"I remember being in fourth grade and finding out I couldn't leave the country because I wouldn't be able to come back in legally — which was pretty shocking," Rosas told POPSUGAR. "But it wasn't until sixth grade that I was given a form to take home and fill out and bring back to class. While in class, I asked my teacher what to do if I didn't have a social security number. A classmate told me everyone had a social, and I had to reassure her that I didn't. Even the teacher didn't really understand until my TA asked me if I wasn't born in the US," Rosa recalled, "to which I answered 'no.' That was when it really sunk in that I wasn't a US citizen like everyone else."
Her parents would later explain to Rosas that they had come to the US when she was only 1 year old. While this didn't change the way she viewed her parents, whom Rosas described as "hard-working people," her experience as an undocumented immigrant hasn't been easy. "It's been an emotional roller coaster," Rosas said.
Rosas is currently in the DACA program. She hopes to gain citizenship one day and no longer have to to live with fear and uncertainty. She hopes the program will continue giving other undocumented youths the same opportunities it gave her.
