Community Corner

Teen: Immigration Policy Promises 'Pathway to A Better Life'

One East End teenager talks about how new policy will change everything for her.

Itzel Figueroa, 17, was only three and a half years old when her parents brought her to the United States from Mexico.

Itzel, who lives in Hampton Bays, said introduced by President Barack Obama will change her life; Itzel hopes to become a lawyer and specialize in immigration law.

Her parents, who are undocumented immigrants, came to America to provide their daughter with opportunities, she said. "My parents wanted me to have a better life." She has a younger brother who was born in the United States, she added.

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Growing up on the East End, Itzel said while she feels American, and all of her friends are American, she has been faced with sometimes heartbreaking challenges. "It's been very hard because you see other people around you, doing things you just can't do. You want to be driving, but you can't. You want to be working, but it's hard to find a job."

Obama's new immigration policy, which will pave the way for young people who came to the United States as children to avoid deportation and allow them to obtain working papers, was

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But the policy can open doors to Itzel's future. "It's a new opportunity for us to work. And a lot of kids don't have drivers' licenses -- I guess we can do that now."

Itzel said while many questions regarding the policy remain, and the policy is somewhat "confusing" and not as comprehensive as the proposed DREAM Act, "It's still a step forward."

Isabel Sepulveda the co-founder and president of Organizacion Latino Americano (OLA) of Eastern Long Island, said the policy will pave the way for young people to achieve their dreams. 

"Itzel is a hard-working young girl; she wants to be somebody in life," she said. Itzel, Sepulveda said, was a volunteer and wrote for the group's newspaper. "She wants to go to college, be a professional, and serve her country. And the only way she can get a college degree is to be documented." She added, "The more educated people we have a better community we will be."

Undocumented immigrants often encounter a painful reality, living in the United States, Itzel said. "People treat you poorly," she said. "A lot of people are treated like criminals, when they are really just working."

Ignorance and prejudice exist, Itzel said. "Many people are ignorant to the truth -- they can't see the other side of it."

Other young people she knows, Itzel said, have lived their whole lives in the United States. "They pretty much are American -- they just don't have papers. They feel like they're American."

Itzel said, like so many American teens, she loves all kinds of music -- including pop, rap, R&B, salsa, merengue, and bachata -- comedy and action movies, going to the beach, and shopping. "Cheerleading is my passion," she said.

Itzel, who is fully assimilated into her life here, said Obama's immigration ruling "is a first step," and will help undocumented immigrants, "to find a job, to begin from." She added, "At least something is being done. It's a pathway to a better life."

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