Monday, April 11, 2016

A Mexican Uber Driver Tells Me What Will Happen If Donald Trump Gets Elected President

This weekend I was picked up for an Uber ride by a driver who was originally from Mexico.

We began a conversation that came around to discussing the upcoming primary in California. He asked me how does one vote in the primaries. He told me he had recently become a citizen.

I told him I wasn't sure, that they are all criminals and I don't vote. He laughed. This is when I found out he was Mexican.

I gently asked him where he was from and then even more gently asked hm how long he was in the United States. He told me 19 years. 

Probing still, I asked him if it was difficult to get US citizenship. He hesitated for a moment and then said, "Well, my first 6 years here I was undocumented, then I became a resident for 12 years. It's a long process."

I then moved on to even more delicate territory. "What do you think if Donald Trump becomes president?" I asked.

He said with some confidence, "It won't happen. There aren't that many people that will vote for him."

A bit of time when by and he then asked me, "Do you think he will get elected?"

I said I didn't know but he might. I asked, "What do you think will happen if Trump tries to throw Mexicans out of America?"

He said that he wouldn't be able to do it on his own and "the Cabinet would stop him."

But then he hinted at a perhaps deeper plan, a Mexican plan. He said, "But if he does try to build a wall, maybe 11 million more Mexicans will come to the United States before the wall is finished."

He seemed to be happy about that response and seemed to think it was clever.

We reached my destination and he pulled over and I got out.

"Good luck, " I said. He waved and smiled.

-RW

3 comments:

  1. So, a literal invasion instead of an indirect one?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yet another reason why I love uber!

    ReplyDelete