Because of ICE, I've Been in Hiding for Months. It Has Transformed Me. [View all]

https://racketmn.com/because-of-ice-ive-been-in-hiding-for-months-it-has-transformed-me


I didn't ask to come to this country. My mother brought me here when I was six years old. Since then, this has been my life. I grew up here, I learned to navigate the world here, my memories are here, my relationships, my work, and my dreams. I don't know any other home in the same way.

From a very young age, I understood that even though it wasn't my decision to come here, it was my responsibility to do things right. That's why, since I was 15 years old, I've done everything possible to follow the legal channels. I had DACA, which allowed me to study and work, but it also meant living with the constant need to renew it every two years, paying fees, waiting, always with the uncertainty of whether I would be rejected this time. Living with that constant fear becomes part of your life, even if you try not to normalize it.

Today, I'm still in a legal process with a U visa. I have a work permit. I'm doing things correctly. Even so, l am trapped here. Not because I'm running from the law, but because I've seen how the system often doesn't even respect its own laws, deporting people who are in active legal processes and keeping entire families living in fear. That contradiction is very hard to bear.

These last few months have been especially difficult. The confinement isn't only physical; it's also emotional and mental. There are days of anxiety, of frustration, of feeling that everything is on hold while the world keeps moving forward outside. Even doing everything correctly, there's a real possibility that everything I've built with years of effort could be taken away from me. My stability, my projects, even my company.

*snip*