Tonight I had the opportunity to listen to a talk by Esmerelda Arrizon-Palomera on undocumented youths in America and the implications of the DREAM act. She shared several images that exemplify the different challenges and biases that undocumented youths face. One was a pair of crossing signs – one that shows two parents appearing to run away from something with a child in tow, and another that shows three educated people in graduation garb, appearing to walk towards something. The fact that both images show the people with the word “Caution” speaks to the irrational fear of immigrants that many people in the United States demonstrate. While the first image perpetuates negative stereotypes of immigrants, the second way shows them as model students. Arrizon-Palomera talked about how regardless of how much education an undocumented person receives, their condition as undocumented will always be a precarious one. Arrizon-Palomera compared the feeling of being undocumented to feeling contained or stuck. This made me realize how much a lot of us take our citizenship for granted – things like being able to get a drivers license, have a Social Security number, and qualify for financial aid are all luxuries that undocumented students don’t have. College is already stressful enough as is – I can’t even imagine how difficult and stressful it must be to have to deal with all of those issues as well.

Arrizon-Palomera also talked about how a lot of undocumented people have no memory of crossing, since it happened when they were so young. Therefore, they often don’t even realize they are undocumented until they go to apply for driver’s licenses. Additionally, she talked about the DREAM act helps protect students, but it criminalizes their parents, thus separating students from their parents – so that protection comes at a cost. Again, this made me realize how lucky citizens are and how much we take for granted.