Kevin Bueno, a 22-year-old Dreamer who lived in Colorado, found an alternative to all the chaos that occurred after Donald Trump took office. Bueno’s mother always dreamt of his son going to college and having a career, but schooling was going to be too expensive for an undocumented student.
Bueno arrived in the United States on a tourist visa when he was only four years old – 18 years ago. He and his mother reunited with his grandparents who lived in Colorado. His mother started working in housekeeping, and he went to a bilingual school, where he quickly learned English.
After Trump’s decision of ending the DACA program, which allowed undocumented young people to work, and to study, his mother’s dream looked like it was going to come true. “I’ve done well as a student, as a citizen. I’ve paid taxes. I’m not a criminal, and they’re trying to treat you like a criminal. So I was like, maybe it’s not for me,” Kevin Bueno told Al Jazeera.
Kevin returned to his native Mexico after his dream seemed impossible to accomplish. In Mexico, he found excellent opportunities. “I never thought it would affect me (being undocumented) until almost two years before finishing high school. Everybody was talking about which university to go, and I said, ‘this is going to be complicated,'” Bueno told Reforma.
At 17, Bueno searched for “Dream in México,” a nonprofit organization that helps young people living undocumented in the United States. He is currently studying Business Creation and Entrepreneur at UDEM in Monterrey, Mexico. He is the first DREAMer to get a scholarship from the institution.
“I’m honestly living better than I was in the [US] now, and I see more opportunity,” he said. Music is his passion and has worked as a “norteño” singer in Latino communities. He encourages other young people to trust themselves and come to Mexico to pursue their dreams.
“I want to recommend all boys and girls to not be afraid of Mexico. There are opportunities here too,” he said.
This article was inspired by Aljazeera // US Dreamers ‘see more opportunity’ in return to Mexico