¡No es justo!

Este semana aprendí bastante bien que, por más que la vida sea sueño, la vida no es justo. I realized this week that I am very fortunate to have been born in the United States. By being born a U.S. citizen, I can pretty much go anywhere in the world without too much difficulty. I could probably even live anywhere I wanted to. But other people don't have that freedom. It's 2011, and I know my country would like to say that we've come along way in civil rights, that we support equal rights for all people. But why is it then that people from Western Europe can visit this country without problem and others from less politically powerful countries are denied entrance even as tourists? One of my very best friends has always dreamed of seeing the U.S., ever since she was a little girl. And, although I still don't think it's fair that she would even need a Visa to come visit for a couple weeks, you would think that as long as she met the basic requirements for a tourist visa, had all the proper documentation, and a clean background check, she should be able to fulfill that dream, right? Wrong. Despite being able to prove family ties to Argentina, a steady job with the Argentine government, a need to come back to finish school, financial stability and more reason than most to actually travel to this country (I mean the girl studies tourism for crying out loud!), she wasn't even given a fair interview. The U.S. embassy denied her the right to see places they brag so much about, simply because the interviewer thought she was too young, shouldn't be allowed to take time off from work so soon and because he just didn't like her. What is fair about that? Absolutely nothing. I think it's pretty cruel the way this country brags so much about how great we are to the rest of the world, but won't let anyone in, even to visit unless they come from a wealthy or politically powerful country. Had she simply been born in Italy or England no one would have blinked an eye and could practically walk right onto a plane. But because she was born in Argentina, she doesn't have that luxury. How can they dangle this dream over people's heads and just yank it away without even an explanation? How can we do that to people? It's things like this that make the rest of the world hate americans. It's things like this that make me ashamed to be estadounidense. So much for liberty and justice for all, huh?
However, she holds onto the hope of making it here one way or another, and I do too. She's not giving up on her dream just yet, and I'm here hoping that the people representing my country on that day will be better people than they were this week.