My (Underground) American Dream is Julissa Arce's book that tells her secret life as an undocumented immigrant in the United States, a country where she arrived not knowing the language or its traditions. She recounts how difficult it was to adapt herself and get fake documents in order to be able to study and eventually land an executive position with Goldman Sachs.
-Can you describe the process of buying fake documents?
- I couldn't study because colleges denied the application letters I sent them because I didn't have a social security number, so I decided to buy fake papers. I asked some friends on how I could get them. And one day I arrived at a house, they took my picture, and in two weeks I got my papers.
Julissa moved to San Antonio, Texas, a place where her parents, Julissa and Julio, traveled too often to sell jewelry from their native Taxco, Guerrero. One day they got her a three-year tourist visa, and during one of those trips her family decided to stay. However, it wasn't until she was a teen when she began to understand what it meant to be an undocumented immigrant.
“My parents never asked me if I wanted to live in the United States, and at first I didn't like it because I didn't speak English, but as time went on I felt more comfortable, and in a certain way I eventually felt like the U.S. was my home. It was a very difficult experience for an 11-year-old girl," Julissa Arce told EL UNIVERSAL.
SELLING FUNNEL CAKES TO PAY FOR SCHOOL
In 2001, a new law made it possible for undocumented Texan students to attend public universities at in-state rates. Julissa sold funnel cakes that she made to pay for her school and rent a room in Austin, where she studied.
During her first year in college, her parents and brother, who was born in the U.S., decided to return to Taxco because her mother became ill and they weren't able to pay for her medical expenses.
In a sad turn of events, her father passed away in Taxco in 2017. However, Julissa wasn't able to go to her father's funeral because of her illegal status in the U.S. However, in 2009, she became a legal resident and two years later a U.S. citizen.
She misses Taxco, which she describes as the most beautiful town in Mexico and its food is like nowhere else in the world; however she says that in Taxco she wouldn't have made it to Wall Street but she would have achieved the same level of professional success. “When I was a little girl I wanted to be president of Mexico, I have always had big dreams. Fate brought me to this country. "
After graduating, Julissa was hired as an intern at Goldman Sachs, where she rose through the ranks and eventually landed an executive position with the firm.
THE BIG APPLE ENIGMA
Julissa's big secret, she says, was that her bosses never became aware of the fact that she had been hired at the firm using fake papers.
"I would have been fired if they had found out. The company is very big, they weren't going to do me a favor by keeping me there. I honestly don't know how I passed all the screening processes and background checks. If I were to guess, I'd say that they probably would have never suspected that an undocumented person would apply for those kinds of jobs. They think we only come to this country to work in the fields or clean houses, jobs that are also of great importance to this country."
She talked to her bosses before they discovered the situation regarding her fake papers. They weren't upset, and instead, to her surprise, were very supportive. “They actually said nice things to me. They said something very positive, like giving young people opportunities to come to the United States to show their talent, and contribute to improving this country's economy."
She now dedicates her life to speaking at universities across the United States, and she also founded the organization Ascend Educational Fund, which grants scholarships to students, regardless of their immigration status.
One of her future plans is to bring her story to TV, which would be produced by the actress America Ferrera, but there is no official date yet for this project.
Let's face Trump
If Julissa had the opportunity to meet U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, she would talk to him about business. "I wonder if it would be possible to actually have a conversation with him given the way he talks with his ego and arrogance. But if I could, I would talk to him about economics, which is what matters to him and what I did for ten years at Wall Street. I would point out how his proposals on immigration are going to have a negative affect on the economy."
Regarding recent measures implemented by the Mexican government aimed at providing assistance to the Mexican community in the U.S., Arce said that she "would expect the government to be more aggressive in their response against Trump. I just don't understand why the president (Enrique Peña Nieto) invited Trump to Mexico after the remarks he repeatedly made against Mexicans. We need more assistance programs for our compatriots.
Julissa Arce says she was extremely disappointed that Trump won the elections, which also happened to be the first year she was able to vote in U.S. presidential elections. “There is a lot of fear in the Latino community, with immigrants, and people of color about what will happen when he's sworn into office, given his campaign promise to deport millions of people. We immigrants go through so much and this is yet another situation we have to face. However, we will confront him."