At what age did you "discovered" you were illegaly? - Page 3

I found out I was going to enter the U.S. illegally about an hour before entering the country. I was 8 years old. I remember my sister (she was 11) constantly complaining and begging my mom not to do it, to do it "with papers". Since the day I arrived, my mom made it clear that I wasn't to speak about my status to anyone. But the full reality of being illegal came on the first day of driver's ed class, 2 years ago. I was 15 years old and unable to explain why I didn't have a Social Security number to put on the application for my driver's permit, which was required for the class. When I went home that day, I had a breakdown. I had never cried like that before, nor had I cried since I was 10 years old. I was able to get my permit the next day (by just filling in the SSN space with a bunch of zeroes), and I felt kind of stupid for all the drama the day before.

I always knew, my mom also told me not to talk about it. I was five at the time.

16. Turned my life upside down.

I always knew. But like many people in here, it hit me hard my junior year in HS.

Why did it hit you guys hard in high school?

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Though I always knew about my status, high school was hard because that's when most of my friends were getting jobs or taking drivers ed. Before then, I hadn't really thought about all the limitations I had because of my status. I guess it becomes a lot more real when you feel you can't live a "normal" lifestyle and begin feeling left behind. At least, that's what it was in my case, among a whole lot of other things.

I was a sophomore in high school, 16. I tried to get my ID/DL, I couldn't because I did not have the proper documents.

My visa expired when I was 18. I came here when I was 2 on a J2 visa. My dad came here to study and then we went back to our country a war broke out and he returned here. When we joined him I was 17 and I had a visa then but my dad quit his job and moved us all to Canada where we applied for asylum. Got deported from there and applied for asylum here. I was 23 and only then knew how it felt to be undocumented and it sure flipped my life upside down. The rest of my siblings are born here and my parents eventually got their GC through them. This forum was the first place I ever met or heard of people in my situation. Wish u all the best and I hope this nightmare is over soon.

totally agree with you on the job part because at my school they helped kids get jobs, and i was turned down from where all my friends worked: TACO BELL!!!!!