I arrived in this country in 1987 that’s
31 years as an undocumented immigrant it
is a lifetime I was eight when I got
here and back in those days people like
me were called illegal aliens that’s a
powerful term illegal alien because it
rips you apart as an alien I was
different I was foreign I didn’t belong
and it was best if I just went away I
was illegal I was a criminal I was a law
breaker I didn’t deserve sympathy from
others people they use the term illegals
don’t actually understand our
immigration laws I didn’t understand him
for most of my life for instance like
many immigrants I came to this country
legally I was here on a six-month visa
and after their expired I became
something called out of status however
because I was a minor
I could not yet break the law when I
turned 18 is when I started violating
immigration law but being out of status
is not a criminal offense it’s a civil
offense the best equivalent I can give
you is it’s like I parked my car every
day somewhere where I’m not supposed to
I just happened to not get a ticket or
get towed that’s essentially it that’s
what makes us such terrible criminals a
common civil offense and yet in my youth
the term illegal alien weighed heavily
on me to the point where I started
considering suicide in the spring of
2001 most of my friends were preparing
to graduate from college they’re
accepting jobs I was going nowhere in
junior college and I started to get
depressed and the term illegal aliens
weighed on me and I kept thinking to
myself you’re not a person you’re just a
number an invalid number and instead of
reaching out for help I decided to end
my life but you know what I didn’t do
you know what never even occurred
me moved to Mexico America was my home
and I never once thought of leaving here
just wasn’t in my thought process after
I had a failed suicide attempt I even
felt worst about myself because I
thought you’re such a loser even that
you can’t succeed in and even though I
didn’t tell anybody I had a feeling that
my mother knew she must have known she
was living in Florida at the time and a
couple of weeks after my attempt she
drove up to Maryland where I lived and
she put me in her car and she dragged me
to the University of Maryland she took
me to the admissions office inside the
mental building and she started causing
a scene
she started the madding help they were
very kindly they told us you need to
leave and come back when you have an
appointment
my mom stood her ground she wasn’t going
anywhere and eventually an admissions
officer was generous enough to invite us
into her office my mom explained to her
my entire situation and she pleaded with
her she simply said please my son wants
to go to college I was embarrassed I
just really wanted to get out of there
and I don’t know why but she decided to
help us and she handed me an application
she told me to fill it out I got to a
particular section that would qualify me
for in-state or out-of-state tuition the
problem was in my status I couldn’t
qualify for either this is why every
time I applied anywhere I got rejected
but that year my mom had actually become
illegal alien resident and the
admissions officer asked her for her
alien wrestling card she handed it to me
and she said put this number in your
application two weeks later
I’ve been accepted to University of
Maryland I was given an opportunity I
was given a chance to fulfill my dream
of getting a college degree and even
though it would be a very difficult
challenge I still had a path to success
as a junior college transfer I was going
to have to complete 70 credits they
recommend that that I would do this over
the course of six semesters but each
semester would cost $3,500
and that was more money than I had ever
seen in my entire life so I was
determined to do it in four against my
counselors advice I got special
permission to take 19 credits my very
first semester and in the following
three semesters I would take no less
than 17 credits I worked a minimum of 40
hours a week or any minimum wage and I
had to drive 45 minutes to campus
because I was living on my own and I
couldn’t afford to be any closer but
despite all this challenges at the end
of the two years I accomplished my goal
this is the hardest thing I’ve ever done
in my life and I want to tell you about
the happiest day of my life because it
wasn’t graduation day the happiest day
of my life happened five weeks before
graduation in the spring of 2003 I was
carrying enough credits where I knew I
would graduate my grades were really
good there was no way I could fail
University of Maryland at Turpin payment
plan which allowed me to break up my
tuition into monthly payments I went to
the Lee building the financial building
I had one payment left I had a credit
card in my pocket that had a balance of
zero and as I stood in line there was
joy in my heart because I kept thinking
I did it I did it and I knew that even
if it took me the rest of my life to pay
off those $700 on that credit card
I hadn’t earned my degree that
accomplished my goal the next month I
walked with my class completely
debt-free and when I tell people this
story they always tell me what a
remarkable accomplishment that was but
the funny thing is as I was going
through it I never thought to myself wow
