Hello everyone! My name is Brandon. I am a student at Fremont High School, and I am from Guatemala.  Today I will talk  about my own story of how I came to the U.S.  

Six years ago I made a difficult journey when I was ten years old. Guatemala was corrupt and my dad had problems. We had to leave. My mom, my aunt, my sister, my brother and I needed to get away.  My grandma gave us money for a Coyote, it cost about $5000. In the middle of the night we crossed a hill on foot for two hours to a house in the mountains. That’s where we met the Coyote. 

After that we were put with 350 other people into a truck. It was difficult to breathe. Because of this I have asthma for three years.  From Guatemala to Mexico we drove all the way in this truck for two or three days. It was hard to tell. 

We stopped at the Untied States border at a house in Mexico where the Coyote met us again and took my family in a taxi to the bridge where the border was. We were sent back to Mexico. We had to wait a week in the coyote’s house. I was very nervous, and my mother was really hopeless for the first time. We tried again.

The second time they sent us to Texas. The immigration accepted us and placed us in detention. For 16 long days we waited. It felt good because there were many immigrants like us who ate well, except there was an accident and I saw a woman hang herself and die. I was shocked.

Finally, immigration gave us the opportunity to be in this beautiful country. My mom cried with happiness, but I missed my dad and my grandma.

This is my story. Thank you for listening.  I dream of a better future in this country and to send money to Guatemala to my grandma to build a house. One day my grandma will never worry about food and her expenses again.