DREAMer Activist: “I Am Undocumented, Unashamed, and Unafraid”
By Angela Harvey
Carlos Padilla crossed the border between Mexico and the United States on foot when he was only two years old. He was too young to remember the journey, but has heard his mother tell the story of how he and his brother, then six, and his four-year-old sister made the 12-hour journey from Tijuana to Los Angeles.
The Padilla family did not have documentation to reside in the country legally, so for years they lived in the shadows of society familiar to many undocumented immigrants. Padilla first became aware of exactly how his immigration status affected him when he began looking at college applications in his sophomore year of high school.
“When the Social Security number question came up, I knew that was not my reality,” Padilla said. Without being able to apply for financial aid he began to see college as an unobtainable goal. “I realized that I could only pursue my education so far, there was always going to be a wall between me and my dream and that hurt.”
Carlos Padilla
Padilla, now 21, and a student at the University of Washington, is currently a summer intern at the National Education Association. Recently, he and his colleague, David Liendo, shared their powerful stories to show support for comprehensive immigration reform and passage of the DREAM Act, which would provide a pathway to citizenship for undocumented high-school graduates and GED recipients who meet various requirements, including the completion of at least two years of college or four years of
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