![Man holding a sign reading "No human being is illegal."](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/3c2c63e/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1080x1080+0+0/resize/1000x1000!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fac%2F10%2Fd20c87fb4be9880065e86fe9f427%2Fcover.jpg)
(Julio Salgado / For De Los )
Are New Year’s resolutions still a thing when dangerous actions from politicians continue to attack the most vulnerable?
![Growing up as an undocumented immigrant meant that every New Year carried the possibility of immigration reform](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/1d2ccf8/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3600x3600+0+0/resize/2000x2000!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F02%2F68%2Fffa72daf4fd885834a374136be11%2Fdelos7-panel1.jpg)
![The hopeful part of me put too much trust in politicians who promised to fix our broken system.](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/c9c09ec/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3600x3600+0+0/resize/2000x2000!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F6e%2F22%2Fc9e4a0bc441cbfe9519632874052%2Fdelos7-panel2.jpg)
![Even now as a 40-year-old adult with DACA, that hopeful part of me peeks out and tells me this is the year we get papers.](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/fbe53b6/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3600x3600+0+0/resize/2000x2000!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F89%2Fc0%2F445a6f034cc69c072f509b4a1924%2Fdelos7-panel3.jpg)
![Then I scroll through my newsfeed and come back to reality](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/1c52a13/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3600x3600+0+0/resize/2000x2000!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F5f%2F08%2Fbff761eb45caad77656ac29e22ac%2Fdelos7-panel4.jpg)
![It's worrisome how one can easily become so used to xenophobic comments about immigrants.](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/efc0f8a/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3600x3600+0+0/resize/2000x2000!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F1c%2F03%2F5041b60d42f7b15dd2f4e339928b%2Fdelos7-panel5.jpg)
![I suppose it's easier to make fun of a politicians mass deportation fantasies than to walk around everyday scared.](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/e254df1/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3600x3600+0+0/resize/2000x2000!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fa1%2F2e%2F512354ba49b381087ce76a9570b2%2Fdelos7-panel6.jpg)
![How does an undocumented immigrant even have the emotional capacity to make a New Year's resolution?](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/be95ab6/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3600x3600+0+0/resize/2000x2000!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F25%2Fd6%2F89ecb8644e82875842f664ad96e7%2Fdelos7-panel7.jpg)
![I try to list the things that brought me some joy in 2023 to get some inspiration for a New Year's resolution.](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/6e91267/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3600x3600+0+0/resize/2000x2000!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F22%2F8e%2F86d427c844cfa032b106037dd4ab%2Fdelos7-panel8.jpg)
![But that list inevitably takes a dire turn. "The world is burning"](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/4f512f0/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3600x3600+0+0/resize/2000x2000!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F77%2F0b%2F019aafa149848b14a32294ef96ad%2Fdelos7-panel9.jpg)
![As long as we don't lose empathy for each other and continue to speak up, we might just be OK.](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/25ed7a1/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3600x3600+0+0/resize/2000x2000!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fb3%2F8e%2F2a9f595c4df79b701f926f5b50bf%2Fdelos7-panel10.jpg)
(Julio Salgado / For De Los )
Julio Salgado (@juliosalgado83) is a digital illustrator based in Long Beach.