It took Jessica Mendoza, a senior at South High School, five tries to make it to the United States from Mexico.
In an essay she wrote for her English class, Mendoza talks about her failed attempts to make it to the US, once by trying to crawl under a wall.
Another time, she and her mother tried to climb over a wall using a rope but they were caught by a helicopter.
Ultimately, her final attempt, using her cousin’s papers to meet her mother in Las Vegas, was successful.
"I think it’s made me tougher because every time I want to give up on something, I always remember everything my mom and myself went through to get here. It’s just a little reminder that if I could do that, then I can pretty much do anything.”
Mendoza says she wrote her essay after hearing that DACA was going to be cancelled. Though she doesn’t have DACA status right now she was hoping to get it. Without it, she cannot obtain a social security number.
She says she wants to remind everyone that the children and adults who come to the US are mainly here to make a living or attain goals like everyone else.
For more information on DACA, the website is USCIS.gov.