Walking to work while scrolling the news this month, I felt a pit in my stomach seeing footage of ICE raiding Los Angeles elementary school graduations, restaurants, and stores. Watching our government violently abduct fathers, mothers, and children off the streets with no due process felt like reliving my worst childhood fears.
My family moved to the U.S. from Peru when I was 10, and as an undocumented child I grew up in constant fear of ICE raids. We had a family “separation plan” that required I memorize addresses of trusted friends to go to if my parents did not come home one day. Despite this fear, my parents hoped that if we worked very hard and did everything right, the US would give us an opportunity to stay. They worked cleaning houses, packaging meat in factories, or in construction. They paid taxes for social benefits they never received. They told us to be grateful to be in the U.S., and promised that if we stayed the course and were “good” immigrants, one day we could pursue our dreams and be welcomed by America.
Were my parents “good” immigrants? No. Millions of undocumented families with no criminal record like mine are detained, separated, deported, and terrorized by ICE for their immigration status alone. Working hard, paying taxes, and contributing to our communities is not “good” enough.
The guilt I carry for being the reason my parents came here to live this hard life motivated me to become a “good” immigrant so I could one day protect them. I studied hard and, despite my undocumented status, earned a full college scholarship to pursue a biology degree. With the institution of DACA after my graduation, I worked at a biotechnology company developing therapies for incurable lung diseases. I volunteered leading mentorship programs for minoritized students. I earned my PhD in cell biology and received awards funding my research and recognizing my community service. I am now also a naturalized citizen.
Am I a “good” immigrant? No. Since March 2025, documented immigrant graduate students have been abducted by plainclothes ICE agents in the streets into unmarked vehicles with no warrants or due process. These students were given lawful status by the US government and invited to study here but were still kidnapped and separated from their families. Mahmoud Khalil, a graduate student at Columbia and legal permanent resident married to a U.S. citizen, was detained for three months and missed the birth of his child after exercising his right to free speech. Studying hard, being “highly skilled,” and having legal documentation are not “good” enough to protect us.
Becoming a “good” immigrant in America has remained elusive because it is a myth. America once welcomed immigrants escaping political persecution; now the Trump administration has revoked temporary protected status for hundreds of thousands of people from multiple countries. All children in the US regardless of legal status since 1982had the right to access public education; now ICE raids target elementary schools. Academic and “highly skilled” immigrants were once welcomed to study and work here; now the Trump administration has moved to revoke thousands of immigrant graduate student visas. Even the core tenet of the “good” immigrant myth, having legal status, no longer protects immigrants in America.
It is past time we debunk the myth of the “good” immigrant. The truth is, no immigrant is hardworking enough, educated enough, innocent enough, or legal enough to feel safe in America. This is a bipartisan truth – both Republicans and Democrats have targeted different groups of immigrants, repeatedly changing the definition of the “good” immigrant to benefit their agenda. There is no immigrant in America that is truly valued beyond the services they can provide. Take undocumented farm workers, who were lauded as “essential” during the COVID pandemic and asked to risk their lives to continue feeding the country. Now they are violently kidnapped by ICE in the very fields where they were once called “heroes.” I refuse to rattle off statistics of the infinite ways immigrants contribute to America’s success. We tried proving ourselves to you, but the truth is nothing we do will ever be enough for any of us to feel safe in an America that divides us into “good” and “bad.”
For decades, the “good” immigrant myth has been the most powerful weapon wielded by anti-immigrant and misinformed Americans to justify terrorizing immigrant families. By debunking the myth, Americans can eradicate the divisive and ever-shifting question of which immigrants do and do not deserve to be welcomed here. Americans must protect and value ALL immigrants in the U.S. regardless of documentation status, age of US arrival, or profession, simply because we are your neighbors, friends, family, and children’s playmates, and deserve humanity just like you.
Start by donating to organizations like RAICES and The Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights that support immigrant families separated by ICE raids. Place signs outside your private business or university buildings informing colleagues that they are not obliged to open doors for ICE officers seeking entry unless the officers have a signed warrant. Encourage immigrant friends to share their phone location with you and help them set up a car dash camera in case they are detained. Challenge the “good” immigrant myth in conversations at your university, workplace, or friend group. Contact your representatives to denounce policies that expand ICE’s overreach of power. Finally, vote for comprehensive immigration policy reform that demonstrates we as a country embrace, protect, and welcome all immigrants, not just some.