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267and asked my parents for my Social Security number. My father was probably reading a newspaper, and I doubt he even looked up to say, %u201cWe don%u2019t have papers, so we don%u2019t have a Social.%u201dIt was not traumatic. I turned on our computer, waited for the dial-up, and searched what it meant not to have a Social Security number. %u201cUndocumented immigrant%u201d had not yet entered the discourse. Back then, the politically correct term, the term I saw online, was %u201cillegal immigrant,%u201d which grated %u2014 it was hurtful in a clinical way, like having your teeth drilled. Various angry comments sections offered another option: illegal alien. I knew it was form language, legalese meant to wound me, but it didn%u2019t. It was punk as hell. We were hated, and maybe not entirely of this world. I had just discovered Kurt Cobain.1Obviously, I learned that my parents and I could be deported at any time. Was that scary? Sure. But a deportation still seemed like spymovie stuff. And, luckily, I had an ally. My 15brother was born when I was ten years old. He was our family%u2019s first citizen, and he was named after a captain of the New York Yankees. Before he was old enough to appreciate art, I took him to the Met. I introduced him to %u201cS.N.L.%u201d and %u201cLetterman%u201d and %u201cFun Home%u201d and %u201cPersepolis%u201d%u2014all the things I felt an uppermiddle-class parent would do%u2014so that he could thrive at school, get a great job, and make money. We would need to armor our parents with our success.We moved to Queens, and I entered high school. One day, my dad heard about a new bill in Congress on Spanish radio. It was called the DREAM Act, and it proposed a path to legalization for undocumented kids who had gone to school here or served in the military. My dad guaranteed that it%u2019d pass by the time I graduated. I never react to good news%u2014stoicism is part of the brand%u2014but I was optimistic. The bill was bipartisan. John McCain supported it, and I knew he had been a P.O.W., and that made me feel connected to a real American hero. Each time I saw an %u201cR%u201d next to a sponsor%u2019s name my heart fluttered with joy. People who were supposed to hate me had now decided to love me.1The lead singer and guitarist of the alternative rock band Nirvana, known for his rebellious punk persona.%u2014Eds.5 Karla Cornejo VillavicencioIn late 2019, these demonstrators expressed their support for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which was up for review by the U.S. Supreme Court. %u201cUnidos So%u00f1amos%u201d means %u201cUnited We Dream,%u201d and %u201cUna Jaula de Oro%u201d means %u201cA Golden Cage.%u201dIn what ways do the messages on the signs reflect or challenge the beliefs and feelings of Villavicencio as a %u201cDreamer%u201d? Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post/Getty ImagesCopyright %u00a9 Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. Distributed by Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. For review purposes only. Not for redistribution.