What is the price of being an immigrant? That is the biggest issue of the movie Under the Same Moon.* The movie tells the story of Carlitos (Adrian Alonso), son of an undocumented immigrant in Mexico. He lives with his grandmother. His story parallels that of many immigrant kids, not just from Mexico but from Central America as well. His mother, Rosario (Kate del Castillo), works as a maid in two homes, also paralleling the lives of many undocumented immigrant women.

The story takes off after the unfortunate death of Rosario's mother, forcing young Carlitos to take the trip North in search of his mother who lives in Los Angeles. The story is about Carlitos's journey through dangerous and unknown territory. Carlitos crosses the border while hiding in a car, almost being sold to pedophiles and being caught by ICE. Eventually, Carlitos joins Enrique (Eugenio Derbez), another immigrant who takes him under his wing after being indifferent. As a side note, the movie is outdated as of today because they mention immigration authorities as being INS when they should be ICE—INS disappeared on March 1, 2003. Unless the movie is being set in the past, before 2003, immigration enforcement is ICE.

For reasons that I can’t comprehend, people believe that Dreamers can in fact get citizenship or residency. I'm going to call it ignorance. Believing Dreamers can receive their residency easily is a huge misconception. The opposition says we should get in the back of the line. Well, as all Dreamers always say, there is no line. Not for us who didn’t have a choice in the matter of coming to this country.

Let me illustrate. This are the 11 ways one has of becoming a resident. And for those who didn’t know, you have to become a resident before you can apply for citizenship. I’m only listing them and for further explanation follow this link.

1. Family based immigration. A member of your family sponsors you, or you marry an American citizen.
2. Employment based. This one would be hard because we are not allowed to be employed legally.
3. Green card lottery
4. Investors
5. Adoption.
6. Registry
7. Private bill
8. Diplomats
9. Asylum
10. Refugee
11. Special immigrants

So, what have we learned? That in fact I cannot become a resident. Unless I marry an American citizen and even then, I would be hit with a ten-year ban. I would also have to go back to my ‘home’ country. There are waivers but those are not 100% guaranteed. It is not laziness on my part, I just can’t become legal. It is also not entitlement, I just want a fair chance at being able to continue the life I have here. This is my ‘home’ country. Now, does everyone understand that there is NO line for Dreamers.

It takes a lot of courage to be able to go beyond college. When we do, it is a joyous occasion because we know that we have done something special. Something not expected of us.

This is why the Documented Dreams is such a special book. It is a collection of thank you letters written by students who have been affected by a new Arizona law that does not allow state money to fund. The students belong to GateWay Early College High School, a public charter high school, which offers electives that give college credits. The new law, Proposition 300 which passed November 2006, does not allow the school to pay for students who could not prove they were in the country legally. Yvonne Watterson, principal of the school, decided to ask the public for help and they responded by giving enough donations to keeping all 38 students enrolled in the school. For that reason, the students wrote thank you. People made their dreams come true.

“To be acknowledged for who and what I am. No more, no less. Not for acclaim, not for approval. The simple truth of that recognition. This has been the elemental drive of my existence, and it must be achieved if I am to live or die with dignity.”
Andrew the robot from Bicentennial Man

That is the elemental drive of my existence and the existence of all the other immigrants who have been able to achieve the dream of going to college. All we ask for is the simple truth of recognition. Don’t fault us with the fact that we are not legal, it is not our fault. If we could fix our status, we would. Don’t tell us to go to the back of the line because no line exists. Don’t say that we are not Americans because we are. We are because we chose to be, we were not lucky enough to be born here but we make the best of it by seeking a better life. Ayn Rand said it best, "I chose to be an American. What did you ever do, except for having been born?" That was her answer for someone who asked on why we should listen to a foreigner. I chose to be an American, losing the ties that tied me to my old country. People like me, college students, speak English, show American individualism and resilience by standing strong against all the odds and still making it. And believe me, those odds are great.

We are not going to go away. We want to stay and help the community that helped us in shaping us to be who we are now. Let us do that, that’s all we ask for.

The video speaks directly to the heart of issue on what the anti-immigrants think. Fear. They are afraid of people who are different. They are afraid of change.

And politician latch onto that fear and use it to get ahead. Well, maybe not just politicians as Lou Dobbs can attest to.