this is remarkable it’s impressive the
only thing I knew is that I had a goal
and I was going to do anything and
everything I had to to accomplish it and
I shared this part of my story with you
because it taught me one of the most
valuable lessons in life and that is
that for any of us you me it doesn’t
matter any of us if you want to do
something remarkable if we want to do
something out of the scope of what we
believe is possible the only thing
necessary is for us to believe
the success is the only option and that
there is no other option Tony Robbins
put it this way if you give people the
choice between success or death
most people will choose success if you
have a dream if there’s something you
want to do with your life and you’re not
sure you can do it my advice to you is
to go after it as if success is your
only option and there is no other option
and I am amazed to learn that this is
actually more difficult for citizens
than it is for immigrants one of the
wonderful things about this country is
that hundreds of millions of people have
access to comforts a lot of the rest of
the world doesn’t and these comforts
make it this difficult for us to risk
our dreams but I’m an on document I have
an unfair advantage I don’t have a
choice
in 2013 I got an MBA from the University
of Maryland but if I was to walk out of
here today and walk into Best Buy I
couldn’t get a job as a cashier I had to
build a business if I hadn’t done that I
wouldn’t have a life I wouldn’t have a
job
and I wouldn’t understand it’s not a
fluke that so many of the entrepreneurs
in this country our immigrants or the
children of immigrants for us success is
the only option which leads me to the
second lesson my journey has taught me
and that is that immigrants are the key
to fulfilling the American dream I had a
conversation once with a professor his
name is Michel Yehuda he’s a brilliant
man and he looked at me he said Uriel
why is it that you believe that America
is the greatest country in the world I
said the Constitution our system of
government provides upward mobility for
everybody and he said if the
Constitution is so great how come has
never worked anywhere else to which I
replied no one’s ever tried he quickly
informed me that many countries have
tried and they have failed miserably to
even come close to the type of success
that we’ve had here a couple years later
at another conversation with a friend of
mine named Joe Murray
my story of being an undocumented
immigrant was about to be published in
the Washington Post and I wanted the
people that I care about to hear for me
the Jo was a pretty conservative
Republican and I wasn’t sure he would
understand I couldn’t even look him in
the eye as I apologized for who I was
and he shouted at me he said what are
you sorry for and as I looked in the eye
I realized that he was right what was I
sorry for him I had done nothing wrong
in my life and I knew in that moment
that I would never again fill a shame
that I would never again apologize for
who I was and then Jo explained to me
why immigrants are the secret to
America’s success he said your America
is not the greatest country in the world
because the smartest people come here
it’s not the greatest country in the
world because the wealthiest people come
here it’s not even the greatest country
in the world because the most beautiful
people come here America is the greatest
country in the world because the bravest
people come here he said I wanted to
think about a mother in South or Central
America child in Han
making the journey across several
nations only to arrive at a land where
she doesn’t speak the language she
doesn’t have any money she may not know
anybody and she has no idea how just
gonna provide for her family but she
does all this because she wants to give
her children a chance at a better life
America is the greatest country in the
world because courageous mothers like my
mother sacrifice everything so that
their children can one day build a
better world for all of us please
understand the American Dream is for
everybody citizens and immigrants alike
but without immigrants it could die it’s
my experience that this country works
best when immigrants and citizens work
together to build it when my journey has
taught me is that the best thing I can
do with my life is serve others but that
service has come at a price in the last
two years since my story’s been
published I’ve actually spoken to
thousands
students and dozens of venues like this
one I talked to them about immigration
and following your dreams these talks
including this one make me more public
in public and every day when I go to
work now I look at my front door and I
asked myself it’s today the day is today
the day that ice will walk through that
door place me in handcuffs and rip me
away from my family and deport me
overnight but it’s a grist that I’m glad
to take because doing these talks
working with these students has taught
me one simple truth and that is that as
long as this is the land of opportunity
people like me are going to do
everything in our power to make this the
greatest country in the world we’re
going to continue to fight we’re going
to continue to sacrifice we’re going to
continue to endure or we’re going to die
trying
thank you [Applause]
