and their dependents to obtain asylum and a pathway to permanent residency.

What this meant for my family, the ones whom were here illegally at the time anyways, was that they were allowed to apply for, and were granted asylum and then immediately become eligible for permanent residency since they had been physically present in the US for more than 5 years. This change in immigration policy is the reason I was able to come here legally, and I chose to serve the country that granted my family and I clemency at a time when our own country was in shambles.

I don’t know how familiar most people are with central/latin American history, but a lot of this was at least partially caused by the US. The Banana wars left the Caribbean and central America in weird states of existence afterwards, and my home country of Nicaragua in particular was affected by this because the government there continued to exist as a US established regime for 43 years after end of the military occupation of the country in 1933. When the regime collapsed in 1979, and also because of the earthquake of 1972, Nicaragua never really recovered or improved for a myriad of reasons, chief among them the constant fighting after the regime collapsed*. Fast forward to the 2000s and 2010s (specifically 2008 and 2011), and Daniel Ortega, himself an important figure from the revolution of 1979 becomes president (again) and the situation in Nicaragua becomes more dire. Initially it started like it did here, where the president started consolidating power to his office, and people from his party were in key positions that enabled him to do what he wanted.

Managua prior to the earthquake in ’72

In 2014, the national assembly approved constitutional amendments that abolished term limits and allowed a president to run as much as he wanted for 5-year terms. Of course, these “elections” became fraught with issues ranging from poll observers being blocked from polling stations, to ballots being thrown out, to officials not being allowed access to vote counts, and eventually to political opponents getting disappeared. This all came to a head with the 2018 protests, where at least 26 people were killed as a result of the government response*. For context, these protests were in direct opposition to the proposed social security reforms that would raise income and payroll taxes, while simultaneously REDUCING benefits paid out by 5%. Typical of dictators, Ortega alleged that demonstrators were being “manipulated” and “controlled” by gangs and other political interests.

Independent media started being censored more regularly, and NGOs were forced out along with international observers, and many people were taken prisoner or otherwise disappeared.

If this all sounds a little familiar, that’s because it’s essentially what is happening here in the United States. Same process, different people, and under a different political system. While the government in Nicaragua and those in it constantly criticize the system here in the US, it’s public knowledge that Ortega and his family are among the wealthiest people in the country and his family own 3 of the 9 free-to-air TV channels there, making his criticism hypocritical at best, and projection at worst.

This is all to say that we are now at a very dark crossroads here in the United States. A country that I personally felt used to be a beacon of, for lack of a better word, hope is now becoming the very thing that it’s worked so hard to “prevent” in other countries. Let’s be honest though; the United States has long propped up authoritarian regimes in favor of movements that might not align with their foreign policy. These include Iran, Nicaragua, Brazil, Argentina, Greece, China, Cuba, Iraq, Libya, Oman, and many others; they are all a testament to the oppression that the United States has promoted in its “fight against communism”. Whether you agree with previous foreign policy or not, the fact is that the United States has created a LOT of its own problems. MAGA wants to talk about the immigrants coming here, but if the US hadn’t meddled in their countries’ affairs, a lot of them might not be here because the situation may not have turned so dire. We’ll never know at this point, but we’re now at a state in our history where we cannot and should not ignore the things going on before us and yes, I say our because I’m a US citizen too. It’s also not lost on me that ironically, I chose to serve the military branch that most directly oppressed the country of my birth. It’s also not lost on me that I’ve been afforded better opportunities than I ever would have if I had stayed in Nicaragua. I’m now a college graduate, with a degree from Purdue university in the field of cybersecurity. I was able to obtain this by using my military benefits, and I now make more than 30x the estimated national average in Nicaragua. Last time I went, I saw a lot had changed, but I can’t say that it’s for the better but I won’t pretend that it’s all bad either.

I digress though, and I suppose the point I’m trying to make in between my rambling is that the United States is SUPPOSED to be a place where everyone who comes here is afforded the opportunities to make a life for themselves. The opportunity to get a job, the opportunity to fall in love, the opportunity to have kids, the opportunity to not live in fear of the state coming to get them to send them somewhere else simply because they believe differently. Safety, prosperity, love, community; are these too much to ask for because someone is an immigrant? When are we going to accept that immigration reform and cooperation is the answer? Right now, we have the problem of the MAGA cult being in charge, but throughout our history we’ve been a place that has been less than welcoming to people even though the United States is built on the blood of the native people. The Irish, the Italians, the Polish, the Chinese; you name it, and the United States has hated or otherwise been against a group of people at any point in our history for one reason or another, and that needs to change. Whether that change will occur in my lifetime remains to be seen, but I won’t hold my breath.

A lot of people thought I was overreacting when I said they’re probably going to start detaining people like me, but this past Thursday April 17th, I saw just that happen when ICE detained a US born Mexican by the name of Juan Carlos Lopez Gomez in Florida as he commuted to work from Georgia*. He was released, but I suspect that was only the case because he had a family and a community that advocated for him.

How long before they do that to people who DO NOT have that community or family to advocate?

How long before they target the trans and LGBTQ people who are estranged from family and might live in red states? Are we okay with what we’re becoming?

If you don’t agree with me, you probably stopped reading a long time ago so if you’re still reading I hope you agree, and I hope you join me in condemning what is going on with not just individuals like Kilmar Abrego Garcia and what happened with Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez, but with what’s happening to everyone who’s been shipped off without due process regardless of their immigration status, because as Dr. King once said: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”, and if we allow this to continue we all know where this goes, and it will be a hell of our own making.