Guest Opinion | Dr. José A. Gómez | This July 4th, We Must Ask: Which America Are We?

This year, Independence Day is a painful reminder that what we cherish most about this nation could swiftly end.

In the time it takes masked men to emerge from an unmarked car and drag a vendor away from her spot at Home Depot, America becomes less itself and more like despotic regimes around the world.

In the time it takes to sign an executive order, what the founders framed and what generations of Americans have refined through their blood, sweat, and tears, could be tossed onto the trash heap of history. And tyranny could take its place.

This is the horrible reality I see emerging, lurking amid the fireworks shows, flag waving, and backyard barbecues: this nation that we so deeply love, could become a nation we do not even recognize.

This year, many local Independence Day celebrations will not be held, out of fear and concern for everyone in our community. Over the last month, we have witnessed horrible events. We’ve seen images of armed men, often wearing masks, in pursuit: chasing down an elderly man sitting at a bus stop, a gardener, a worker at a car wash. We’ve heard reports of conditions at immigrant detention centers that mirror conditions at facilities in impoverished nations.

The videos, photos, and reports seem to come from another time, and a different place.

In my Commencement address to the Class of 2025 at Pasadena City College, I reminded graduates that they each have a unique purpose. Our nation and our world need their contributions to create a better tomorrow. As I spoke that evening, downtown Los Angeles was under a curfew and ICE was preparing for more raids.

That was three weeks ago. It’s heartbreaking to see how these raids have so quickly changed life for so many people — our friends, our neighbors, our church members, and the vendors and shopkeepers we see every day. You may have gone to a car wash recently, or a farmers market, or the site of your favorite food stand, only to witness an eerie absence. Places once bustling with energy are now strangely empty. The ICE raids have penalized our immigrant communities and have driven so many inside, as if they are in hiding.

A dark cloud of fear, hurt, anger, confusion, and sadness hangs over people and places. And families torn apart and frightened by these raids live with a terrible uncertainty. For the most vulnerable immigrants, going to a food bank, or to pick up a child from school, or to a legal clinic may seem too great a risk. In Los Angeles, a county of immigrants in a nation of immigrants, this is both ironic and tragic.

Without question, PCC stands in solidarity with our community. We do not participate in or condone the ICE raids. Our family of students, faculty, staff, and alumni proudly includes immigrants, who have made great contributions to our society.

The students we teach, counsel, advise, and mentor every day on our campus are the future. We encourage our students and those in our community to be the doers and thinkers that this world needs, to be the courageous ones who step forward to lead with vision, compassion, and humanity. In the 21st century, we can ask no less of our society, our government, and ourselves.

These ICE raids are inhumane and unacceptable and simply cannot continue as our new normal. This is not who we are. Our community is enriched by the presence of immigrants; the energy, ideas, and perspective they bring. We value and benefit from their presence, just as our nation has for centuries.

As we sing “God Bless America,” we have to ask ourselves, “which America?” The America that declared “give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free?” Or the America that has pulled up the welcome mat and demonized and criminalized those who RSVP’d yes, and showed up for the party.

We should all be able to celebrate Independence Day without worrying that a loved one will disappear because they encountered ICE on the way to the fireworks show. The immigrant community deserves better from a nation that can and should do better. In fact, we all deserve better. These raids must end. And they must end swiftly, in the time it takes us all to wave our American flags in the face of tyranny, and say this is not who we are and this is not who we want to become.

José A. Gómez is president of Pasadena City College and a resident of Pasadena.