Welcome Berenice- Living in Sweden, from Ohio, originally from Guanajuato, Mexico - and now on The @HendelMedia #Immigration Reform Project!

Stories, on stories, on stories - Berenice has had one hell of a journey, and she shares it all with us!

From her father losing his job in Mexico standing up for his rights, to the three attempts of her family to cross into the United States - one being a The Fast and the Furious car chase, one ending up at a detention center where she saw/experienced the awful conditions, and finally crossing the border after walking for 24 hours, Berenice and her family are a testament to what immigrants will go through for refuge.

Growing up in Ohio, Berenice talks about the importance of Welcoming Centers which helped her adapt, the incredible story of how she ended up at Columbia University in the City of New York after applying as an international student, not knowing what Ivy League schools were, and how when being there, never having revealed her undocumented status, how she was introduced to the NYS Youth Leadership Council by another student - and seeing for the first time how DREAMers were advocating for immigration reform.

When President Obama announced his legislation, she had already prepared to make her decision to work abroad in Europe, which she decided to go through; she expresses her frustration at the administration’s decision to have done it so close to election time.

I talk to her about her experience living in Sweden/ Europe - she gives me an honest assessment of the challenges she’s faced living there, and whether she recommends it as an option during the current political moment, also acknowledging the potential crisis her family may experience in the future due the current political moment.