This election is so important to undocumented residents like me

With Trump doing extremely well in the polls and with his deplorable stance on immigration, I would like to tell you my story.

I realize some readers may be Republicans, and your ideas about certain social issues in this country are already set. But try to stray away from them for a second, and imagine what it would be like to be in the shoes of resident aliens.

I moved here from Poland when I was nine years old. I didn’t know my mom was bringing me here for good. We moved because my dad and brother were already here in Florida, and my brother had just met a girl that he wanted to marry. My mom and I came here legally on a visitor visa and when my brother got married and my sister-in-law had their first child, we stayed past the expiration of the visa. Like any family who wanted to stay together would.

Me with my mom and nephews

My mom and dad have social security numbers, because they were frequent visitors to the U.S. in the 80s and 90s, when it was possible to get a social security number and in turn get a driver’s license and be able to work as well. My brother did the same thing and when he married his wife she sponsored him for a green card.

When 9/11 happened all the immigration laws in the country changed before my parents could get me a social security number.

In order to get a green card you have to be sponsored by an immediate family member, being either a spouse, a citizen parent of a child that’s unmarried and under 21, or a citizen child that wants to sponsor their parent. If you fall in this category you will get a green card within a matter of months. The other categories have waiting times of a good amount of years. After you get a green card, you have to wait five years before you can file for citizenship.

My high school friends from choir

When my brother married, his wife sponsored him and then he became a citizen five years after obtaining his green card. After waiting some time, he sponsored my mom and dad. My mom then, upon receiving her green card, tried to sponsor me.

Little did we know a green card holding parent wouldn’t be able to sponsor her underage daughter. The only way my mom would be able to sponsor me was if she became a citizen when I was under 21. When my mom filed for her citizenship I was 22 and we were just one year too late.

At the time my only option of getting a green card was to get married. With such ridiculous circumstances in order to get a green card I was at a loss with how I was going to be able to live in this country.

In 2012 Obama passed an executive order called The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals which allowed me to continue my life in Florida. However, the act is considered an executive order and can be repealed by the next president. My health insurance has already been taken away, by a new law stating DACA individuals do not qualify for health insurance through Obamacare. I cannot qualify for financial aid so I am currently paying for my education out of pocket with help of local and foreign family members. I’m not able to travel, study abroad, or get certain jobs or internships because I am considered an “international student” at UF – even though Florida has been my home for the past fifteen years.

I want to be able to continue my life and not face any obstacles

I realize people will have criticisms of my story, or how my family and I didn’t take the proper steps or question why I am currently in the country. I have thought about leaving America many times but I want to find a solution to this problem.

But, if I leave I will be leaving my whole family and my home. Even though I do not have citizenship should I be treated poorly because I was brought here as a child? There are thousands of kids who can relate to my story. It is time for the American people to realize there are other things going on in this country besides what affects them directly.

We are not illegal aliens, we do not sit in this country and do nothing while receiving everything for free. I couldn’t get my license like a normal sixteen year old, I couldn’t go to college at first to future my education. I couldn’t have a normal childhood because of a one year mistake.

Please do your research. Look up each candidate’s stance on issues other than just those that relate directly to you personally. Think about how each candidates policies will affect other people that DON’T have it the same as you do. So many people now turn a blind eye, and in no way am I looking for sympathy from anyone. I want kids growing up in this country, who think they’re the same as any other kid, to suddenly realize they are not and are kept from doing most things that Americans take for granted.