Colombian migrant's grim take on life in United States stuns South Americans
Geivy Santana, 30, explained that it may not be easy as it seemed with all the monthly expenses that a small family like hers can incur.
The married mother-of-one offered her followers inside her apartment complex, where she finally settled in after arriving from the South American nation in 2022.
'And having a vehicle here in the United States isn't a luxury; it's a necessity,' Santana explained in the TikTok video that was originally posted on July 6 and has more than 300,000 views.
'Imagine yourself in a job where they pay you $500 or $600 a week and you have to pay Uber every day. Now, a job where, let's say, you earn $2,000 a month is practically worth the rent in many states.
'Where I am right now, that's worth the rent. So, if I were alone, it really wouldn't work.'
Santana said that had she been on her own with her daughter, her monthly salary would have barely been enough to cover her home rents along with 'utilities, internet [and] food.'
'So, what am I going to live on? And often these kinds of situations happen,' she added.
Santana used the example of couples who voluntarily turn themselves in to border agents at the southern border and are often split, leaving one to handle the responsibilities to taking care of a household.
'When they turn themselves in to immigration, one may make it through and the other may not. The other may be released later, because that doesn't mean they're going to be deported, but it has happened many times,' she said.
'It happened to me with some friends: my friend was released first, and the girl was detained for about three months.'
Santana works as a life coach and speaker, and also works as a hairstylist out of her home.
Anyone looking into abandoning their homes for a new life in the United States should really sit down and do their research before committing a life-altering decision, she counseled.
'Because it's really sad to work and work and not even have enough left to eat an ice cream,' she said.
One of Santana's 298,000 TikTok followers sided with her and suggested that incoming migrants could do without owning a vehicle due to the high home costs until they are stable.
'In many things she is right, the car is a necessity, the rents are very expensive,' one person wrote. 'At the beginning the salaries are very low and you can only live on the ground floor if you have support it is somewhat easier but still here nobody maintains.'
'You spoke with logic,' another follower opined. 'We must think carefully about each step we are going to take, and not let ourselves be carried away by deception.'
Other well not receptive of Santana's message and singled her out for trying to shut the dreams of migrants who see the United States at the option for a better life.
'Let everyone live their experience, babe, just like you did, and if that's the case, why don't you leave?;' one follower said. 'Don't pay attention to them, fight for your dreams. For God, nothing is impossible.'
'I am in this country and I don't say that to anyone,' another person added. 'Everyone lives as they want and can. Whoever has the opportunity, let them do it. Everyone has their own back and their own luck.'
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