Diane Guerrero

I don't know why I was lucky enough to have people in my community take me in. To be able to continue school. Or why I was lucky enough to find work or go to college. I do know that kind of luck is one in a million. ”

I loved to sing and dance and play-act, and I always believed that my dream to become an actor would come true because my immigrant parents had taught me to believe in the American dream. ”

Since when is it good to separate a family? ”

This is the kind of stuff me and my friends talk about. We sit around and drink coffee, and we're really angry: We're like, 'Where's the Latino Museum?' Where can we go with our families, where can we go with our friends to learn about our history? ”

We should be a nation that welcomes immigrants, keeps families together, and ensures that everyone gets a fair day in court. ”

My family is broken. ”

Every day, children who are U.S. citizens are separated from their families as a result of immigration policies that need fixing. ”

Throughout my childhood, I watched my parents try to become legal but to no avail. They lost their money to people they believed to be attorneys but who ultimately never helped. That meant my childhood was haunted by the fear that they would be deported. ”

We were like any other family with the same troubles and some of the same happy moments. ”

When you're the child of undocumented immigrants, you learn to keep your mouth shut. ”