This undocumented high schooler hit back at Trump supporters with an inspiring graduation cap

When she graduated high school, Emelina Acevedo had a message on her graduation cap for all the Trump supporters in her school: “My dreams are bigger than your walls.”

In a post that has since been seen by thousands, she tweeted: “To the imbecilic entitled white males who made a mockery out of my cap before graduation today: Stay tuned. Mis sueños no tienen fronteras.”

We spoke to Emelina, a graduate of Woodland High School near Atlanta, about her experiences as an undocumented student in Georgia.

Where did the idea for your grad cap come from?

I was born in Mexico and brought over when I was nine months old to Georgia. So this is all I know. Legally you can’t cross borders like that. I grew up here but I can’t fit in – but you always can’t fit in with real Mexicans because they don’t see you as one of them, you’re just so influenced by being Americanized.

I was always really quiet in school. Being in Georgia, people hold strong opinions – and they’re more conservative in their way of thinking. I’d hear racist comments in school, but I was so quiet so I didn’t speak up in school. But over the time I’ve been in high school, I’ve changed a lot. I’ve accepted myself and vocalized that yes: I am not from here, I’m undocumented, but that doesn’t mean I’m not human. I was ashamed and embarrassed about it for the longest time. I actually moved into Woodland my sophomore year and thought if I kept to myself I could fly by and not be affected by people’s opinions.

And what happened?

On graduation day, my best friend and I took pictures outside the classroom then went back inside. This guy who’s known at my school for being a huge Trump supporter walks over, reads my cap, giggles and asks to take my picture. He’s laughing and I knew he was going to send it out.

He picks up my cap, displays it to the room and shouts to a big group of white guys and says: “Look at this cap!” They saw it and laughed, and then the remarks came. They said: “Oh just you wait until the wall is built” and “Can your dreams really go through a 100 foot wall?” Another one said: “We don’t need people like you here.” Another said: “It’s OK, you don’t belong here but I’m sure Mexico will take you back.” They’re laughing as they’re telling you this. All these negative things and racial slurs.

I had never experienced anything like this personally, ever, because I was so quiet and never spoke out for what I was. So when I heard them, I told my friends I felt as if someone had tied my hands behind my back and put duct tape on my mouth, because I felt so stuck. I wanted to speak out so bad. I was scared, I was mad, I was so angry. I heard them and I sat there and I froze.

How has the reaction been since your graduation?

I’ve gotten so many messages from people asking me if they can copy my idea. I say sure – the only thing I ask is to send me pictures so I can see. To know that I influenced people to speak out makes my heart so happy because I was so nervous to put it on my cap, especially knowing the school that I go to. To have it blow up like this makes me feel like I did the right thing.

Do you think a lot of undocumented are afraid of speaking out?

Yes. This is something that’s really a problem. I’ve seen on social media how being undocumented in California is a big thing – that’s so nice to see. Where I live now, I have a few friends who are undocumented that I had no idea about, because you just don’t talk about it. You just don’t vocalize it. Maybe not out of fear of getting deported – but it’s about people treating you differently. You just want to blend in as much as possible, you don’t want to be noticed. If you can’t be with them, you might as well stay quiet until you can get everything sorted. I think that’s a big problem – you either see people say I’m going to excel and work hard or I’m going to lay low and not try because I don’t have a chance. I know people from both categories and it’s really sad.