My family's immigration experiences differ greatly from most because, in my opinion, they got really lucky. My parents have lived in the United States for a very long time, since way before I was born, and I remember watching them study for their citizenship tests when I was really young. The reason why I think my parents had it so easy is because they came from more favorable circumstances. My mother's stepdad is a pretty high ranking diplomat in her home country so she and her whole family were able to get green cards extremely easily. My father recently told me that he's sure he was only able to easily get a green card because he was immigrating from Europe to the U.S. for college. It would have been a lot more difficult if he had been immigrating directly from Africa. Because of these advantages, I've never had to worry about things like deportation and the paranoia that comes with it, along with the feeling that you don't belong anywhere. I'm really thankful for it, but to me it only underlines how much undocumented families struggle and how scary it would feel to always be watching your back in fear that one day something will go wrong and your entire life will be uprooted, forcing you to return to a place where there are less chances for you and you family to succeed, whether it be due to lack of proper infrastructure, increased violence, or other factors.
-Anonymous '20 (BHSEC Queens)
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