Growing up in South Texas, Kendra always dreamed of becoming a doctor or a nurse. When she graduated from high school and enrolled at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, she said she spent her entire first year trying to connect with her professors and asking for opportunities to shadow clinicians.
Kendra, now 21, was born in Mexico and came to the United States with her parents when she was 9. (Kendra asked to be identified by her first name only.) She knew that being in the country without authorization would make it difficult for her to land the clinical placements necessary for most medical education programs—but it didn’t stop her from trying.
Halfway through her freshman year, President Donald Trump took office for the second time. Kendra said her family feared immigration enforcement raids and warned her not to go anywhere she didn’t need to go. She did her best not to let it distract her from her studies. But she said she was shocked when she learned last summer that the Texas Dream Act was in jeopardy.
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