Undocumented Dreams, Undocumented Quotes

 Impartial detachment, it’s required to cover events for the media. Apparently, it’s what’s required to formulate and pass a bill such as HB87. It appears we have enough impartial detachment to go around and I want to be no part of it.

Last month I attended a program, , at the Tate Center on the UGA campus. The event was held to provide a voice for undocumented high school students, allowing them to speak and allowing us to gain a deeper understanding of what life is now like for them in the State of Georgia.

The room reserved for this activity filled early, the crowd spilled out into the corridor and, in fact, those outside far outnumbered those inside. So many were in attendance, fire codes forced the building staff to move us to the Tate theatre. Those with the proper amount of impartial detachment will never believe that the attendees represented every background imaginable.

Two local high school teachers and six of their students sat in front of the room. No pictures were permitted and no names were given for the minor children. I’ll not mention schools either. Short of going to war, these young Americans were about to risk more than most of us can imagine. The teachers introduced the six young women and listed some of their many accomplishments. All are highly motivated, all are dreaming of attending UGA and all have crossed every t and dotted every i, to make their dreams reality.  

 “If allowed, they will contribute, positively to society. HB87 is a new Jim Crow cruelty,” said Ian Altman, teacher of three of the students present.

Matt Hicks, teacher of the other three, explained students become friends and family. It is a teacher’s job to teach every student regardless of whom they are or where they started life. Of one of his three students, he said, “She is twice the student I was and I had two scholarships to this school. These three girls are three of my American heroes. HB87 is a slap in the face for all students and teachers.”

 The six academically gifted students shared much in common.  All told stories of coming here at a very young age, all were ripped from what they knew and brought here to have the life their parents only dreamed of. All vaguely remember encounters with criminals, police officers, officials and even harrowing days spent crossing the Arizona desert. Sadness about leaving grandparents and other family members was also a common thread. Most came here to flee from civil wars, crime, violence, and poverty. Most came here legally and at great cost. Their American dream started as an American nightmare. We who are born here have no idea how lucky we are.

            Student #1

My parents are legal, my sisters and I are not, why does my country destroy families? I’m just a normal student, but this permeates all things in my life. I didn’t even know there was a problem with my status until high school. My friends take everything for granted, like driving and applying for colleges. They have no clue what it’s like to wake up, to find out you are inferior, or the embarrassment this causes. They ask, why didn’t you do it right? There is no right way; I wasn’t asked if I wanted to come here. HB87 sucks. I grew up in Athens and have dreamed of attending Georgia all my life and worked hard to make it happen, now that dream is gone. My GPA, all the work to be a good citizen means nothing as I am now judged solely on my status. I know it sounds silly, I just want to be able to have a bank account and to be able to drive like all my friends.

Student #2

My story is a little different, I am deaf. I came here at thirteen; I had been separated from my mother for two years and my father for ten. Still, being removed from my aunt and grandmother was a traumatic experience. A deaf person has no opportunities in El Salvador, I had never seen anyone use sign language, it was a part of my American dream. I was placed in the seventh grade, but removed quickly as I could not communicate. In America, I excelled and soon rejoined my classes, America gave me the opportunity to learn and enjoy language for the first time in my life. I dream of going on to school to work with deaf children. That dream was possible when I came here, now it’s not. Give us the information we need to become Americans, to live our dreams, just point us in the right direction and give a little push. We’ll jump at the opportunity; it’s why we took our nightmarish journeys in the first place.

            Student #3

 I came here at age eight, I had no idea coming here was a bad thing. At ten I became ill and when the doctors refused to see me, I learned about status and what it meant. I was treated by a nurse and recovered, but witnessed my mother’s anguish about the fear of my situation. It was at that time I realized coming here was a mistake, the better life wasn’t better. Later I understood I would never attend law school as I had dreamed I would. All my hard work, all the good grades, being in the advanced classes, all meant nothing. I wanted to be a voice for those who have none; instead, I no longer have one.

