OUR FAMILIES: F.



To learn more about F., her family, and her fight, click here.

Also read her daughters' letters below:

Dear American Citizens - Fanta

My name is Fanta. I'm a 12-year-old girl, and my family is having a hard time living in this country without our father. The immigration police came into our house and arrested him on July 20, 2007.

What happened that day was at six o'clock in the morning, the police came pounding on our door. Everyone was asleep. My aunt heard the pounding and got up to answer it. She asked who was it and they said police. She opened the door because she was afraid that if she didn't, they would break down the door.

They entered and asked for a lot of information: the passports of the adults in the house, when they came to this country, how many kids and adults live in the apartment. A lot of things like that. My aunt said there were only three adults in the house, but there were four. My dad was in the shower to get ready for work. They asked who was in the bathroom and my aunt said it was her daughter. The police said they wouldn't leave until they saw who was in the bathroom. My mom (F) came out and told my dad not to get out because the police wanted to see him and she said it in our language. But my dad came out anyway but he tried to hide behind the curtains. The police saw him anyways and asked him for his information. They ended up arresting him and yelling at my aunt saying why did she lie to them. They also arrested my uncle, but he's back now.

Then my aunt came crying into our room saying that the police got our dads. We couldn't understand what she was saying so we were confused and asking ourselves what happened. Then we followed her to the door and she opened it a bit. I was in the front and I was the only one who saw them handcuffing my dad. One of the police closed the door, telling my aunt, "Ma'am, you can't open the door." I couldn't do anything because we got to the door too late.

Everyone felt terrible and my sister Aminata still didn't know what happened and neither did any of the other kids. She asked what happened to daddy. I told her that the police took him. She started crying and I told her not to worry. I told her that he was going to come back because I thought that it was the kind of arrest that you get sentenced to jail and sent back home. I later learned it wasn't.

They deported him on November 16, 2007. It's really hard not having someone who you have been with all your life next to you and taking care of you. It's even harder if you don't see them.

Since that day on, at nights we couldn't have enough sleep because we were all scared about what would happen to us in the future without him here. We received a letter from the immigration and they said that they will take my mother from us and we don't deserve that. We just want to stay as regular kids like every other kid. We all deserve love from our mother and father.

My mom has been trying hard all day everyday to support us, but she doesn't have enough money. It's not easy living without something or someone you need to survive. We've asked for help from the New Sanctuary Movement and Families for Freedom. It's like my family is in a desert crying for help to get our family back together as a family should be, but not everyone is hearing us. This situation is not only affecting our parents, it's affecting us more.

My siblings and I are American-born and we want to stay here in America. We don't know any other country. We all want to grow up here and have better lives. We're kids. We shouldn't be in this kind of situation, not even in our futures. Whether it's now or in our futures, it's still going to make our lives miserable. That's why I'm asking for help from American citizens so my family can be together and be one BIG HAPPY FAMILY."

Sincerely,
Fanta


Dear Barack Obama - Bintou

My name is Bintou (bin-2) and I am 10-years-old in the 5th grade, turning 11 on May 18. I am writing to you about this because on July 20th, 2007, the day after my dad's birthday, the immigration police took him. They deported him November 16th, 2007.

On July 20th, 2007 in the morning time at 6:00am sharp, the immigration police came and knocked on our door. They were two police. They came with a copy of a man's ID card. That person was African just like us, but he was not my dad. The super told the police that Africans live in our apartment. They came in and asked everyone's ID. They looked at the IDs and threw my mom's and aunt's IDs on the couch. They looked at my dad's and uncle's and handcuffed them and left.

Till that day, I have not seen my father. Now he is in Africa in Senegal with my cousins. We call him and talk to him. We hope and will wait for our dad to come back. My mom (F) is not a citizen. She takes care of all of us.

So President Obama, will you change this law? We hope you do. Thanks for reading this letter and enjoy your new life living in the White House with your family. Bye!

Barack Obama! You're our new president for 4 years. ROCK ON! YEAH! Have a good time, Malia, Sasha, and Michelle.

Sincerely,
Bintou

P.S. Thanks for reading my letter and I hope you listened real close to how people feel.