Dear John,

In 2004, my family sold everything we owned, crammed what remained of our lives into five bags, and moved from Lima, Peru to Plano, Texas. For the next five years, my dad trudged through the Texas heat as a door-to-door salesman while paying his employer the immigration fees required for sponsorship. One day, my dad's employer skipped town, taking our immigration sponsorship money with him, leaving hundreds of immigrant employees and their families — including us — without documentation.

Like many other undocumented immigrants, I grew up knowing I couldn’t drive, I couldn’t work, and most importantly, I couldn’t tell people why. Although I didn’t always understand the full significance of my situation, the pain of feeling left out was palpable.

Ten years ago, everything changed with the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. DACA brought back opportunities taken from me. With barriers removed, I now had the power to turn ambition into reality. Childhood goals like going to college, and even law school, did not seem as far-fetched.

DACA has been a lifeline for many Dreamers like me. Tell your member of Congress to pass a permanent solution for Dreamers. 

As an undocumented immigrant, I chose to pursue immigration law initially to empower myself with knowledge for the security of my family. At the University of Texas at Austin and the American University Washington College of Law (AUWCL), I was heavily involved in immigrant advocacy. When I graduated from the University of Texas at Austin, I became the first person in my family to graduate from an American university. I showed my young cousins that although they may have to work harder than others, their potential is limitless, and I continued to show them this by graduating from AUWCL earlier this year.

It's past time for Congress to pass common sense legislation for Dreamers and stop restricting their immense potential. 

When I decided that I wanted to pursue a career in law, I committed myself to using my law degree to help people throughout my life. I want to bring the law to those who do not always have the opportunity to learn it – and fight for society not as it is but what it could be.

Over 600,000 Dreamers like me have studied, worked, and built lives in the United States. Tell your Congressional representative to protect our American Dream. 

Sincerely,

Andrea Rodriguez Burckhardt