Obama Comm Director: My Path to citizenship

White House staff members listen from the Colonnade of the White House as President Barack Obama delivers remarks on the Department of Homeland Security’s immigration announcement in the Rose Garden, June 15, 2012. Pictured, from left, are: Luis Miranda, Director of Hispanic Media; Cecilia Muñoz, Director of the Domestic Policy Council; Miriam Calderon, a detailee to the Domestic Policy Council from the Department of Health and Human Services; and Press Secretary Jay Carney.

By Luis Miranda, USA Today

When I was a kid, I dreamed of becoming a fighter pilot. One of my best friends with the same goal joined the Civil Air Patrol and encouraged me to join, too. I jumped at the chance. But then it happened. I needed a Social Security number and didn’t have one. I began to understand what it meant to be undocumented.

I didn’t handle it well. My grades suffered, and I felt certain goals were out of my reach. Fortunately, a few farsighted individuals saw to it that I didn’t fall through the cracks. Two of them were my parents. Most of the others I never met. Among them were members of Congress from both parties who joined President Reagan in passing an immigration law in 1986 that allowed immigrants like myself a path to citizenship.

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