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Monday, July 4, 2011

Coming out of America’s closet: undocumented and brave | Being Latino Online Magazine

Coming out of America’s closet: undocumented and brave | Being Latino Online Magazine

Coming out of America’s closet: undocumented and brave

In the wee hours of Jan. 2, a college student named Angy who lives in Queens posted a long list of resolutions for 2011 on

Angy

Facebook. Donate blood. Try bungee jumping. See a drag queen perform. Be a better me.

For a 20-year-old young woman, none of it was particularly unpredictable, unless you read further. … Take a plane for the first time. Learn to drive. Get a passport.

Brought to the U.S. by her mother at the age of 3, Angy is part of a shadow generation that is American in every way except one. For years, the closest thing to official identification she possessed was the student card issued by her high school.

Nearly two million people in the U.S. share her story. Arriving illegally in the U.S. as children, they have grown up