Quebec's Journey: Keeping Her Family Together

Hello, my name is Quebec. I am 33 years old & a mother to three beautiful girls, ages 11, 9 & 3. I was born in Mexico. When I was 7 yrs old, I was brought to the United States of America by my mother, in search of the American dream. In 2015, I was approved for DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), which is an amazing program that allowed me to work legally in the U.S., get a driver's license, and be protected from deportation for 2 years. I have been renewing that temporary status every 2 years since then. I will forever be grateful for the opportunities that DACA gave me and for everything I was able to accomplish through the program.

Due to the current mass deportations going on in the U.S., I have made the decision to leave my home and return to my birth country on my own terms. Even though, as of now, the DACA program that protects me has not been canceled, I still feel that the risk is too high. I fear that if I run into an officer who does not care to verify my status and arrests me, with the expedited deportations taking place, I could be separated from my daughters. That would be the end of me. So even though my daughters don’t speak Spanish and I know absolutely nothing about Mexico, I am willing to leave the U.S. and start over if that is the only way I can guarantee that we will be together.

I have spent so many years trying to be a good member of society, trying to be successful and live the American Dream. But I am realizing now, that was never my dream. It was my parents'. I think a lot of our parents forgot why they came here. The goal was always to acquire skills, save money, and go back home. With everything I have learned here, I know I will add value to wherever I choose to live. So I ask that if you are able, you support me on my journey back to my birth country. As scared as I am, I feel in my heart I have to do this. Any funds I receive will help me get there and help pay for living expenses, hopefully for a little while until I'm generating my own income. I will be sharing my journey on YouTube at q.vasquez and TikTok @q_vasquez to hopefully monetize.

Also guys, applying for citizenship or permanent residency is not as easy as it sounds. I am not eligible for either of those two.

If you made it to the end, thank you so much for reading my story.

— signed a Dreamer