About Me

I am an undocumented immigrant (DREAMer) who is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in computer science at one of {MIT, Stanford, Berkeley, CMU} (undisclosed for sake of anonymity). I was brought to the United States by my parents at a very young age — so young that I have no memories of my home country. Because my parents overstayed their visas, our family was left without any lawful status here in America, and this complicated many things and generally made life difficult for many, many years.

Growing up a DREAMer, I had a lot of questions about what my options were and what I needed to do to survive in the present and optimize my chances of success in the future. I made this website to help answer those questions for other people who might be dealing with the same things that I did. If I could just help one person, it would already mean a lot to me. This is because I know the pain of being an undocumented DREAMer in the United States: We suffer the consequences of actions that we did not take; we go through immeasurable pain and are unable to tell people or seek help without risking a leak in confidential information; we are told to leave the country and go home by angry online trolls who don’t understand that it’s just not that simple; and we hide in the shadows perpertually hoping for a change but only hearing empty promises from legislators seeking reelection.

If you are a DREAMer, I know what you’re going through, and I want you to know that you are not alone. There are others out there, including myself, who have been suffering the same circumstances. Keep persevering, and don’t give up! All these struggles make us more resilient and better equipped to deal with complex issues in the future.

I hope some of the tips I write on this website are helpful to you. The advice here is specifically meant for undocumented immigrants who are in college or graduate school and pursuing a career in computer science, though some of it may be applicable to people in other fields as well. If you have any questions, feel free to email me at undocumentedcoder at gmail dot com. Thank you for visiting, and best of luck on your own journey!