Cristina C. – 23, Ontario, CA, Born in Chiapas, Mexico

Since my parents had already settled in the U.S., I lived with my aunt for two years until they were able to send for me and make arrangements for my border crossing – alone.

Not quite 12, I found a way through, not the first time, but on the second try. It was scary but rejoining my parents was all that mattered. My brother followed a few months later. Finally, the family was together. Now we all live together.

Many of my classmates at school had similar backgrounds so we shared our experiences as we learned English and concentrated on getting an education. By the time I got to high school, I realized that I wouldn’t qualify for university tuition assistance so I got a job in a fast-food restaurant and attended a community college. I was able to manage three classes at a time while continuing to work. It took me four years before I was able to transfer to a four-year university. By that time, financial aid for undocumented students was available, thanks to the California Dream Act. Now at Cal State San Bernardino, I’m working on a double major, a B.A. in Spanish and English literature, and hope to graduate in 2017. I don’t plan to stop there. My goal is a master’s in Spanish and a job teaching at a community college.

I qualified for DACA and was able to find a better job, something that relates to my career, tutoring Spanish and ESL students. With a scholarship from TheDream.US, I’m able to pay for tuition, books and transportation.

I will be the first in my family to attend college and receive a degree. Without the California Dream Act and DACA, I’m not sure how I would have overcome all the obstacles of being undocumented. I was able to get help with my education while working legally. Having a driver’s license was a lifesaver since my school was 30 miles away from home.

It still took hard work and a long time, but I didn’t give up. I intend to be a role model on how to persevere. I want to be a teacher and help others acquire the knowledge they need to succeed. Over the years, my own teachers and my diverse group of friends have encouraged me. Of course, my family has been my rock, especially my mom. Even my old-fashioned dad has come around to believe that I should get my education, that women must be as well prepared as men in this competitive world. I wanted to prove to my family that I could achieve the dreams they had for me when they left their home behind. I especially want to inspire young girls to dream big.

Mithi DR. – 31, Los Angeles, CA, Born in the Philippines

It has taken me 26 years to become a legal resident, so I know far too much about deferred dreams. I first came to the U.S. with my family. Although we had hopes of sponsorship through a job for my father, things didn’t work out and we joined the ranks of the undocumented. I have two sisters and a brother, all of whom found paths to citizenship. Our family is very close and we are fortunate that we were never forced to separate.

When my mom was able to adjust her status, she sponsored me as her unmarried daughter under 21. After I turned 21, I aged out, falling into another immigration category with a much longer line — an additional nine-year waiting period. DACA provided an interim reprieve until I was declared a legal resident in August 2015.

Graduating from UCLA in 2006, I dreamed of becoming a physician. Being undocumented prevented me from even being allowed to apply to medical school and kept me from qualifying for federal financial aid. It was painful to put my dreams on hold, but I didn’t give up. Eventually, my DACA status opened a lot of doors for me, including the door to medical school.

Through the nine long years of waiting to get into medical school, I worked in research at UCLA and I published my work in respected academic journals. I am the first author of a piece on temperament in infants at risk of developing autism. I co-authored reviews on Latino health, which will soon appear in Oxford Bibliographies. As I continue my work on autism projects, I’m also a staff researcher at the UCLA Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture.
In addition to my research interests, I am an active member of my community. I work as a peer mentor for a pipeline program called MEDPEP, guiding disadvantaged minority undergraduates toward their pre-health goals, and I serve as an advocate with Pre-Health Dreamers, a nationwide network of undocumented students seeking access to health careers.

It has been a long journey, but my experiences as an undocumented immigrant have only intensified my motivation to study medicine. My goal is to become a primary-care physician, practicing in disadvantaged neighborhoods and helping those who are so often neglected by the U.S. healthcare system.

I am a generous and loving person, and it makes me sad when I’m asked to justify my presence in this country. This is my home. I work hard to contribute to this country. And I’m just getting started.

Mayra H. – 24, Mount Vernon, NY, Born in Costa Rica

I was only six months old when I came to the States with my mother and siblings on a tourist visa to reunite with my father who was already working here. My immediate family was together again but we left aunts, uncles and grandparents behind – people I should have had in my life as I grew up. Getting here was not hazardous for us, but staying had its own perils with the constant fear of being deported and separated from my family. These experiences have profoundly shaped who I am and fueled my dedication to social justice.

I became a permanent resident in December 2014. It has been a long process. First I was undocumented, then I was DACA-mented with a temporary work permit, and now I have a green card. My younger sister was born in the States and my older brother became a naturalized citizen. He sponsored my parents who became legal residents and are soon to be U.S. citizens.

I have so many dreams. I want to be a writer, a mom, a community organizer, a teacher. I want to explore Costa Rica, the land of my birth. For now my immediate goal is to graduate and then teach. After receiving the Davis Putter scholarship, I’m now in my third year of studying public policy and literature at Sarah Lawrence College. My focus is on Latin American studies. I also actively train and support the members of Sarah Lawrence for Immigration Advocacy. I first came to Sarah Lawrence through an invitation from a dear friend to be a guest speaker about my work with United We Dream and the Florida Immigrant Coalition.

