FSU English Major Marlin P. Stands Up for the Immigrant Community

FSU English Major Marlin P. Stands Up for the Immigrant Community

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Student Life

 An immigrant signed the Declaration of Independence. 

The line above is both a fact and the beginning of English major Marlin P.’s poem titled An Immigrant’s Fire. A first-generation college student and the daughter of immigrants from El Salvador, Marlin was invited to share the poem during a faculty-organized rally in support of higher education at Framingham State in May.

An immigrant signed the Declaration of Independence,

Kickstarting a nation with the potential to reach greatness

Why does this country behave so cold-hearted?

It’s almost like we forgot where we even started.

Marlin, who was born in the United States, is a living testament to the potential of the immigrant community. A member of the Sigma Tau Delta Honors Society, contributor to the FSU Literary Magazine The Oynx, and an actress with the Hilltop Players student performance group, she’s accomplished a lot during her first two years at Framingham State.

“I have good professors and classes,” Marlin says. “I feel like I’ve gotten a lot out of my time at Framingham State.”

Her experience includes spending a semester abroad at Harlaxton College, an English manor in the United Kingdom that FSU has developed a Study Abroad partnership with. She learned about the opportunity during a class visit from Assistant Director of Study Abroad Cecilia Reyes Alarcon.

“I love that sort of architecture and I am in to fantasy, so it caught my attention,” Marlin says. “Even so, I was hesitant to go. Cecilia was so supportive and gave me a pep talk that convinced me to go. I discovered that I was a lot more capable that I thought I was. It challenged me in a lot of good ways.”

Now back in the U.S., she has been saddened by the recent attacks on immigrant communities, which inspired her to write An Immigrant’s Fire.

“I just want to show solidarity with that community,” she says. “I am very passionate about it.”

Marlin's goal after graduation is to publish her own collection of poetry and fictional stories, and work in the fields of communications and social media. 

Student Life

By Marlin P. '27

An immigrant signed the Declaration of Independence. 

And yet, you think immigrants don’t give this country greatness? 


They came to this land with stars in their eyes. 

They were told that with hard work, they could reach their dreams by the next sunrise 

So they listened. They listened to what you said, 

And they created a life with nothing but a needle and thread


And through their difficulties, they didn’t lose their heart, 

Their new life and their old life didn’t have to stay apart 

They carried old songs with them, precious cargo that took up no space. 

The lines of these songs, back to the motherland they would trace 


They held onto each other's hands, creating a chain that could not be broken, 

They shared a solidarity, even if it remained unspoken 

A sense of community - that is what they’ve created 

Their passion and love, they didn’t leave it behind when they migrated 

They came to reach for the stars, and that’s exactly what they’ll do 

This fire inside them, their children carry it too. 


But they have been wronged. Dirt has been thrown upon their name, 

Corporations exploit the working class, yet the immigrants are to blame? 

They have been treated like a scapegoat to use when things don’t go your way 

But the greatness they bring to this nation, you always seem to downplay 

They have learned our language and shared with us their culture, 

And yet you steal from them like one big pack of vultures 


They have brought with them their songs of love and appreciation, 

And they hum in my head as I speak about all they have done for this nation 

This country has thrived because of what immigrants do, 

Don’t let them tell you otherwise because it is simply not true. 

 

This nation is a constellation bound by mass migration, 

That is what triggered its entire formation 


From the backs of immigrants, we raised crops, villages, and cities, 

And yet we lock them up and throw away the keys? 

They have the potential to thrive under the right circumstance 

Yet we refuse to even give them a chance. 

This is the land that preaches the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, 

Yet it tries to smother the fire of an immigrant's success 


An immigrant signed the Declaration of Independence, 

Kickstarting a nation with the potential to reach greatness 

Why does this country behave so cold-hearted? 

It’s almost like we forgot where we even started.