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Lately, I have been reading on FB and other forums about people, who are approved, losing their EADs or wallets that carry their EADs and/or SSNs. Some advice: 1.) If you happen to live in a state where you can get a DL/ID (whether it states limited term or Temp visitor or what ever), PLEASE DO SO!!! Once you have that, there is NO NEED to carry around your EAD with you. 2.) If you lose and need to replace your SSN, please know that you can only apply for a replacement 3 times in a calendar year and 10 times within your life time. You should memorize this number or put in your cell phone and take measures to lock your cell phone with a pin number ONLY you know. 3.) Unless your are hired for a job and your employer ask to see your EAD and SSN, then you DO NOT need to show or tell anyone about your legal presence. This is PRIVATE information and no one cane force you to disclose it. I am not saying this because I am trying to be mean or give a lecture or any of the sort. I am saying this because we, as DACA applicants, approved or not, are under such a microscope as it is, that things such as this will only fuel the fire with the opposition. Also, we have waited for this our whole lives and to be careless with something we've waited for for so long, we just need to take a little extra measures to ensure to safety of our identity. Last if this offends anyone, I will not apologize as this is my opinion. Others may have theirs and I respect that so if an argument follows this (for what ever reason) then I take NO RESPONSIBILITY for anything that follows my original post.

Ive been in the U.S since i was 4 years old. All i remember from that life changing journey is that i was crammed in the trunk of a car for what seemed to be an eternity before arriving in the state of California, more especifically the city of Santa Ana. Growing up as an immigrant in Santa Ana wasnt all that bad until i got to high school. The dumb slurs about immigrants would get more irritating and more real. Ive always been proud of being a Mexicano, i am proud of my roots and my identity. Being like that always got me in trouble when i would hear negative things about immigrants because i always had something to say. While in high school i was a member of the Puente program. When it came time to apply to colleges and or scholarships, the harsh reality of being an immigrant sinked in. while everyone applied for their favsas and other government appointed grants, i had to settle for smaller ones where there were masses of others competing for as much as they could to apply towards their college educations. At that point i started to get a bit discouraged about the whole college idea. Ive always been a good student, school was always one of my biggest interests, but hearing stories of people like me going above and beyond to get a degree and not being able to get a job in their field of study was an enormous tragedy. Not wanting to deal with all of that dissapointment i got a job after i graduated high school and working became my priority. I thought that making my own money and being independent would be much easier than trying achieve and education that at the time would not benifit me in any way to get a job, i had a rude awakening when i became a part of the immigrant work force of california. In a society where a social security number gives you access to a drivers license, a cell phone contract and a job, things were beginning to be really hard for me. Asking others for favors like getting me a loan for a car or applying for a cell phone started to get old really fast. Driving with the fear of getting pulled over also took its toll on me. it seemed everywhere i turned and everything i tried to do was never going to be enough because of my status. Seeing others around me that were legal waste away their opportunity of going to college and getting an education really frustrated me. I would always ask myself, "why me?" "why couldnt i be one of the lucky ones to not have to deal with any of this?" Everything happens for a reason right? im still trying to find the reason for this. After working countless jobs from burger joints to fire and water restoration, I finally found one where I could work without worrying about my status. Its not the best job in the world nor does it pay well and on top of that I have to put up with the constant verbal abuse of the oowner since he uses my status to his advantage, but its better than not having a job. i decided to go to college where i have been going part time since 2008. It hasnt been easy working full time and going to school, but i wont give up, or atleast not yet. When the defferred action was passed it seemed too good to be true. After all this time something in our favor comes along and gets approved. This is the only thing that i have that can change my life. The big break i have been waiting for since my junior year of high school. hopefully it all goes well and i get approved sooner rather than later. Hope is still alive within me. thanks to all that read this and thank you all of you that put in a lot of time and effort on this forum providing others with help and hope.

Congrats. You will receive two approval letters in the mail within a few days. You will then receive your EAD shortly after that. After you have received your EAD, you will be able to apply for an SSN.

I got my two approval letters today

i know how you feel. all my friends are losers who dont take advantage of being an american citizen