31 years as an undocumented immigrant it
is a lifetime I was eight when I got
here and back in those days people like
me were called illegal aliens that’s a
powerful term illegal alien because it
rips you apart as an alien I was
different I was foreign I didn’t belong
and it was best if I just went away I
was illegal I was a criminal I was a law
breaker I didn’t deserve sympathy from
others people they use the term illegals
don’t actually understand our
immigration laws I didn’t understand him
for most of my life for instance like
many immigrants I came to this country
legally I was here on a six-month visa
and after their expired I became
something called out of status however
because I was a minor
I could not yet break the law when I
turned 18 is when I started violating
immigration law but being out of status
is not a criminal offense it’s a civil
offense the best equivalent I can give
you is it’s like I parked my car every
day somewhere where I’m not supposed to
I just happened to not get a ticket or
get towed that’s essentially it that’s
what makes us such terrible criminals a
common civil offense and yet in my youth
the term illegal alien weighed heavily
on me to the point where I started
considering suicide in the spring of
2001 most of my friends were preparing
to graduate from college they’re
accepting jobs I was going nowhere in
junior college and I started to get
depressed and the term illegal aliens
weighed on me and I kept thinking to
myself you’re not a person you’re just a
number an invalid number and instead of
reaching out for help I decided to end
my life but you know what I didn’t do
you know what never even occurred
me moved to Mexico America was my home
and I never once thought of leaving here
just wasn’t in my thought process after
I had a failed suicide attempt I even
felt worst about myself because I
thought you’re such a loser even that
you can’t succeed in and even though I
didn’t tell anybody I had a feeling that
my mother knew she must have known she
was living in Florida at the time and a
couple of weeks after my attempt she
drove up to Maryland where I lived and
she put me in her car and she dragged me
to the University of Maryland she took
me to the admissions office inside the
mental building and she started causing
a scene
she started the madding help they were
very kindly they told us you need to
leave and come back when you have an
appointment
my mom stood her ground she wasn’t going
anywhere and eventually an admissions
officer was generous enough to invite us
into her office my mom explained to her
my entire situation and she pleaded with
her she simply said please my son wants
to go to college I was embarrassed I
just really wanted to get out of there
and I don’t know why but she decided to
help us and she handed me an application
she told me to fill it out I got to a
particular section that would qualify me
for in-state or out-of-state tuition the
problem was in my status I couldn’t
qualify for either this is why every
time I applied anywhere I got rejected
but that year my mom had actually become
illegal alien resident and the
admissions officer asked her for her
alien wrestling card she handed it to me
and she said put this number in your
application two weeks later
I’ve been accepted to University of
Maryland I was given an opportunity I
was given a chance to fulfill my dream
of getting a college degree and even
though it would be a very difficult
challenge I still had a path to success
as a junior college transfer I was going
to have to complete 70 credits they
recommend that that I would do this over
the course of six semesters but each
semester would cost $3,500
and that was more money than I had ever
seen in my entire life so I was
determined to do it in four against my
counselors advice I got special
permission to take 19 credits my very
first semester and in the following
three semesters I would take no less
than 17 credits I worked a minimum of 40
hours a week or any minimum wage and I
had to drive 45 minutes to campus
because I was living on my own and I
couldn’t afford to be any closer but
despite all this challenges at the end
of the two years I accomplished my goal
this is the hardest thing I’ve ever done
in my life and I want to tell you about
the happiest day of my life because it
wasn’t graduation day the happiest day
of my life happened five weeks before
graduation in the spring of 2003 I was
carrying enough credits where I knew I
would graduate my grades were really
good there was no way I could fail
University of Maryland at Turpin payment
plan which allowed me to break up my
tuition into monthly payments I went to
the Lee building the financial building
I had one payment left I had a credit
card in my pocket that had a balance of
zero and as I stood in line there was
joy in my heart because I kept thinking
I did it I did it and I knew that even
if it took me the rest of my life to pay
off those $700 on that credit card
I hadn’t earned my degree that
accomplished my goal the next month I
walked with my class completely
debt-free and when I tell people this
story they always tell me what a
remarkable accomplishment that was but
the funny thing is as I was going
through it I never thought to myself wow
this is remarkable it’s impressive the
