In 2024 a record number of people crossed the Mexican border to the United States. Six million people and I am one of them. Hello everyone! My name is Diego, I am a student at Fremont High School and I am from El Salvador. Today I will talk about the life of immigrants. I have chosen to talk about this because I went through it.

 I spent two months on my journey to the United States. It was January 22 at night when I left my house. I got into a car with a girl and they brought us to a hotel. We ate and then we left at 3 in the morning. At 1 in the afternoon we were in Guatemala. I was scared because it was a dangerous journey and I was only 16 years old and had to leave my family behind. There are bandits that can kill us if our family does not give money. It was also very dangerous in Mexico because we could get kidnapped.

Then, I walked across the border between the United States and Mexico in Yuma Arizona. An official from the United States arrived and they asked us questions. They took me to the United States immigration and then they told me that I could get asylum. My parents sent papers and I stayed for a month in detention. I was scared and alone.  Then they released me on a plane to Sunnyvale California.

I am telling this story because when people think of immigration they only look at the numbers. Yet we are real people who want to be here. We take great risks and leave behind all those we love and everything we are familiar with. I dream of eating pupusas on the streets of Cabañas, Ilobasco, but I am here now and my  dream of learning English and becoming a plumber. I am one of the 6 million who came in 2024 and this is my story.