They Arrested a Boy Who Looked Exactly Like My Cousin and I Couldn't Look Away

Dear Delyara, They brought a young lad down the ramp in handcuffs at 4:15 AM—he couldn't have been more than twenty, with the exact same dark eyes and thick, curly hair as my younger cousin back home. He was sobbing, begging the officers not to call his mother, his voice cracking with that raw, immediate terror of someone who knows they’ve just broken their life. I stood behind the counter and couldn't take my eyes off him. It made me think of the paths we take, the risks we run, and how thin the line is between a structured life and total ruin. I came to this country to build an empire, and instead, I am watching boys who look like my family get loaded into police vans while I check padlocks for minimum wage.