Secrets, secrets are no fun.

Secret secrets, hurt someone.

Wow.

Thank you.

You might recognize this as a line from the office. A funny scene not intended to be a spark for any real rumination.

But it came to mind as I thought about all the stories I heard this week when

interviewing people for this special immigration episode. The thing that

really struck me about the stories I heard about DACA recipients

asylum seekers and the attorneys who work to secure them rights is the power of the

truth. When the threat of deportation hangs over your head, you live a life

full of secrets. You bond with friends throughout high school, but by senior year you find yourself struggling to make excuses for why you still don't have a driver's license.

The reason, it's illegal in your state for undocumented people to have one.

Driving without a driver license always with a fear then you're going to get pulled over and lose your car.

Maybe even go to prison.

Your friends are all applying to college, but you don't, despite being smart, ambitious,

outgoing.

You can come up with excuses, but the secret forces you to paint a version of yourself that's just, well, a shadow of who you truly are.

The first person I actually came out to as undocumented was my guidance counselor and he looked at me

and just said you know I don't I don't know what to do I don't know how to help you and so I was

left at 1718 trying to figure out what to do after high school when I felt like everyone

was doing what I wanted to do and I felt like I had done everything right and I was

just getting kind of screwed over.

...