I have lived here for nine years. I went to school here, I have friends here, I consider myself an American. But recently, as I look into a future filled with uncertainty, my dreams seem harder and harder to grasp. But I have come to realize that everything in life does not necessarily go according to plan. Sometimes, things happen and you can’t control them. It’s not fair, but that’s life.

I came to this country when I was in the fourth grade. As a little fourth grader, I was bit aware of being an illegal immigrant, but it wasn’t until now, as a senior, that I thought about it.

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Back in January, INS sent a letter telling my mom and me to leave voluntarily within 30 days or else they were going to start deportation procedures. It was devastating. I talked to an attorney and asked what the chances were that they were going to come and deport me. All she could do was tell me exactly what the letter said. She told me that if you don’t leave after 30 days, you’re on their file, they have a right to deport you, and that’s that.

At that point, I told most of my friends what happened. It’s not the end of the world, I thought, but there’d be a whole lot of adjustments to make. In case we’d have to leave, I applied to all the universities in Hong Kong. I also looked at what courses I had left to graduate, and because the school requires eight semesters of English, I took on an­ extra English class that I could finish via email if I was not able to stay until the end of the semester. I panicked, but we never actually packed our stuff to get ready to go. The provision stated we had 30 days, but we were pretty much set on staying until the INS took further action.

I’ve really considered whether or not it’s worth it to take the risk of staying in America. But even in the midst of the time when I thought I had to go, I was never able to persuade myself that I might be better off in Hong Kong. It never occurred to me that if I had a chance to stay, going back to Hong Kong might be the better decision. I guess I simply feel that this is home. The INS might believe that they are deporting people back to their homeland, but they have it all wrong. If I get deported, I’m not being sent back home, I’m being sent to a foreign country.

Lately, there have been stories about illegal immigration raids. People focus on legislation and laws that say that illegal immigrants do not belong here just because we don’t have green cards or we were not born here. But what they don’t seem to understand is that they’re talking about actual people; it’s my future they’re talking about. It wasn’t my decision to come here in the first place, and it’s my life they’re messing with, and they’re just going to kick me back to Hong Kong. Going back to Hong Kong after nine years would be a dramatic change for me. I can’t express myself in Cantonese as well as I can in English, which would make it harder for me to get a job. I’ve read a lot of stories and talked to people like myself, who are also undocumented immigrants. We have dreams. We have the American dream. If we have to leave, life as we know it will be over. We feel American.

One of the reasons I try so hard in school is because as an undocumented immigrant I value education more than other people. I know it’s a privilege, and I don’t take it for granted because I know that someday I might not be here; I might get deported. I have to make the most of what I have. This semester alone, I am taking six AP courses.

I’ve read a lot of articles about how people are unhappy about providing financial support for immigrant education. But I think that if I get an education, if I receive financial aid and get a job, in the end the nation will benefit. There is potential from all immigrants. Invest in them and they’re going to benefit the United States in the end.

Now, my immigrant status is hardest on me financially, because I will have to pay $20,000 a year in tuition. Because you need citizenship or residence to qualify for scholarships, I am ineligible for financial aid. There are also no student loans for undocumented immigrants. When you’re not legal, you have no way of guaranteeing that you’ll pay the loans back because you may not be able to get a job. I’d like to go to graduate school, but there’s no way that I can pay for that.

For now, at least, I can go on to college here. I e-mailed the school that I’ll be attending next year, and explained my situation. I asked whether or not an undocumented immigrant would be able to get a diploma, and keep his transcript’s credits in case he got deported. They told me that everything is fine. Later, I found out that regardless of your immigration status, anyone who has been in high school for at least three years in California does not have to pay a foreign student fee at the universities.

I plan to major in engineering. I just hope that I can come out of school and get a job.

I hope that the DREAM ACT can pass and there is a legal way for me to get legal status so that I can get a job and live life as an American.

Recent Immigration News

On May 17, the Senate passed the Immigration Reform Bill. The proposed agreement that would allow undocumented immigrants to obtain a “Z visa.” With this visa, each alien would pay a fee of $5,000 and then return to their home country. There they would get on track for permanent residency, which would range from eight to 13 years. A number of 10,000 green cards would be available annually for guest workers. Receiving them as a point system, only the higher-skilled and better-educated immigrants would be able to achieve this. Family relations would no longer be able to meet the criteria to qualifying for a green card-except for minor kids and spouses in the U.S.

Source: The Associated Press

The DREAM Act

In November 2005 the Senate passed the Dream Act, a bill that would grant a six-year conditional residency status to those who entered the country five years prior to the passage of the legislature and were under the age of 16 at the time of entry. If the applicant demonstrates good moral character, at the end of the residency, the applicant can apply for U.S. citizenship. Though the act was introduced in 2001, it has yet to gather more than one-third of third House’s vote.

— www.dreamact.info