This Viral Tweet Is Just What We Needed After a Heartbreaking Week

We’re sure you’ve heard the offensive phrases “come to America the right way!” or “come here legally or go back to where you came from.” Heck, maybe you’ve said those things yourself to people of color. One of the biggest misconceptions that people have is that anyone can become a U.S. citizen in a snap. It’s quite the opposite, actually. Submitting paperwork to become a naturalized citizen or to get a green card (which is a permit allowing a foreign national to live and work permanently in the U.S.) is actually quite hard. It can take years (if not decades), and it can also be very costly. That is why this story brings us great joy.

Alex Carrillo wanted to show how proud he is of his mom and dad, who worked extremely hard to get their green card. In a tweet that went viral, Carillo recorded the exact moment that his parents opened the letter that will forever change their lives.

For those ignorant trump supporters who say “why don’t they just come here legally” it took my parents 25 YEARS and THOUSANDS of dollars to finally become residents. Blessed to say my parents dreams finally became true 🇲🇽🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/uvL3e1OOPB

— supa hot fire (@its_alex_53) August 7, 2019

He tweeted, “For those ignorant Trump supporters who say ‘why don’t they just come here legally’ it took my parents 25 YEARS and THOUSANDS of dollars to finally become residents. Blessed to say, my parents’ dreams finally became true.”

Carrillo also shared that the first weekend as legal residents in the U.S., his mom and dad went to Mexico to visit family they haven’t seen since they left. There are so many undocumented people in the U.S. that can’t leave the U.S. because they won’t be able to get back into the country and be with their children. They can’t risk entering Mexico. This means they lose all visitation with their family back home.

“I’ve never really shown emotion to any of this, but it makes me cry because nobody around me really knew all the struggles we went through, the times we couldn’t go to Walmart because the sheriffs Joe Arpaio was commanding were around looking for people, and always living in fear,” Carillo writes. “The fear that at any moment, my parents could be taken away. Honestly, my parents do deserve this. Hard-working individuals who have never done a crime, AND EVEN WHEN THEY WERE UNDOCUMENTED, THEY PAID TAXES. It’s just amazing how everything is falling in place.”

Carillo’s story is definitely one we needed to hear this week, and it’s also one of the few success stories. For this one family, there are still millions waiting in fear to get approval from the government so that they can finally become citizens of the U.S.