Who is Undocumented?

Often we have this idea of what an undocumented person looks like, how they behave, the activities they partake in. We often see them as Mexican, as poor, as criminals, but these are ideas that have been fed to us, they are stereotypes of an "illegal" or an "undocumented". However, this is not the truth of the matter, the images that come up in our minds are not what is real. Here is what is real: A seventeen year old girl, brought to the United States without papers at the age of one. She has spent her entire life in this country, knows the language, knows the culture, attended public school and is preparing to graduate. She is an honor student, was in the theater club, and was on the volleyball team. She is excited to graduate, but scared at the same time because she will not be able to attend the University she would have been able to go to with her high achieving grades, she will soon be eighteen and will be a legal adult who has to carry identification, but she has no way of obtaining any because she doesn't have a social security card. She cannot travel, she cannot drive, she cannot get a job, she is stuck. If her parents have managed to earn enough money she may be able to go to community college, at least if she lives in California. You know this girl, she sat next to you in your science class, she helped you make flyers for the school fundraiser, she was one of your best friends. She is certainly not a criminal, she is just one of the many unfortunate children who were brought to this country without any paperwork.
     These are the stories I will be telling you, these are the real lives of undocumented immigrants. Some came here as adults some as children; they may have come because they were struggling to survive in their country or to simply provide a safer and more stable living environment for their families. These people are no more criminal than you or I, we break the law everyday when we drive 70mph instead of 65 mph or answer the phone while we drive. This is why I will be sharing with you a side of the immigration debate that we never get to hear, the side of the immigrant, the people we talk a lot about but never take time to listen to, the people we have such emotional strong feelings about without even taking the time to realize who they are. Now you will know them, and you will understand why they are here, and what struggles they have been dealing with, particularly those who were brought here as children and have had to inherit the difficult situation of being undocumented.
     I will end this post with something to think about, this statement comes from a conversation I had with a friend. She explained to me, "Have you ever driven over the speed limit? I assume yes, because we all have. Now the real question is why did you do it? Many people will say they did it because they were late and they needed to get to work or to school. Are these people criminals? You will probably say, well no, they shouldn't speed but just because they did it a few times doesn't make them a criminal, we don't demand that they go to jail. Yet when you think about it, speeding involves a lot of risk, the potential for a traffic ticket which can cost anywhere from hundreds to upward of a thousand dollars, not to mention the mark against your driving record and the increase in your insurance. Then you have to think about the risk of a car accident, your life, your passengers life, and the lives of the others on the road. That is a lot of risk to not be late, and for what? For a JOB.....sound familiar? Breaking the law, risking so much for what? Ah yes, that's right.....a job, a livelihood, the thing that gives you a future and all the comforts of life. "