Maria Palencia Interview

In this interview Maria Palencia, a doctoral student at UCLA, shares the reasons why her Guatemalan family decided to migrate to the U.S. Maria is very critical of her undocumented experience in the U.S. and how at a very young age she had to become active to ensure her sustenance in the educational system. Maria makes it a point to demystify the different reasons for migrating to the U.S. and how her family’s migration story defers from this narrative. In particular she highlights the reason it’s important to move away from a narrative that criminalizes immigrants for migrating, even those who do not do it out of need or dire conditions in their country of origin. Maria shares her experience in higher education and how her trajectory has changed over the years; being unable to disclose her status, to becoming outspoken to obtain resources, ultimately receiving partial support; and currently trying to gain resources for the broader immigrant community. Maria is also very vivid in challenging the current policies affecting undocumented immigrants and how these continue to fall short of long-term solutions.