Undocumented & Queer: How Lulu Martinez is Melting Borders Kemi - autostraddle.com
go to original July 27, 2013

Bring Them Home: Lulu Martinez checking in from Mexico City (The National Immigrant Youth Alliance)

Lulú Martinez is fond of cats and lists her political views as "queer liberation." A Chicago resident, she immigrated to the U.S. from her hometown of Tlalnepantla, Mexico when she was 3 years old. Last week, for the first time in 20 years, Martinez was able to visit her family and the place of her birth. But she had to self-deport to do it.

Out of the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants currently living in the United States, as many as 267,000 are LGBTQ-identified. Many of them, like Martinez and I, came when they were young and have had to navigate daily life without the equal opportunity to work, go to school or obtain government-sanctioned ID. Having established roots and community in the U.S., the decision to leave in pursuit of the ability to travel and move at free will is not an easy one, and is exacerbated by the fact that many who do choose to leave while out of status are barred from returning to the U.S. for a period of three to ten years.

Read the rest at autostraddle.com

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