The minute we start speaking our language, a plethora of rude glances and whispers encircle us. Our cheeks begin boiling by the second, but unlike others would think, our pride is still soaring high. Of course, they don't tell us what they're thinking, but we can see it in their eyes. It's a solemn look, a look of disapproval that resides in their eyes everytime they look at us. It's a look that the slogan "Make America Great Again" is responsible for. It's a look that the president of the U.S is responsible for. We have become shadows in the light of the day. Our bright fires are trying to be extinguished. However, we are a nation of many colors. We are a flame that keeps growing stronger and stronger each day. America doesn't need to be great again. America has always been great.

Many Americans don't know that we, Mexicans, are hard-working people. We are always portrayed as bad and evil people, but that is not what we are at all. We are dreamers, and above all, we are humans, just like every American.

It all started way, way back in Mexico with a family by the surname Pérez. Those scorching days they spent working and all the blood they shed were definitely worth it to bring their family line to where it is today. The very first of them was born in Guerrero. From that point in time, the family line kept growing... and growing... and growing. And now, they?e spread all over Mexico and even in the United States.

In the sweltering summer of 2002, a group of people traveled across the Sonora Desert and entered the United States of America. Among them, a soon to be mother and father traveled. Their last names were Pérez. They crossed the border and reached Texas. A few days later, a baby girl by the name of Bianca was born in Huntsville. Three years would pass before they would move to North Carolina.

***Three Years Later***

The family moved to North Carolina in 2005 and found a comfortable home. Soon after, the father found a job. A whole new life was about to begin and the city of Raleigh seemed to be inscribed in their destiny.

So many were the reasons that the mother and father did not want to leave their beloved country, and so many were the reasons they had to leave. Job opportunities with better pay made them want to move to North Carolina, and high violence rates were what forced them to abandon their native country. Bianca's aunt, who was living in North Carolina, had told her brother, Bianca's father, numerous times about how many jobs were available and how the pay was good. So he took her advice and moved his family to North Carolina.

In Texas, life was pretty simple. Father and Mother learned English pretty quickly and their little girl did too. In public, she spoke English so that she could grow better at it, and at home, she spoke Spanish. Both languages were spoken fluently. Life was pretty simple until they moved to North Carolina. North Carolina was different. There was a different attitude towards immigrants, one that could be felt in the air. Bianca's aunt helped her brother find a job, and for that moment, everything was okay. Bianca was enrolled in kindergarten, her mother stayed at home, and her father worked as a roofer. Everything was running along well. In 2006, Sister was born and things changed a bit. Mother was occupied with Sister and so Bianca learned to do her homework independently, which was an easy task, as she learned to write when she was only three.

***Six Years Later***

In the year of 2012, Bianca's father met a kind man that offered him more work. He was Mexican and legally lived in the U.S. The man offered to help Father obtain a legal status in the country, and Father gladly accepted. They sought a lawyer's help, and it wasn't after months that they were able to obtain papers, a.k.a legal documents. Profound joy was at the heart of the Peréz household.

***Current Time***

Today, they are a family who has had its ups and downs, but has accomplished many, many things. Father has become a supervisor at one of the state's largest roofing companies, Mother is still a stay at home, and Bianca dreams of becoming a medic in the Army and a professional writer while enjoying life with her parents and siblings.

Despite all the recent controversy that has been going on with Donald Trump's racist comments, I am not afraid to say that I am an immigrant. Contrary to what others say, we are people who only come here to work. As everyone says, this is the land of the opportunities, and we, immigrants, take full advantage of those opportunities. We do not come here to take the jobs of others, we simply do the jobs that others won't do. What would this nation be like without immigrants? We all fuel the U.S's economy and the nation as a whole. We are like puzzle pieces in a million-piece puzzle. Each of us is different and without one piece, the puzzle is not complete. Therefore, I take my stand and proudly say: "I am an immigrant and happy to be one more piece of the American puzzle."