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The post Dreamers can excel with an opportunity appeared first on The Baytown Project.

“As a teacher, every year I meet students from other countries who would be beneficiaries of DACA. Some of them are very afraid. I’ve had students come to me crying and saying, ‘Miss, are they going to have to deport my parents?’

“You have to do your job as an educator, and I do that. I love my job, and I do it well. But without being political, you also need to have sympathy and reassure these kids that, hopefully, everything is going to be fine.

“Sometimes, kids push your buttons and will ask, ‘Hey, do you have your papers, Miss Rincon?’ It happens every year. The first time, I got very upset but I kept it together. The second time, I used it as an opportunity to explain how it is for many people, and how difficult their lives can be.

“Education is a powerful thing. I’m always very open about my story. You don’t need to have a long conversation about it every time; how you crossed the border and made it. But if some of these kids see that, hey, she was like me. Maybe one day, I can be like her. That’s all worth it.

“Just being there for these students and encouraging them can make a huge difference. Believe it or not, there’s not a lot of empathy out there these days.”

The post Teacher offers hope for undocumented students appeared first on The Baytown Project.

“I don’t like to say this because a lot of people who are undocumented are so talented and hard working. But I was pretty ready to just leave the country after graduating college. The climate of immigration was so tense. I was feeling desperate. I thought, I have to do something. I can’t just stay in this state of limbo and uncertainty.

“Then life happened. I met my husband. We fell in love and we gave it a shot. That’s how I adjusted my status. I didn’t set out to do that. That was not my plan. In my young and immature mind, I wasn’t even thinking about marriage. But getting married ended up being the best thing that I’ve ever done in my life, especially for my sanity as a person. I love my husband. He’s the best part of me.

“At the same time, some part of you feels a little guilty. It’s like, I’m OK now. I’m going to get my papers. I’m going to have that privilege. But what about my friends and others who are still fighting and waiting? They may think that you sold out. That you chose the ‘easy way out’ after working hard for so many years for all of us to have the right to live here. It wasn’t like that. But I understand why some people would think that way. I understand how they must feel.”

— Julita Rincon

Julita, 33, came to the United States from Mexico at age 13. While attending University of Houston, she was president of the student organization, Jóvenes Inmigrantes por un Futuro Mejor (Young Immigrants for a Better Future). The group advocated for proposed legislation, such as the DREAM Act, that would provide a pathway to citizenship or other legal status for undocumented residents. Julita got married in 2010. She became a U.S. citizen in 2013.

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