only thing I knew is that I had a goal
and I was going to do anything and
everything I had to to accomplish it and
I shared this part of my story with you
because it taught me one of the most
valuable lessons in life and that is
that for any of us you me it doesn’t
matter any of us if you want to do
something remarkable if we want to do
something out of the scope of what we
believe is possible the only thing
necessary is for us to believe
the success is the only option and that
there is no other option Tony Robbins
put it this way if you give people the
choice between success or death
most people will choose success if you
have a dream if there’s something you
want to do with your life and you’re not
sure you can do it my advice to you is
to go after it as if success is your
only option and there is no other option
and I am amazed to learn that this is
actually more difficult for citizens
than it is for immigrants one of the
wonderful things about this country is
that hundreds of millions of people have
access to comforts a lot of the rest of
the world doesn’t and these comforts
make it this difficult for us to risk
our dreams but I’m an on document I have
an unfair advantage I don’t have a
choice
in 2013 I got an MBA from the University
of Maryland but if I was to walk out of
here today and walk into Best Buy I
couldn’t get a job as a cashier I had to
build a business if I hadn’t done that I
wouldn’t have a life I wouldn’t have a
job
and I wouldn’t understand it’s not a
fluke that so many of the entrepreneurs
in this country our immigrants or the
children of immigrants for us success is
the only option which leads me to the
second lesson my journey has taught me
and that is that immigrants are the key
to fulfilling the American dream I had a
conversation once with a professor his
name is Michel Yehuda he’s a brilliant
man and he looked at me he said Uriel
why is it that you believe that America
is the greatest country in the world I
said the Constitution our system of
government provides upward mobility for
everybody and he said if the
Constitution is so great how come has
never worked anywhere else to which I
replied no one’s ever tried he quickly
informed me that many countries have
tried and they have failed miserably to
even come close to the type of success
that we’ve had here a couple years later
at another conversation with a friend of
mine named Joe Murray
my story of being an undocumented
immigrant was about to be published in
the Washington Post and I wanted the
people that I care about to hear for me
the Jo was a pretty conservative
Republican and I wasn’t sure he would
understand I couldn’t even look him in
the eye as I apologized for who I was
and he shouted at me he said what are
you sorry for and as I looked in the eye
I realized that he was right what was I
sorry for him I had done nothing wrong
in my life and I knew in that moment
that I would never again fill a shame
that I would never again apologize for
who I was and then Jo explained to me
why immigrants are the secret to
America’s success he said your America
is not the greatest country in the world
because the smartest people come here
it’s not the greatest country in the
world because the wealthiest people come
here it’s not even the greatest country
in the world because the most beautiful
people come here America is the greatest
country in the world because the bravest
people come here he said I wanted to
think about a mother in South or Central
America child in Han
making the journey across several
nations only to arrive at a land where
she doesn’t speak the language she
doesn’t have any money she may not know
anybody and she has no idea how just
gonna provide for her family but she
does all this because she wants to give
her children a chance at a better life
America is the greatest country in the
world because courageous mothers like my
mother sacrifice everything so that
their children can one day build a
better world for all of us please
understand the American Dream is for
everybody citizens and immigrants alike
but without immigrants it could die it’s
my experience that this country works
best when immigrants and citizens work
together to build it when my journey has
taught me is that the best thing I can
do with my life is serve others but that
service has come at a price in the last
two years since my story’s been
published I’ve actually spoken to
thousands
students and dozens of venues like this
one I talked to them about immigration
and following your dreams these talks
including this one make me more public
in public and every day when I go to
work now I look at my front door and I
asked myself it’s today the day is today
the day that ice will walk through that
door place me in handcuffs and rip me
away from my family and deport me
overnight but it’s a grist that I’m glad
to take because doing these talks
working with these students has taught
me one simple truth and that is that as
long as this is the land of opportunity
people like me are going to do
everything in our power to make this the
greatest country in the world we’re
going to continue to fight we’re going
to continue to sacrifice we’re going to
continue to endure or we’re going to die
trying
thank you [Applause]
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