Opinion: A child of immigrants, no longer alone in fear

Growing up as the daughter of undocumented Latino immigrants, Andressia Ramirez knew fear and uncertainty. Now, she’s found hope in her hometown of Wilson, N.C.

“What’s giving you hope?”

It’s a question I had come to dread. It comes up constantly in advocacy spaces these days, including all around North Carolina. I always find an answer, but the truth is, I hadn’t really felt hopeful in a long time — until recently.

The last year has been emotionally shattering. Undocumented people have always lived with fear, rooted in lacking a piece of paper that dictates whether your life is considered valid or disposable. Now, federal agents are stopping people for how they look, not what they’ve done. We’re seeing U.S. citizens killed by federal immigration agents. People are starting to understand that no one is safe. Entire communities are canceling medical appointments. Parents are not taking their children to school. People are skipping work, not because they want to, but because survival requires caution. Fear has become a daily calculation.

I know this feeling intimately. And not just from this year.

My parents immigrated from Querétaro, Mexico, and settled in Wilson County, N.C, when I was 8 years old. I remember learning in elementary school that my mother was undocumented. From that moment on, it became our biggest secret. I couldn’t tell anyone because anyone knowing could be a threat. My brothers and I grew up understanding that our mother could be taken from us with no warning.

We learned how to listen carefully, how to stay quiet, how to carry fear without letting it show.

For most of my life, I held onto one hope: that one day my mom would become a citizen. In high school, I felt an overwhelming need be the absolute best student, so that one day I could petition for her. She obtained her green card the year I graduated from college in 2019 and became a citizen in 2025.

Read the full post on Beacon Media.

Andressia Ramirez in an engagement coordinator with our Workers’ Rights Project.