Diane Guerrero
While awaiting deportation proceedings, my parents remained in detention near Boston, so I could visit them. They would have liked to fight deportation, but without a lawyer and an immigration system that rarely gives judges the discretion to allow families to stay together, they never had a chance.Collection: Chance
My parents came here from Colombia during a time of great instability there. Escaping a dire economic situation at home, they moved to New Jersey, where they had friends and family, seeking a better life, and then moved to Boston after I was born.Collection: Family
Throughout my childhood, I watched my parents try to become legal but to no avail. They lost their money to people they believed to be attorneys but who ultimately never helped. That meant my childhood was haunted by the fear that they would be deported.Collection: Legal
My father was desperately trying to be a legal contributor to this society.Collection: Legal
I've experienced colorism in that way: where if you're lighter, then you'll potentially be accepted into society better than if you were darker-skinned.
When you're the child of undocumented immigrants, you learn to keep your mouth shut.
I am here, a citizen of this country, and I'm saying, 'Hey, the system failed me. I am a good citizen. I contribute to this country, and here I am sharing my story. What are you going to do now?'
Neighbors broke the news that my parents had been taken away by immigration officers, and just like that, my stable family life was over.
I want immigration reform to come into fruition, and I want it to be comprehensive, and I want it to have a path to citizenship, and I want to be involved politically every day.
Sometimes I want to bury myself in bed, and I don't want anyone to know anything about me, and I don't want anyone to judge me.
Love yourself no matter who you are or where you come from.
For me, picking a college was really difficult. I wish I had had my parents there kind of supervising me. But I chose well. I did OK.
Whatever the reason is, I am happiest when connecting with the human experience. It lets me know that I'm not alone in this world.
Crazy Jane is a complex individual who always has a lot brewing. She tries to hold things together on the surface, which is something that we all try to do. She uses these different personalities to try to cope with life.
My father, who worked as a dishwasher, was especially anxious. He did not like being here undocumented.
I went through depression, which is something that we don't often talk about when we look at undocumented communities and deported families.
I always wanted to, to the smallest detail, make my parents proud.
It has never been illegal to be a refugee.
I'm not one for lying to children.
If we value children and family, there's a great need for change, and we should try immigration reform - create a path for citizenship for people already here, update the visa system.
Immigrants are working hard to give our families a better life. Isn't that what the American Dream is?
I learned at a very young age that my parents were undocumented.
My parents have always been very honest with me.
I worked while in high school and college so that I could pay for school. I also had loans.
It's interesting when people access their inner little girl or little boy. I remember doing tons of those exercises when I was in school, where you're trying to dig into your vulnerability. There's no mask for a child, so all those feelings are real.
'Doom Patrol' is doing the most - and the wackiest - things, but when you've been alive in this time, you know it's actually not so wacky. Awful, strange, and inexplicable things do happen.
I love entertaining people! It's who I am.
I think one of my best qualities is my ability to empathize with people. Perhaps it's because my journey has been so bumpy.
I definitely had to pave my own path, which wasn't always the easiest thing to do.
I grew up in Boston.
I always thought, 'Wow, I know I have an important story to tell,' but I never really thought it would happen.
We were like any other family with the same troubles and some of the same happy moments.
My parents were desperately trying to become documented citizens of this country and tried very hard to get there, but to no avail.
It's sometimes a little embarrassing to take selfies, but sometimes I want to take a selfie because I'm like, 'Oh I look cute. I like my hat. I like what I'm wearing, and I want to show it off.'
'Forrest Gump' has been one of my favorite movies of all time.
When I go to places, I love going to all those kind of amusement parks and kind of cheesy things to do.
I was lucky enough to be with my parents until I was 14. Having my parents tell me that I could do anything. I was special. I matter.
I don't know why I was lucky enough to have people in my community take me in. To be able to continue school. Or why I was lucky enough to find work or go to college. I do know that kind of luck is one in a million.
Once my family was taken, I became fully aware that my community matters less to some people. That we are treated differently because of the color of our skin or where our parents were born.
I feel like there's this misconception that immigrants come here and just don't care about the system and paying taxes, and that's not true.
We need someone who's going to govern on behalf of everyone in this country, including immigrants.
I definitely binge-watched 'House of Cards' when it first came out.
I think despite what we've seen on TV, people like seeing women and knowing about women's stories and their struggles and their truth. I think we've seen it in a lot of these shows - when there's a cast of all women, it does very well.
People like seeing people being human and real, and I think that's been lacking on TV.
My real story is this: I am the citizen daughter of immigrant parents who were deported when I was 14. My older brother was also deported.
I worked a variety of jobs in retail and at coffee shops all through high school. And, though I was surrounded by people who cared about me, part of me ached with every accomplishment, because my parents weren't there to share my joy.
Every day, children who are U.S. citizens are separated from their families as a result of immigration policies that need fixing.
I so desperately wanted to be honest, and I so desperately wanted to love myself and accept myself for who I was.
I don't think you're ever ready to read your life back to yourself and try to make it entertaining for others.
Even kids who haven't had firsthand experience with the immigration system, I want them to know how families are affected and what kind of system is in place.