a few years too late...

It's a shame I didn't know about this forum earlier. A few years ago I could have certainly used a space such as this one, full of intelligent and innocent kids whose only crime is adapting to the home they were brought to. I felt so alone in my experience, so to come here and find that there are others that, like me, break the stereotype of the uneducated "illegal immigrant", is quite refreshing. I'm a resident now, and I hope you don't all feel like I'm a fraud for being here, but I was illegal (what a terrible word, no?) for 15 years or so, so I feel like I've earned, at the very least, a post. I've only discovered this community because I was doing research for my internship, but it has truly inspired me to start taking an active role in the passing of this bill...because now that I've discovered such a large community, my struggle does not seem like it was an individual one anymore.

welcome and that is nice to hear

Thank You... Nice to hear you made it..

Thanks guys! I was lucky.

good luck and success.

How did you become legal?

Glad you found the site and glad things worked out for you....and DAP full of innocent and intelligent kids?? lollllllllll

lol, no not through marriage. I sort of explained the process in a post in The Lounge [May be helpful if you're under 18]. I got sort of lucky. My dad was naturalized and petitioned for me before I turned 18, so even though I couldn't get citizenship through him (which is what we thought would happen), I wasn't penalized for my time here illegally because it was all while I was underage, and was granted permanent residency.

I meant innocent of blame for our situation, lol. And yes, I've read a lot of intelligent posts

Thanks for sharing your story....and helpful info. Welcome to DAP. We're glad to have you here