by Yu Sun Chin One sunny weekday when I was in sixth grade, a series of impatient knocks shook our…

  by Katie-Meelel Nodjimbadem The backyard erupted with cheers when the team across the net missed the volleyball that my…

by Diane Tsai It was the first day of second grade. My older sister Linda, then eight years old, was…

by Ellen Garrison I first met Amy Jiang in Mrs. Portman’s seventh grade math class. Spring is hot in Reading,…

In October 2010, I found myself sitting on a stage with nine other teenagers, waiting for a Holocaust survivor. We…

Joaquin Luna, an 18-year-old undocumented student from Texas, committed suicide after Thanksgiving last year, reportedly due to concerns about his immigration status. The story put a national spotlight on the adverse effects of immigration policy on the mental health of undocumented youth. With DACA in place a year later, but a permanent path to immigration reform remaining uncertain, it’s too early to tell if anxiety or depression has been alleviated for undocumented youth.

In light of the DACA process, many young immigrants, including 20-year-old José Martinez, reach a point in their lives when they are forced, for various reasons, to confide in their peers and teachers about their undocumented status. They weigh the risks of being in the open against the benefits of having a support system through their legal and personal ordeals.