I’m a resilient and charismatic person – able to spread my good mood and sometimes my bad mood (ha-ha). I enjoy showing people how powerful they are and can be. I have an incredible emotional capacity that I’m still exploring as a young woman. I’m not afraid of being vulnerable because I feel my entire existence has been vulnerable.

As an undocumented immigrant, I found strength in bringing people together — leading youth organizing for the Florida Immigrant Coalition and Students Working for Equal Rights, serving as a project manager for the Trail of Dreams (Miami to DC for immigration justice), founding and coordinating the Lakeland Immigration Legal Clinic, leading efforts on the No Somos Rubios Campaign and traveling to Alabama to fight anti-immigration legislation, co-founding the Alabama Coalition for Justice there. I continue to serve as a board member for United We Dream.

I see myself as a defender of immigration and LGBT rights and I go where I’m needed and do what has to be done. I will continue to work for social justice because I want others to be able to hold onto their dreams, to realize their full potential.

Clarisa N, 20, Phoenix, AZ, Born in Durango, Mexico 

Dude, there are cops and dogs outside my house and a SWAT team has the street closed. This was what my cousin barked at me over the phone. I walked into my step- dad’s room to let him know, even though I didn’t think any of the commotion concerned my family. But it did and my stepdad’s face reflected his fear and worry. He handed me a gun and told me to hide in the guest room.

Up until that point, it had been just another hot summer Saturday morning. I was getting ready for my first job interview. But then came my cousin’s phone call. I was now holding a gun. Before I could move, the front door was forced open and police burst in. My step- dad told me to do as I was told which meant dropping the gun, putting my hands over my head and walking outside barefooted. In 100-degree temps on hot concrete, I sat with my hands behind my back in total shock.

The officers asked me if there was anyone else in the house like me with weapons ready to attack. I told them about my dangerous dogs and five kittens but they weren’t amused. My stepdad and I were put in a cop car and interrogated. I had no answers and kept believing everything was some kind of a mix-up. Our house was searched as we watched what seemed to be a bad movie. When my mom came home from work four hours later, she was upset but found a way to get me released from the police. My stepdad was arrested. His last words to me that day were, I’m sorry mija; I will explain. He was later sentenced to 10 years in federal prison.

I will always remember that day, when I was 15, because of how quickly everything in my life changed through no fault of my own. With my stepdad’s conviction, my application for legal status was in jeopardy. I had lived in the States since I was five, but because I was brought here illegally, I had been trying to gain legal status. But it’s a very long, complicated and expensive process. Finally, after two years of gathering all the necessary paperwork and working with a lawyer, I received an appointment with the immigration office just before my 18th birthday. I was so excited and frightened. I had butterflies in my stomach as I waited for my number to be called in an office filled with police. The interview lasted 40 minutes and there were many questions about my family, especially my stepdad. I was nervous but hopeful. Notification of a decision would be mailed.

An approval letter meant I could have a life. It was everything to me. With residency status, I could get a driver’s license and Social Security card. I could work and go to college and apply for aid for my education and qualify for in-state tuition. It was the one thing that would open so many doors. Two months later, I received my approval letter for legal residency. It was a great day.

When my stepdad was sentenced to prison, all my plans were momentarily shattered but I picked up the pieces and started over. I just kept moving forward and was finally able to achieve my goal. Obstacles are a part of life but I won’t let them stop me. I know I have the strength to keep going and to make something of myself and to make my mom proud. I have finished three years in community college and I’m pursuing my dream of becoming a nutritionist and starting my own business. I hope to finance the rest of my education with income from my business. I want to teach people how important food is to health. I’m determined to make my life better and to help others.

Yovany Diaz, 23, Alpharetta, GA, Born in Guerrero, Mexico

For much of my childhood, I yo-yoed between Mexico and the States, coming for the first time when I was two, back at five and returning to stay in 2000 when I was eight. This harrowing journey involved crossing the Rio Grande with my mom, aunt and brother. Praying we would make it, we held hands and slipped under the water. We did make it and have been here ever since.  My birthplace in Guerrero, Mexico, which is now famous for the disappearance of 43 students who clashed with local police. They are all believed dead. I could have been one of them.

From Texas I made it to Georgia where I went to school and graduated from high school in 2010. That’s when I started to feel stuck. Georgia bars the undocumented from its top five universities and requires out-of-state tuition fees in its other schools. I attended Freedom University for three years but it’s unaccredited, so even though I was accepted at New York Syracuse, I needed 30 credits to enroll and only had two transferrable credits that were accepted. When DACA was announced in 2012, I applied immediately and was able to secure the papers I needed to get a better job and was hired at Costco, a company I had long wanted to work for.  Now I work for Super Target as a produce merchant and volunteer with several immigration organizations to work toward reform. I live with my mom and two brothers, both of whom are U.S. citizens, making my mom eligible for DAPA.

I’m an aspiring American who works hard and believes I’ve earned a right to chase my dream of going to college and contributing to society. I must realize my full potential to help my family and my community. I’m determined to reapply to Syracuse and to join all the others like me who are fighting to take their rightful place in the U.S.