I am one of the millions who did not have a choice. I was a one-year-old girl who has been taken from what was supposed to be my home. My parents made the sacrifice of switching up their whole lifestyle to make a better future for their children. However, it’s a sacrifice that I am thankful that my parents made for my brother and me. Although that sacrifice came with a price, it is a price that I didn’t come to understand until I was not able to get a job, the possibility to apply to college, financial aid, a bank account or even get a thing that most 16 years old’s want, a driver’s license. I was a young adult hiding in the shadows, because of the fear of deportation.  

Until 2012, the year where former President Barack Obama gave millions of young adults the opportunity for a better future in the United States. He gave the chances that our parents wanted for us. I felt like I could finally exhale the breath I was holding in for years. When the DREAM act was announced and what opportunities were given. For the first time I felt what I knew to be home for many years was finally willing to help young adults like me. To have a better future in this country, a country that I have lived in for more years than my own native country. For 19 years, I considered the USA my home because it is the place I grew up and came to know.  

The DREAM act sounded amazing, but it also brought me to fear to apply. Fear because that meant I had to come out of the shadow that I was under. I had to really think about how this would affect me. I was granted opportunities that to citizens seemed like nothing but for me, it opened a huge door because I was able to get a work permit that allowed me to work, get a driver’s license and open a bank account. However, on the other hand, I was now in the government’s radius that I am here illegally, and I have the chance of deportation no matter what. I had to think whether these opportunities were worth the risk, I was conflicted because that meant that I was no longer hiding yet was exposed to the government who just view us as aliens, not people. The DREAM act was a blessing in disguise because of its pros and cons. Overall I chose to see the DREAM act as a blessing, and I was proud to apply for the Dream act in 2016, becoming part of one out of millions of dreamers.  

Feeling part of this country was and still is a dream of mine. It is crazy to think I would want to live anywhere else but here and yet it is the place where many do not want people like me to be in. We work hard, we contribute to the country as much as we can due to the boundaries that are placed on us, yet we are not welcome. Racism from politicians and people who are closed-minded are affecting the lives of others who have done nothing wrong and are people who just want a better future in a country that they call home. I once felt like I was alone and that I was the only one feeling scared and lonely. I never realized there are millions of dreamers out in the world like me. Waiting for this country to accept us and view us as an American. My experience is just one story that is similar to many others. By telling my story I hope the person reading it is aware that there are people like me out there in the world. All we want is for the United States of America to acknowledge that we are not here to harm. We are here because our parents were brave enough to bring us to another country that we did not know about but grew up to have so much faith in. Being a dreamer is the act of bravery that many young adults took to be acknowledged and try to prove what we are really made of and that we are here to make a change.