Since he was younger, one local undocumented immigrant has been constantly weary of being deported and taken away from his family, a fear that millions of undocumented people in America can relate to. *For the purpose of safety and protecting his livelihood, he will be called Salvadore, not his real name.
Salvadore grew up in the United States, having been brought here from Mexico when he was only three by his father, who was searching for work and a more comfortable life for his family. The 21-year-old has lived almost his whole life in Reno, and only has pictures of him as a baby to remember his time in Mexico.
“In Mexico it's tough and it's way harder to live comfortably,” said Salvadore of what he’s been told. “I always say, there's no country that compares to the United States in how good everything is.” He noted that once you leave the main cities in Mexico, there are a lot of dirt roads and houses with no electricity or running water, not to mention corrupt government officials.
Salvadore’s family comes from Zapotitlán de Vadillo, a municipality of the Mexican state of Jalisco, with a population of about six-thousand.
“If I were to compare my dad’s childhood and my childhood, he grew up extremely poor with 11 siblings and they had to work every day on the fields,” said Salvadore. “He just had a way tougher life, so I can't even compare.”
Salvadore has never been able to return to visit Mexico because of his undocumented status and fear of not being able to get back into the United States, so he has never met his grandparents and other family except for on the phone or Facetime. Salvadore added that most of his mom’s side of the family is still in Mexico.
When Salvadore’s dad first came to the United States, he was picked up in Phoenix and ended up in Las Vegas because he knew others who lived there. After working there for a couple years, he later returned to Mexico where he met Salvadore’s mother and had him when he was 24 and she was 18. After having their child, Salvadore’s parents decided to move to the United States. His father crossed the border again and after he saved up his partner and Salvadore came across through San Diego with a fake birth certificate.
Due to his constant fear of being discovered as undocumented, Salvadore feels that he actually acts more responsibly than the average citizen to avoid getting in trouble and possibly getting deported. He remembered one day during his senior year of high school in which he got into a car accident. “I got rear ended and I was so scared of the cops showing up and getting deported,” said Salvadore. “I was literally crying because I was like, ‘I'm never gonna see my mom and dad again.’ I didn't even give a f**k about the car.”
Salvadore has three younger siblings including a 15-year-old brother, 11-year-old sister, and three-year-old sister who are all citizens because they were born in the United States.
“My brother is like the opposite of me, he is so irresponsible,” said Salvadore. “I feel like if I had that immunity I would be more of a trouble maker too but I can't afford to act like that.” He said that this might not be the same for every immigrant, but at least for him, he thinks about the whole outcome before doing anything such as going out with friends.
There are many struggles when it comes to being undocumented in America, especially when it comes to finding work. “I can't get a normal job which is the biggest difficulty of all,” said Salvadore. He currently works for a construction company in Reno finishing drywall. He started there when he was 15, working during the summers, and now works for them full time. His dad works for the same company.
“In my situation, all I want to do is work and have a home and live, you know? I feel like I'm not a bad person, and I just want to be able to live a normal life, but I can’t, not really.”
Salvadore explained that he had wanted to go to college as a kid but quickly realized that would not be possible for him. “Up until high school I would actually try to get good grades,” said Salvadore. “But Freshman year, I went to the school counselor and she told me that I couldn't go to college after high school because I think she knew I wasn't born here.”
“They just shot me down and I remember I wanted to do something like be a doctor. I would've been a totally different person but after that counselor told me that, I was like ‘what's the point?’”
Salvadore also reflected on a school trip to Costa Rica his freshman year of high school that he had wanted to go on, not fully realizing that he wouldn’t be able to leave the country. After showing the permission slip for the trip to his parents and receiving a harsh no, he began to fully grasp how much his lack of papers affected his life.
“Even if I did get a degree I don't know what I would do afterwards because I'd be qualified for certain jobs but wouldn't even be able to apply to them,” said Salvadore. “People who don't have papers, we work in either factories, warehouse jobs, or construction and that's it.”
Despite various programs that work to help undocumented immigrants attain degrees and find work, Salvadore is not hopeful that he will ever be able to change careers in the future. He thought of applying to the DACA or the “Dreamers” program in 2017, but that didn’t go anywhere as the program which protects eligible immigrants who came to the United States when they were children from deportation faced years of legal challenges.
DACA has assisted more than 600,000 undocumented individuals in pursuing higher education and earning higher wages, along with contributing to economic growth. In 2023, under the Biden administration, the government is still barred from processing first-time DACA applicants, but is allowing renewals for existing DACA recipients. With Republicans now in the majority in the House, there is little hope though that there will be any immigration related legislation passed until at least the next election cycle.
Salvadore also doubts that he will ever get his green card unless he were to marry an American citizen. He says he just wants to live a safe and rewarding life, here, where he grew up, but the challenges for that remain daunting.
Reporting by Sydney Peerman shared with Our Town Reno