“Orange Is the New Black” Actress Diane Guerrero Reveals Her Parents Were Deported
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Eric Leibowitz for Netflix(LOS ANGELES) — Diane Guerrero, an actress from Orange Is the New Black, is discussing a personal detail about her background to encourage Americans to fight for immigration reform.
Guerrero, who also appears in the show Jane the Virgin, wrote an op-ed article for the Los Angeles Times detailing her parents’ and older brother’s deportation to Colombia when she, a U.S.-born citizen, was just 14.
“Not a single person at any level of government took any note of me. No one checked to see if I had a place to live or food to eat, and at 14, I found myself basically on my own,” she wrote. “[My parents] would have liked to fight deportation, but without a lawyer and an immigration system that rarely gives judges the discretion to allow families to stay together, they never had a chance. Finally, they agreed for me to continue my education at Boston Arts Academy, a performing arts high school, and the parents of friends graciously took me in.”
Guerrero, now 28, said that her adolescent years were tough. She worried about overstaying her welcome with her friends’ families, and it was painful only seeing her parents during summer visits to Colombia.
“Though I was surrounded by people who cared about me, part of me ached with every accomplishment, because my parents weren’t there to share my joy,” she said.
Now, she’s advocating for change, both for those who want to immigrate to America and for all U.S. citizens.
“Children who grow up separated from their families often end up in foster care, or worse, in the juvenile justice system despite having parents who love them and would like to be able to care for them,” she wrote. “President Obama has promised to act on providing deportation relief for families across the country, and I would urge him to do so quickly. Keeping families together is a core American value.”
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