Students for Fair Consideration

“Look at those illegals,” my friend said jokingly while he was dropping me off to the Bart Station. He pointed at two Mexican immigrants standing against the fence. Although it was a joke, I was extremely angry. Yet, I was defenseless and vulnerable. I simply laughed with him and stayed casual as if nothing happened. Once he dropped me off, I wondered if he would treat me differently if he knew that I’m also “illegal.”

Too Much At Stake for Complacency – A Call to Action for Immigration Reform

http://trail2010.org/

On January 1, 2010, we embarked on a 1,500-mile walk from our home in Miami, FL, to Washington, D.C. We walk to share our stories, so that everyday Americans understand what it’s like for the millions of immigrants, especially young people, unable to fully participate in society. It’s time that our country come together to fix a failed system that keeps millions in the shadows, with no pathway to a better life.

Our journey will be long and full of hardship, but for us, we see no other option. We are putting our futures in jeopardy because our present is unbearable.

HEY EVERYONE!!!
I JUST WANTED TO SHARE THIS WITH YOU! PLEASE VISIT THE PAGE AND JOIN IN THIS CAUSE!!! IF YOU GET A CHANCE, GO AND SEE THE BLOGS… LET EVERYONE KNOW IN ORDER FOR US TO BE VISIBLE!!!!!!!!

friend: What event?

Marco: the Asian undocumented students community teach in

friend: Oooo I see. that’s cute

I wonder what you think of me when I remind you that I’m undocumented.  What goes in your mind when you forget my history and developing experience.  How do you feel, how do you really feel?  Do you keep in mind that despite my struggles I’m still flesh – I’m a working bodily organism.  I am composed of life and feeling, I can sense and touch.  I can feel.  What really goes through your mind when I remind you that I don’t have ‘papeles.’  That I cannot attain the same resources as you, that I have to constantly worry about how I will raise money for another semester.  I hate the guilt that my circumstance has created for those around me, the immense guilt that is created and misunderstanding of my experience.  Look close because in reality I’m just like you.

Two days ago, I got an e-mail asking if I could answer a 40 minute survey based on AB540 students. It was going to be used for informational purposes to really get a ‘true’ gist of what barriers an AB540 student faces. I took the time to fill it out, and while I was, I remembered that I was part of an AB540 interview in the summer.

I got asked by a Berkley doctorate student, a person whom I’ve known for a couple of years. She’s one of the community leaders here in Napa who had helped me tremendously through the process of applying to some scholarships. I agreed to take the interview. One Saturday morning, we met up. I wasn’t nervous at all before the interview, but it seemed that as soon as I spoke the first few words of my life and the hardships I had faced my whole life because of my undocumentation, I had no control over my emotions. I just started crying from sadness and shaking from anguish. It seemed like all of the emotions I had held on for so long, all came out. That was the first time I truly recognized how hard I had been working to get to where I am today. It’s something I had never talked about to really put myself to recognize my own life story…

Being undocumented students, as I’ve realized, really makes us strong. As hard as it sounds, it makes us to the great hardworking people we are today. As much as I hate admitting it, I think I would be a completely different person if it wasn’t for the struggles I had gone through due to my legal status. It’s something really hard to apprehend, especially when I would give anything to change my status in a heartbeat, but I’m at the point where I honor having the experiences I have and continue to have because of my status. Good and bad, it has and continues to make me into the person I am today.

I went my whole life, never once meeting another AB540 individual, never having that opportunity to meet a person going through the same hardships as I. Not being able to drive to pick up my friends for lunch or taking my little sister to school. Not being able to work legally to bring food to our already needy table. Not being able to visit my hometown to see my Tios and Tias that I haven’t seen for more than a decade. Not being able to get financial government support to continue my great achievements in one of the top colleges. Not being able to find someone to relate these hardships with. I honestly thought that I was the only one that has these barriers.

Finally, three weeks ago, I crossed paths with other AB540 Latinas. It was a moment that I was waiting for years! I instantly felt a bigger sense of strength, a sense that I had other individuals with me in the fight for our education and fairness. At this point, I thought that all AB540 students were Latinos, that we were the only ones in this struggle…

Two weeks ago, I was proven wrong once again. It’s not a ‘Hispanic’ thing, it’s EVERYONE. I was very honored to meet many other AB540 students of a variety of ethnicities, strong individuals such as I, that are not taking no for an answer.

For a the whole nineteen years of my life, I was in a search to meet others like myself. And before I knew it, I now know more than fifteen individuals who are in the fight for fair education.My story is their story and their story is mine. I will continue my path to strive to get ahead and support them as I know they will for me. We are here to take all steps forward and never taking a step back.