hello everybody
I am frederico and i am originally from germany. i first came to the united states in 2004 when i was 14 years old. i came for high school on a visa under my mother. i finished high school and started college but my visa expired in 2007. i decided to stay past my visa stay since i had started a new life here. this started my life as an undocumented immigrant. life wasnt that much different at the beginning since i had a lot of documentation, (drivers license, work permit, social security card, etc...), but when these expired things got a lot harder. I dropped out of college because of a lack of funds and tried to continue working to save for school. finding a job got increasingly harder and harder because of my lack of documentation so i had to resort to odd jobs here and there to support myself. my mother moved out of the state so i am by myself now trying to support myself on next to nothing. i was arrested in 2010 for some minor misdemeanors and was put into removal proceedings by ice and uscis. i spent a month in immigration detention while they tried to figure what to do with me. i was released from immigration detention and had to wear an ankle bracelet for 6 months!!! i hated it. after my release i enter a program so i would not get convicted and did over 300 community service hours. eventually my charges were dismissed and expunged and my record was wiped clean. i had to report to ice on a monthly basis to "check in" and eventually my removal proceeding was taken to court. then president obama announced the dream act. i was overjoyed and couldnt wait to apply since i was eligible. i worked hard to find the $485 to file the application and did so and have been waiting since. i last went to immigration court in october and i presented my application for deferred action to the immigration judge there. their office decided to exercise prosecutorial discretion in my case and they stopped the removal process. i was really happy but i am still undocumented. i thought that because they stopped the removal process that i would be approved for deferred action really quickly but that has not been the case. i am still waiting but i have faith. as of right now i am doing everything i can to support myself until i get the documentation to be able to go back to school and continue my life.
