A few weeks ago, I had a conversation with someone I'll call Javi. We're not using his real name because he's undocumented. He's a 24-year-old college student who is born in Mexico, but now lives in California. Javi doesn't have much faith that a path to citizenship is coming. And right now, staying here feels riskier than ever. So lately, he's been thinking about leaving the country. Javi's the only one in his family who's undocumented. His siblings were born in the U.S., and his parents eventually gained legal status. And so, like, that kind of left me out in the dark. It does make me feel like I have to, like, as messed up as it sounds or selfish as it sounds. You kind of have to think about like

finding for yourself, you know, like I have to fight for my future. Yeah, no, that's real.

So how much will it cost you to leave the U.S.? From what I've heard, it's like anywhere

from $15,000 all the way up to like $20,000 or $35,000 or euros.

Javi is hoping to move somewhere in Europe.

Some countries there offer special visas for job seekers that give people between six

months and a year to find work.

But applicants have to show that they can support themselves during that time,

which means that if Javi wants to move to Europe, he'll need to save up to a year's worth

of living expenses.

But he says he's also open to moving back to Mexico. If I were to go back home, even though I would be able to legally

work there, like, it would be nice to have a little cushion, you know, rainy day fund to help prop

me up. How much do you have saved up currently? Right now, I'm still in the early stages. I'm like around three,

two to three thousand. But it's only because right now I'm so, I'm saving up. I'm simultaneously

also trying to finish off my undergrad degree. But I should be done by the end of this year. But

after that, it's going to be like full throttle saving, you know. Yeah. What kind of job do you have

right now? So right now I just work under the table. You saving, you know. Yeah. What kind of job do you have right now?

So right now I just work under the table. You know, I have, I work for a restaurant. And it's, like,

really difficult to find out any other job in this current predicament than I am in. So it sounds like

if money weren't an issue, you would have already left the U.S. Yeah, yeah. If money weren't the issue, then I would have left already. Or if I had my degree already as well, then I probably would have left already. That's why you find a lot of people say like it feels kind of like a golden cage, you know, where there's a lot of opportunities, but you can't really take full advantage of them, and they feel kind of trapped here.

So it sounds like you're making that living abroad will be a better life than here in the U.S.

Yeah, so I think some people think too much about the financial aspect of it in terms of like, oh, like, I'm not going to be making as much money.

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