Student #4

I came here when I was too young to remember much, still I remember leaving everything I knew and remember how that felt. I learned English in six months and had no clue I was different from any of my other friends. I didn’t become aware that there was a citizenship issue until it was time for me to drive. I know it sounds silly, but all Americans dream of the day they can drive, driving means great freedom. I can’t drive or apply to schools like all my friends are doing; I want to be a veterinarian, I make good grades and I came this far for nothing. I grew up here; I’m scared to go to a country full of violence and crime, even if I was born there. HB87 is destroying families and futures.

Student #5

I didn’t really have a choice about coming here, my parents simply made it happen. I have always known what being undocumented meant: no jobs, no driver’s license and not being able to travel outside the country, but those are relatively small things compared to education. I wish I was a citizen of the country where I’ve been raised, I wish I could attend UGA with the Hope and other scholarships, but I can’t. I allowed myself some hope and this little hope has driven me to accomplish amazing things, but it was a false hope. At times I wonder why I even try, it gets me nowhere. HB87 scared me and I was hurt, how could Georgia do something so racist? I never thought I would live in a time where being Latino was wrong. When HB87 became public, my parents had to look at all our options, including moving to another state. Thinking of this, the tears welled and I hoped they wouldn’t run down my cheeks, I felt like a criminal. I hope to someday attend a good school even if it’s not in the US.

Student #6

I came here at five; we came with visa’s that have since expired. I didn’t speak any English, but in English as a Second Language I learned to speak it in 2 months and was reading at a third grade level by then. I was put in a special program and have been on track for college ever since. I took the SAT for the first time in the seventh grade. I’ve always known the career path I’d take. I wish to become an interpreter for the United Nations headquarters in New York. I’ve known my citizenship status from the start, but in recent years the political climate has taken a turn for the worse. You have to understand what a shock it is to come to the realization that your future is no longer in your hands and that someone can shut the door in your face for circumstances beyond your control. I may be an idealist, but I am by no means naive. I know that discrimination is very prevalent in our country today. I’ve had to sit and watch as a Tennessee State Rep. called undocumented women multiplying sewer rats and a politician from Washington State used the death penalty for illegal aliens as his platform. As unpleasant as that has been, it didn’t make me as angry as HB87, because this discriminatory ignorance is now directly affecting me and my future. Can anyone blame an intelligent child for losing motivation when they know that even when their delivery is above average, the top tier schools would never admit them? Personally, I’m at peace with knowing I’ve done my best.  I know I’ll miss out on a great education if the laws don’t change, but I’ve come to realize that ultimately those colleges will be missing out on me.

These are but summations of what these amazing children said, not word for word quotes. They are undocumented, unwelcome, unquotable and their dreams, undreamable. The night was riddled with statements like, we Americans, us Americans, our country, my country and we as Americans, for these children are as much American as you and I.

Dr Ruth Harman of the Language and Literary department at UGA has taught about immigration and worked with the local school system, involved with ESOL, since 2008.

 “I find that if you are involved with students like these for long, they become your teachers, they have so much to give.”

 She went on to explain that NAFTA has had some effect on our current political climate and that as our needs have changed, throughout the history of our country, the borders continue to shimmer in shades of gray, never quite black or white. The rules change depending on our economy.

Recession breeds contempt, and it’s easy to find someone you think is taking your money when money is tight. The way we are treating these young people goes against all the principles this country was founded on, and is a slap in the face to all those who fought to birth, this, the greatest nation.

If we do not want to educate these children, will we have them become part of the great uneducated masses, just so they can live down to what racists already believe about them? Will we make them part of the problem we think we have? Are they to be treated as the children who commit crimes and join gangs?

All Americans are not lumped into one category and we are playing a dangerous game with our future, doing it to others.

“I was really moved by the stories and extraordinary ethics of these young women, we should all be proud of them,” said Dr. Jim Marshall, Associate Dean Of Academic Programs at UGA.

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