Maria Sotomayor, a 2013 Neumann University graduate and the civic engagement coordinator for the Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition (PICC), spoke to Criminal Justice majors yesterday at her alma mater.

She described her experience as an undocumented immigrant and discussed PICC’s mission – to advance immigrants’ rights and promote their full integration into society by advocating with a unified voice for greater public understanding and welcoming public policies throughout Pennsylvania.

“I came here from Ecuador when I was nine years old,” Sotomayor said. “And I grew up with the constant fear of being deported.

“I was denied access to public school due to my immigration status. When we tried to register here, we were threatened with being reported to immigration. So we moved around a lot, and I had to go to Catholic School. My experience with education was tainted by the fear of deportation.”

Sotomayor was invited by Professor Joseph Gosseaux, a former FBI agent, whose senior seminar class is reading Undocumented: A Dominican Boy’s Odyssey from a Homeless Shelter to the Ivy League. The book tells the story of Dan-el Padilla Peralta, an undocumented Dominican immigrant who made the journey from a New York City homeless shelter to the top of his class at Princeton University.

“I learned to be invisible when I was young, and to not bring attention to myself,” Sotomayor said. “Those feelings can have a deep impact on a person.”

Although she is currently not an American citizen, Sotomayor is the beneficiary of a piece of legislation known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. DACA is an executive order that President Obama signed in 2012 that allows certain undocumented immigrants who entered the country before their 16th birthday and before June 2007 to receive a renewable, two-year work permit and exemption from deportation.

“I’m privileged to have that protection, but there are so many out there who don’t,” she said.

DACA confers non-immigrant legal status, but does not provide a path to citizenship.

Nonetheless, Sotomayor continues to educate and support immigrant communities to use their voice and power to change the system.

Her employer, the PICC, is a diverse coalition of more than 50 member organizations and hundreds of individuals. The membership includes community groups, mutual assistance associations, nonprofit social and legal service providers, advocacy organizations, labor unions, faith communities, and community leaders.