Some thoughts from an undocumented student who is trying to balance commitment to the fight for immigrant rights, with life, friendships, and love. From an edited letter to a former best friend who is having a hard time understanding.

I’m at a point in my life where I am making a choice between a dream and reality. I can choose to continue school this semester and work with what I have to get through, or I can dedicate my time to organize and mobilize people, to encourage others and hope i wont have to worry about immigration in years to come.

You’ve been in my life for a long time now and I’ve considered you my friend and partner (in so many ways). You always gave me that strength, that feeling of comfort that I lacked before you. You made me strong and you made me happy. Whenever I felt like giving up, (more…)

A few things come to my mind when I think of what the next steps need to be in regards to the Immigrant Youth Justice League (IYJL) and the Immigrants Rights Movement (IRM) in general. “Coming Out of the Shadows” Education Connecting the struggles Long Term Perspectives “Coming Out of the Shadows” The political importance [...]

On Tuesday January 2nd the Immigrant Youth Justice League will be having a press conference in Chicago (details bellow) to announce our participation in the fight for immigrant rights. Below is our press advisory, explaining a bit of what we plan to do. WHAT: Press conference by undocumented youth, students, and supporters to call for [...]

I kept the secret because Mom said so. But, in school Mom was not present, so I shared anyway. I broke the great silence, Only to learn that I was not alone. Quickly we learned the language of the oppressor, I said, yo soy ilegal, ¿tú también? We laughed! We’re all illegal!, we cried-out, Transforming [...]

Rigoberto Padilla is a junior at UIC who lived in Chicago for most of his life. He is also undocumented, and was set to be deported to Mexico next Wednesday. But on Thursday the Department of Homeland Security deferred his deportation. The Department of Homeland Security informed Padilla’s attorney of the news today. Padilla will [...]