Coming Out: An Undocumented Movement

“Brothers and Sisters, you must come out! come out to your parents, come out to your friends, if indeed they are your friends, come out to your neighbors, come out to your fellow workers. Once and for all, let’s break down the myth and destroy the lies and distortions. For your sake, for their sake. For the sake of all the youngsters who’ve been scared by the votes from Dade to Eugene. On the Statue of Liberty it says ‘ Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free.’ In the Declaration of Independence it is written, ‘All men are created equal and endowed with certain unalienable rights.’ For Mr. Briggs and Mrs. Bryant and all the bigots out there, no matter how hard you try, you can never erase those words from the Declaration of Independence! No matter how hard you try you can never chip those words from the base of the Statue of Liberty! That is where America is!”

-Harvey Milk

For some time now I have been dwelling with the idea of coming out.

And I mean coming out in the sense in which it is used by the LGBT community. The idea that one is forced to not hide certain characteristics of oneself in order to avoid others from discriminating you. This fact is so prevalent in my life. Only counted individuals know that I am undocumented. In reality, I do not tell people because I am afraid my friends might target me, especially in school.

Often times I feel that I just have many imaginary friends. This I say because certain comments some of my 'friends' make me shake at points. Sometimes I try to refute their stance without really coming out to them, without really revealing that if the nation were to apply some of the policies they believe would great, I would be a victim, that I would fall captive of their ideas. And I mean captive in a literal sense.

At points I really feel that if I came out to these friends they will be more sympathetic towards me and towards advocating for laws that would potentially benefit me and in retrospect keep me here, where I want to stay, as their friend. I believe that when you come out to others, they are more likely to be with you at any cost even if their views did not align with such believes before. I also believe in the power of stories and in the human spirit and that we make connections through our humanity.

However, coming out is scary. I dread the day I come out to those close to me who do not know I am undocumented. I dread this day because I have no idea what I am supposed to say. I have no idea how they would react and I have no idea what happens next. Sometimes living in the shadows, as I have since I reunited with my family here in the state, is the way I should live because coming out means confronting my biggest fear: finding out that some of my friends would give me up to immigration. I dread jail, I have said that before. I DREAD BEING BEHIND BARS, then leaving my family, separating from my family, not finishing school, leaving all my friends behind, leaving mostly everything I know behind, leaving the place I call home behind.

Next week there are these students from Illinois coming out to the world. While some of us are sometimes forced to come out because something drastic happens, these students are taking the streets to protest the fear we live everyday. They are standing up for the rest of us; They are standing up for all of us (including the documented community because you and I are as important for the integrity of this society. Without you or me we are not a whole). They want to bring up the silent raids the Obama Administration is conduction, raids done in our homes, in the dark, in silence. But just as painful as raids during daylight or in front of everyone. These students want to say, "Enough is enough. Here, arrest us! Do it in front of everyone, remove us, intelligent and bright students, from making any further contribution to this our country! Do it in public while everyone is watching."

I commend these students. They are bold and courageous. I fear for them. I feel for them. I pain for them. It takes a lot to come out, it certainly does. I do hope them the best.

Here is where I am with my coming out today: I will only come out if it gets us votes. I believe that we need to pressure the Administration, but without the votes from the states, we will not go far. The question now is how do we get those votes in MN (I live in Minnesota, so I am limited to this state votes). A very detailed analysis of each MN Congresspersons should be a good start. I am sure intelligent Michele Bachmann is not going to vote for the DREAM Act or Comprehensive Immigration Reform. But who would?

The Honorable Puck Fawlenty