In their efforts to drive this issue, to make people afraid, politicians are trying to get ahead. Tom Tancredo, congressman from Colorado based his entire presidential run as a man who would stop both illegal, and legal immigration. He failed. As have all the other nominees who share the same opinion on immigration. The politics of fear only work so far, before they are discovered to be what they are, just politics of fear used by some who want to get ahead at the expense of a group of people who can’t defend itself.

I ask you now, don’t fall for the easy trap of those who say that the answer is deportation of everyone, don’t listen to those who say immigrants are worthless. No, look for a real answer. Immigration is not a simple issue that cannot be patched up just like that, but it requires a complex answer, a real one from real politicians who are willing to look past the hate and bashing. Use your voice and vote for those who can’t.

(2) WAIVER- Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the Secretary of Homeland Security may waive the ground of ineligibility under section 212(a)(6)(E) of the Immigration and Nationality Act and the ground of deportability under paragraph (1)(E) of section 237(a) of that Act for humanitarian purposes or family unity or when it is otherwise in the public interest.

(3) PROCEDURES- The Secretary of Homeland Security shall provide a procedure by regulation allowing eligible individuals to apply affirmatively for the relief available under this subsection without being placed in removal proceedings.

What does this all mean? For section 3, it means that anyone who is eligible for the DREAM Act and applies will not be in danger of deportation. This is significant because people applying for the DREAM Act are undocumented and can still technically be deported. By being protected from deportation, more people will be able to come out of the shadows without fear to apply to become residents and eventually citizens. The crime of being brought here by our parents is forgiven as long as we are complaint with the requirements of the DREAM Act.

Bravery. No, it goes beyond bravery I think. She did something words cannot describe. She is not the only one either, to ‘out’ herself in order to bring attention the immigration issue and its injustices. There have been many others who are willing to pay the price, whatever it may be, to bring justice to our cases.

To live in the line between marginalization and privilege is something that is too difficult to describe, too abstract. I live in the line everyday. I walk past the buildings, the amazing classes, and the professors. But at the same time, I know something is different within me. I’m not like everyone and I know so. I spoke about this in an earlier post, about the price of being at a university of 17,000 students and being one of three undocumented students. It is solitude in a manner that you can’t possibly imagine. Knowing the frustration that once I graduate I will have to take up the mantle of ‘illegal alien’. The stupidity of the mindset that says that we can’t become Americans is mind-boggling. Undocumented students are people who want to give back to the society that saw them grow up, the society they love. We are as American as any of my peers, anyone who disputes that is a fool because being an American is more than the color of your skin or the papers that you have. We have been raised America, she is our mother and we are its sons and daughters and no matter what anyone says, that is just the way it is. We hold all the values of America. All undocumented students have the mindset to be determined to be someone even though the obstacles are overwhelming, and despite it all, we believe we can still prevail. All undocumented immigrants who make it to college fit that description. I am proof of that, and so is Grecia Lima. We just want to a chance to give back to our community. That is all we ask for. A chance.

What is the price of being an immigrant?

Heartbreak? Yes, that heartbreak of leaving everything behind. Leaving family, your culture, your world to go work in an alien place. Add to that the fact that the place you go to you are not wanted. You read in the papers, in the internet and listen in the radio. I hate them, they are scum, thieves and criminals. Adult immigrants take it to heart and deal with it, it was their decision. They deal with it as best they can.

But what about an undocumented student? What about those who had no choice in the matter of which they came? What happens to them, when they hear that they are considered scum, rats, and that they should be shot for breathing in the same space as a citizen.

Heartbreak. Heartbreak because we think we don’t deserve to be attacked in such vicious ways. We didn’t ask for this burden, implanted to us by our parents. No one who is under 18 is scum. Yet…here I am, defending myself against all the attacks because I’m considered less American than my peers.

It is a battle in the mind as we wrestle with the possibility of, “are they right?” But I know the anti-immigrants are not right, and they never will be. I have passed every challenge presented in front of me. I have excelled in school as best as I could. I have dealt with the fact that I’m 1 of 3 undocumented students at my university with the population of over 17,000. And I deal with the fact that I’m different from my peers in ways that they don’t see, know or understand.

So here we are, the odds against us in a gigantic way and yet some of us are still capable of going to college. We are still capable of becoming doctors, teachers, scientists, and more. Despite the burden and the heartbreak, we still succeed. We defy all notion of what is possible.

What is the price of being an undocumented student?

The price is your existence being challenged everyday, in heartbreak and sadness, but in the end, we know our fight for education is one worth fighting for, no matter what the price or obstacles. Not because we choose to, but because we have to.