Damaris Velásquez, co-founder and director of programs at Agencia ALPHA, a faith-based immigrant advocacy organization in Boston, was undocumented for 23 years.
Speaking at Our Shared Table, MIRA’s 14th annual Thanksgiving luncheon at the State House, she offered her own story as proof that immigration status doesn’t define your worth or potential. She was undocumented when she bought a house with her siblings, when she graduated from college, and when she founded Agencia ALPHA with her best friend.
“Don’t allow this broken system to try to define your identity,” she said to immigrants in the audience. “Your story does not stop with this system.” She also urged elected officials to seize the opportunity to show that they see and hear immigrants, “because documented or undocumented, we exist, and history has proven that immigrants make America strong.