Note: Aliases have been used in place of the names of the following sources due to safety concerns.
The Aspiring Scholar and her older brother split the cost of an Apple AirTag and secretly stuffed it into the bottom of their mother’s purse to track her location.
The recently-certified Scientist appoints herself the responsibility of picking up her brother from school, since their father’s car—an old, “beat up” sedan with chipped paint that makes rattling noises—would draw attention.
When The Aspiring Filmmaker isn’t accumulating sweat at cramped warehouse raves until the sun rises, or geeking out over silent films with friends in his family’s living room, he sits alone, wrestling with the decision to self-deport with his parents and two younger sisters, or to stay back in the U.S. and survive on his own.
Different roots; different lifestyles; different stories that have each taken an unwarranted turn amid the government’s mass deportations.
Whether they are U.S. citizens or undocumented immigrants themselves, the children of undocumented parents are facing a new reality that forces them to reverse roles with their parents and take initiative. As they begin their climb up the mountain of life’s endeavors, the weight of re-invented immigration policies meets them at its peak.