Ten months ago my life was very different. I lived with my mom and my sister in Tipitapa. Now I live with my godmother and aunt in Sunnyvale, California. I am a student at Fremont High School, and I am from Nicaragua. Today I will be talking to you about immigration and my story. I have chosen to talk about this because my life has changed so much.

First I will talk about immigration to the US and why people come here. People come here because in our countries there are no jobs and in most of our countries the presidents are corrupt. For example in my country the president and the vice president, his wife, send the national police to kill the people who are protesting for their rights.

Next I will talk about my story of how I came here. My mother left me to the bus. I remember looking out the window but I couldn’t see her because the bus windows were dark. It was nighttime. I sat with my cousin and we started on our journey. I crossed the border on a raft with 10 other people in the Rio Grande, I was excited and afraid. I turned myself in to some immigration officials, they took me to a shelter and separated me from my cousin because he is an adult. After 15 days they took me to the San Antonio airport and I came to the San Jose airport by plane. My godmother met me and took me to her apartment. I was so relieved. I am lucky I have someone here. 

Now I go to school and I would like to stay because I want to start a business and send money home to help. It is important that people understand that this country needs people like me. We want to be here, work here and have a life here. I left my family on that dark night not knowing if I would ever see them again, got on that raft with ten people, with two men rowing us across the Rio Bravo and spent time alone in detention. I am determined to make a good life here and succeed so that my godmother and mother will be proud of me. 

Today I hope you learned that people like me fight for their dreams. I chose this as my topic because this story upset my life but I want to make it worth all the pain. Thank you for listening!