Coming Out Undocumented: An Evolution

by Kemi Bello · 2010-03-16 02:00:00 -0400
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There is a new motto of the undocumented youth movement: Undocumented & Unafraid. This has been the unifying thread of our escalating action for the month of March, starting with National Coming Out Undocumented Day last Wednesday, and continuing this week with National Coming Out of the Shadows Week. Undocumented youth are coming out, because we can no longer allow others to speak our stories and define our identities for us.

Our struggle, our fight, must be put into our own hands, as well as the hands of our closest allies, hands of those who understand it best. To make the fight our own, we must own the fight, starting with coming to terms with and recognizing the undocumented portion of our identity. To utilize our allies, we need to let them know the specific ways in which we are affected, otherwise they are left unaware that they have anything to fight for.

In light of the recent disappointments from the White House, the current gridlock in Congress over health care reform, and the legislative limitations an election year brings, it is imperative that we make our voices heard now more than ever if we want to see passage of the DREAM Act in 2010. This has been a decade-long fight, and our time is now.

Coming Out was given a great kickoff by our brothers and sisters of the Immigrant Youth Justice League in Chicago. Last Wednesday, they held a march to downtown Chicago, where they then held a rally in front of the offices of Senator Richard Durbin and the federal offices of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Eight of these youth bravely told their stories to the crowd, no longer to be burdened by the weight of remaining silent.

In solidarity, actions also took place in Wisconsin and at Harvard University in Massachusetts, with more actions to come this week in Rhode Island, Florida, New York, and Los Angeles. Not to mention the various individual coming outs that have surely taken place, whether it be coming out as undocumented to a close friend, pastor, teacher, or significant other.

In support of those coming out undocumented, we have prepared a guide with helpful information and various levels of action once can partake in. There's also support if you need to alleviate your fears of coming out, or you just need some good reasons to convince someone you know to do so as well. To read some coming out stories of youth, click here, here, and here.

As I have said before, "You are not illegal, because no human being is illegal. But if you are undocumented, I support you, and this movement supports you. If you are an ally of undocumented youth, I welcome you, and this movement welcomes you."

It is time to take this fight out of the so-called shadows and into the streets.

Photo credit: Andrew Mason

Kemi Bello is an undergraduate majoring in math and economics. She works with Dreamactivist.org and the Texas Dream Act Alliance.
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