"In 2007, I was four years old, had no money and didn't speak English. 14 years later, I will be attending Harvard"
Hello, my name is Darian Benitez Sanchez, I am 18 years old and I am an undocumented student at Brophy College Prep. I was born in Guanajuato, Mexico, and came to the United States at the age of four, in 2007. My mother, a 21-year-old woman who dedicated every once of her energy to us, and my father, a young, hardworking man who was willing to sacrifice everything for the good of his family, brought their two children over the border in order to liberate them from the cycle of poverty that awaited them. They hoped that in doing so, their children wouldn't have to give up their education to work in the fields, they would have enough to eat every day, and they could pursue dreams that were once unimaginable to them.
From the start, it was clear that my younger sister and I would be at a disadvantage. We never really had the chance to just be kids, despite our parents’ tireless efforts to protect our childhood. As we look back on our memories, we see that they lend weight to the fact that in this country, everyone is prepackaged with dignity EXCEPT you and everyone you care about. Over the last 14 years, we came to know more about Joe Arpaio than our own grandparents, we mastered the art of hiding our identities, and we spent every day of our lives looking over our shoulders, hoping we wouldn’t lose everything we had ever worked for in an instant.
Still, there was hope in West Phoenix, there was hope in the Maryvale area, there was hope in Arizona, there was hope in the United States. My sister and I were living proof of a narrative that’s driven by this hope, a story of love and compassion, a story of sacrifice. Both of my parents did not have the chance to graduate from high school. They labored dawn to dusk in the fields so that we could scrape the line of survival. They willingly face the language barriers, racial prejudice, and anti-immigrant sentiments that await them every time they leave the house because nothing matters more to them than my sister and I. Therefore, I received an education, I had the chance to take part in sports, I was able to start to construct a future for myself. All of it because of them. They’ve been handcuffed for driving without a license that they couldn't obtain due to their lack of immigration status.. They’ve spent entire days in the Arizona heat, working and doing whatever it took to protect their children. They fall asleep with darker bags under their eyes every night.
In 2007, I was four years old, had no money and no understanding of the English language, I carried nothing more than one change of clothes and a plastic card of Baby Jesus in my hand as I entered the country. 14 years later, I am 18 years old and will attend Harvard University in the Fall of 2021. Now, I carry every drop of sweat and tears my parents gave for me throughout the years, a community that continues to support me, and the foundation to the life I wish to live.
It hurts to know that all of this can be taken from me at any moment. It hurts to know that we continue to live in a cycle of fear, despite having done everything in our power to prove we are worthy of happiness. We need the opportunity to continue to survive and to thrive in the country we call home. We are enough. My parents knew I would be told otherwise, but they’ve shown me how to have hope. Now, we have a chance at being recognized, at fulfilling the dreams our parents had upon crossing the border. We can’t let this opportunity go to waste. We’ve waited too long to take this moment for granted. I urge everyone to strive to be in solidarity with those like myself, the undocumented, the ostracized, the brave, the hardworking. We need legislation that provides us protection from deportation, family separation, work permits, and the chance at the life we came here to live.
Darian Benitez, Undocumented Student at Brophy College Preparatory