Dreams Deferred: A First-Hand Account of a Returnee

I shared my story with a senator (about the DREAM ACT) over his website, which I want to share with everyone on my Facebook account:

I lived for 10 years in the USA, from the age of 12 to 22. Then I moved to Mexico (I left by my own will) knowing that I was not going to be able to come back soon. Still, I took the chance and finished my major in Mexico because I couldn't in the USA (even with a scholarship). I then won another scholarship (while in Mexico) to do my MA in Applied Linguistics at Georgia State University. While I was doing my major, I applied for and got a VISA to visit my relatives who still live in the USA, undocumented. I do not wish this last part to be shared publicly (on TV or radio, I meant in the original message), as I fear that my relatives will be deported.

I have a brother who could have benefited from the DREAM Act, but he is being deported as we speak. He is now in Atlanta and will be deported in a couple of weeks, even though he arrived to the USA when he was 7 (he is now 23) and doesn't know Mexico at all. He is fortunate to have a brother who currently resides in Mexico City with a stable job and a good career ahead of him, thanks NOT to the horrible lack of understanding that undocumented children from undocumented migrants get in the United States of America from many people. I can say that usually, "brain drain" (people who have great potential but decide not to come back to their native country) happens in Mexico when students who study abroad decide not to come back to Mexico because of the situation here. I can probably be considered a part of "brain drain" WITH RESPECT TO THE USA.

I no longer wish to be a US citizen (though I have great friends and relatives in that country) but my brother who is in deportation proceedings right now probably thinks that his whole world is shutting down by being deported to a country which is no longer his: Mexico. All I can say is, if the DREAM ACT does not pass because people simply do not understand the current immigration situation in the USA, then the kids of immigrants CAN find a better life through education. If it isn't in the USA then in the countries which saw them being born. They will learn to love that country eventually, and will forget the USA, a country which is not thankful for the loyalty that these undocumented immigrants display in their everyday lives conscious or unconsciously.

Published originally on May 29, 2011