Notes from the Underground 1.0

DREAMActivist

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Joined Jan 28 2008

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Notes from the Underground 1.0 - I am a DREAMer

"I just finished reading your thesis and it's one of the best I have seen during my time with this department," said my graduate advisor.

I was visibly pleased but managed to utter two notes of gratitude.

"So what's next?" she pressed.

My head screamed: "Nothing! Being a night janitor or your daytime geeky fix-it person for free! I tempered down and sighed inwardly.

I was waiting for the day I can actually start ‘living' life instead of living in my DREAMs or vivaciously through others. But I managed to form words that defied my mind, "Oh, I want to take some time off and explore my options."

"You should really pursue a PhD. It should not be hard for you to get into a really good school that would give you money to study."

I fidgeted uncomfortably in my seat, finding myself at the receiving end of a conversation that I had sat through one too many times. Feigning confusion and ambiguous feelings about future goals is uncharacteristic on my part, but a charade I put up around almost everyone. I am comfortable in my skin, empowered despite multitudes of conflicting social identities, ‘out and proud' and yet find myself in the closet about a small part of me that governed a large part of my existence. I am just a student, simply another pedestrian, a nameless face in the crowds, but the reality of the matter is that I am in the United States without legal status-an undocumented student, an illegal alien

My parents did not come here illegally; in fact, we all came to the United States legally through student visas. I was in high school on an F-2 visa when my parents petitioned for permanent residency through my maternal grandmother. This move eventually worked out in their favor but would doom me to years of living out-of-status as INS later denied my petition for an F-1 visa to study at a university in the United States based on the fact that my parents had petitioned for permanent residency; we could not prove adequate ties to our home country. Going back to the civil strife, ethnic warfare and homophobic environment was not an option that my parents even wanted to consider for me and numerous attorneys along with my college counselor advised me to stay in this country, assuring my parents that I would get my PR with them before I was 21. To make a long story short, that never happened.

I am now 23 with an MA that graces my walls along with other professionally meaningless degrees and awards. During the day, I volunteer my services to several social and political organizations. In the evenings, I am a janitor. And at all times, I am a dreamer. I dream of the day that I would drive, work legally, financially support myself and my parents, inspire my students, and truly melt into the crowds as a productive American citizen. But that dream has so far eluded me and this DREAM is not possible without your support.

To borrow from John Lennon:

You may say I m a dreamer

But I m not the only one

I hope some day you'll join us

And the world will live as one

psssts

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Posted 5 months by:

DREAMActivist

11 comments

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DREAMActivist commented 15 days ago:

Thanks for your kind comments and support Anis and Bri.

ANIS commented 19 days ago:

Wow!! good job! you are not the only dreamer, or the only one that prays for this....never loose hope!

brizaysol commented 2 months ago:

hey. I understand your situation all to well..and there is not much i can say but dreams eventually do come true..or at least i hope so.

Robert Kunferman commented 3 months ago:

I broke my hand once. And there went half of my sex life. But I am an American, and sort of proud of it.

Now I am dealing with a rectal cranium inversion. I am blind in one eye, can't see out of the other, and I am half deaf in both ears. And I have a rash on my ass so bad I can hardly sit down, but who am I to complain?

-1

DREAMActivist commented 3 months ago:

hey liz - i have a broken hand so bear with me. word is tat i m too old for cspa. they denied f-1 visa because my parents couldnt provve tat i had adequate ties to country of origin. u can mail me at admin@dreamactivist.org. thx n tc.

LizLiz commented 3 months ago:

You ever heard of the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA)? Are your parents still in the process of getting residency? If so, its possible that you can still benefit from it because of the CSPA. Its basically an act that helps people like us (Im 23 too and relying on this act to help me out as I wait for my mother's residency thing to pull through)in reducing our age, so that we may still be considered dependents of our parents.

I'm also curious to know why immigration services would deny you an F-1 visa. Thats how I'm here (right now doing optional training). And my mother petitioned for residency way before I ever thought about doing my undergrad in the U.S.

Maybe talk more about this through email? I don't think I want Chris making random assumptions or accusations that don't even offer any support of evidence.

Tasksgirl commented 3 months ago:

Chris since you think you know sooo much about immigration law - I implore you to enlighten us what the so-called paths are for these students.. go ahead.. impress me..

DREAMActivist commented 3 months ago:

Thank you Darin. I think the main stipulations of this bill should be highlighted on the homepage to make it easier for people to understand. I will put a request in for that.

A reason why there is so much urgency however, is because this bill has been in the pipelines since 2003 or so. We have been waiting patiently - I went through community college, state university, got my MA, hoping for either DREAM or my PR through my parents and none have so far materialized. There is also an age-limit to the bill - We don't want to age out; some DREAMers are struggling through school and getting close to not being able to make it.

Thanks for your support.

Darin commented 3 months ago:

Its a good bill. I hope it passes, for everyone's sake!
However, I would like to give words of caution: Be patient when advocating this bill - its very difficult for someone (like me) who has not paid attention to the details of immigration law, to understand how this legislation is needed. I had to read a lot of info on this page to 'get it', and I'm a pretty liberal and well educated American. This cause makes perfect sense, but its easy to associate with other immigration efforts that do not.... Be patient - and people will support this!

DREAMActivist commented 3 months ago:

Chris, while I really appreciate your comment, please don't hold the others here responsible for the actions of their parents -- they were simply pawns in a game played by their parents and their future depended on how well the game was played. Some did alright, like my parents who are in the process of getting permanent residency. Others became ineligible by merely entering illegally or got bad advice from notarios and attorneys who couldn't bother enough. I don't think the other DREAMer bloggers here should be held responsible if they didn't or couldn't file their 245-i petitions when they were below the age of 16. That is simply not fair.

Chris commented 3 months ago:

Well you are the first one I have read on here that sounds like you should have an opportunity to be here legally and have tried. Most of the others, just never bothered or tried. I wish you the best friend, and hope that it does work out for you.

Demand a pledge from Clinton, McCain, and Obama to enact the DREAM Act in their first 100 days →

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