Living Undocumented In Dreaming With My Mother By Angy Rivera

Living Undocumented

“Dreaming with My Mother” by Angy Rivera is a life time story of one immigrant girl who was brought by her mother to America for a better life and opportunities. Author Rivera is the first person. The writer tells us her story of “invisible life” and shows on her own example how people were struggling and still are struggling when they are undocumented. From her childhood till adult age Angy was advised by her mother and friends to keep it secret that she was undocumented. And she did so until it was decided by Angy to “Come out of Shadow”. Her life turned into another direction after she heard about the “Dream Act” and was involved with New York State Leadership Council. The author describes in details how hard it was

to come out of hiding, “Come Out of Shadow” (event in New York 2010). However, at the end of the story the mood of the text changed in a positive way, and we can see that author is very pleased and satisfied with her achievements, because to some point she has achieved freedom for herself and her mother. Many of us had heard the term “undocumented immigrant”. We could hear this term in the news, on the radio or somewhere else. But we never deeply thought how and why illegal status affects people’s lives. Unfortunately, undocumented status of immigrants makes their lives difficult in different aspects such as educational, financial and moral. Angy Rivera’s story “Dreaming with my Mother” touches all these connected between each other aspects.
The first and the biggest drawback of being undocumented is educational problem, because education has a great influence on our future. Mary Tamer, Director of Strategic Projects in in Boston Charter Alliance at Massachusetts in her research work gives us a brief overview about education of undocumented students. A major example cited in Mary’s article includes:
Undocumented status affects more than one million children today, which is about one- third of all immigrant youth. Another 4.5 million U.S.-born youth have an undocumented parent. Children face barriers because of their parents’ undocumented status, often related to poverty, fears of deportation, and more, while undocumented youth themselves face increasing barriers to social mobility as they enter adolescence and hope to obtain driver’s licenses, after school work, and financial aid for college. Even when children themselves are unaware of their family members’ legal status, being undocumented or the child of an undocumented parent negatively impacts a child’s development. (1)
On the example of story “Dreaming with My Mother” by Angy Rivera we can clearly observe all education related problems that were described by Mary Tamer in her article.

Angy was unable to get drivers license, she couldn’t receive financial aid, she was unable to enroll into college.
The second, but not less important problem of being undocumented is financial problem. As we understand majority on undocumented immigrants work in low-skill and low-pay jobs, such as construction, manufacturing, and service. As we read in Angy’s story her mother also worked hard in a few jobs to ensure her child’s food and all other necessary living things. Rivera’s mom had to work on a men’s work because she didn’t have any other choice. Undocumented immigrants are often taken advantage of by the people they work for. Employers usually pay low
rates and ignore dangerous conditions, because the workers can’t complain. If they do so, then they will be at risk to be deported or

arrested.
The third but not less important issue of being undocumented, in my opinion, is a moral aspect.

It is understandable, if people live illegally and with undocumented status in America, it is much better then were they lived before. But living in fear and living “invisible life” is a huge stress. Adults and kids must keep their situation in secret from everyone. Every day they are afraid that their secret will come out of shadow. Specially it is very stressful for kids, because they can not properly communicate with other children and afraid that their secret will reveal. Jose Antonio Vargas is undocumented immigrant and here is how he described his fear in the story “My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant”:
About four months into my job as a reporter for The Post, I began feeling increasingly paranoid, as if I had “illegal immigrant” tattooed on my forehead — and in Washington, of all places, where the debates over immigration seemed never-ending. I was so eager to prove myself that I feared I was annoying some colleagues and editors — and worried that any one of these professional journalists could discover my secret. The anxiety was nearly paralyzing.

(2)
For so many years people from all over the world were coming to United States seeking a better life for themselves, their families, and their children. However, not every immigrant coming into this country is legal; many of them are illegal and poor. Few reasons why they live invisibly is that they don't know the right way to ask for help and they are afraid to be fired or even deported. We should care because opportunities of undocumented people are frequently limited, but more importantly, the discrimination, isolation and fear that they go through should not be experienced by any child or adult in our society. All American population should be given the opportunity to succeed regardless of their documentation status. We shouldn’t blame people who came to America for a better opportunity. It is their choice to be here and I wish their American Dreams will be realized.