My road in life has been direct.
I was born in Mexico, but when I was a young child, my family moved to the U.S. as undocumented immigrants.
As a DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) student, I experienced a lot of negativity growing up, but this just made me work harder in school.
My undocumented status and financial situation affected the schools I could apply to, so I only applied to two schools.
After graduating from high school, I used scholarship money to attend San Jose State University as a justice studies major and Mexican-American studies minor.
Once my scholarship money ran out, I couldn’t afford to keep attending SJSU, but I was able to take my last few classes at San Jose City Community College in order to get my bachelor’s degree.
My original goal was to become a police officer and change the law enforcement stigma in my community, but I couldn’t get an internship at a department or a law firm due to my immigration status.
I started volunteering at Silicon Valley De-Bug, a local community advocacy organization that helped me and my family beat my father’s deportation case.
I am now a full-time organizer at Silicon Valley De-Bug, where I work to support families who are facing charges in the criminal, immigration, and justice systems.
