Meet Documented Dreamers

View our Collection of Stories

Click here to share your story!

Hilary

"My parents brought me and my siblings to the US from South Korea when I was just ten months old."

"I feel American and I grew up just like my American friends around me. I only wish that I could also have the same opportunities as them."

Anagh

"Any casual observer watching me live my life wouldn’t notice any differences between my life and any other American student’s"

"Even though the entirety of my life has been in the States, I don’t know if I have a future in this country."

Summer

"In the spring of 2000, not long after I turned a year old, my young and ambitious parents moved to Florida"

When I turned 21, I had to leave my family, friends, and unfinished college degree to go to a country where I only spent the first year of my life."

Padma

"When I was 8 months old, I took a life changing flight from India to the Boston Airport. It was the beginning of my life in America—the only life I’ve ever known."

"I hope one day I can truly call the only country I’ve ever known “home.”

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Jorge

"In 2002, my parents, under an E2 visa, decided to move to America from Colombia in hopes of providing my brother and me a better future."

"Despite my complete cultural assimilation, I could not be more detached from American citizenship"

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Sanjana

" All I’m looking for is security. All my life, that seemed like it was too much to ask."

"I hope this country will treat all children, documented or undocumented, who grew up here equally."

Lakshmi

"Turning 21 means that I will age out of the system and have to fight to stay in this country, a country that has become home to me."

"I am a Dreamer too, and I just want to be given a real chance to chase my American Dream.”

Mannie

"My American story began when my family moved to the United States from Zambia in 2007."

"I may not be American on paper, but I feel American. I hope the new dreamer pathway to citizenship legislation includes people like me.”

Vanessa

"I am an immigrant. I may not "look like one" and I may not sound like one, but I consider myself to be an immigrant."

"I hope I can make a life for myself here. This is my home. My family and friends are here and I can't imagine being anywhere else."

Pareen

"I was born in India, and my parents brought me to the United States when I was four months old in August 2000."

"Over the past 21 years, my parents and I have received love and help from many wonderful people of this country, but our hearts break when we think of my future immigration status."

Sujitha

"I cannot imagine leaving the country I have come to call my home to go to a country that I have only visited a few times over the years."

"Please help people like me have a clear path to citizenship.”

Ayaan

"Every time I talk to my parents about the future of my life as if it’s the backwards, medieval story of an exile being banished from the land of his belonging, a page is written.

This is my unique story. The story that tells of a boy who lives in one world, but is told that he is from another.."

Eti

"The hardships of being forgotten by the immigration system are difficult to put into words and immediately bring tears to my eyes."

"Despite being forgotten by the American government, I still identify as an American."

Tanuj

"I have lived in this country since 2004, when I was 4 years old. I have fleeting memories of my life from before my parents and I shifted to the United States from India.

I had to be an "international student" to continue my education, even though I had lived the past 17 years in this country.

Shristi

"When I was five, my parents packed our bags and took a giant leap of faith to move our family from India to the United States

; they wanted my baby sister and I to grow up in a place where our opportunities would not be limited by our gender.."

Vatsala

"I moved to the United States with my parents in 2005, when I was only 2 years old.

In spite of living in the United States as long as they have, I am not able to do many of these things my peers are because according to the law I am classified as an “alien”.."

Jessica

"I moved to a small town in Iowa when I was 11 years old- I had just finished the 5th grade. My family and I had no idea the challenges that were awaiting us.

I truly believe there should be a path to citizenship for children who grew up in America, and hope one day we won’t have to live in constant worry and fear."

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Srishti

"It wasn’t until high school that I realized exactly how many limitations come with my H-4 Dependent Visa status.

"The American Dream that I knew of before entering the United States didn’t apply to me all along."