She Came to the U.S. at 4 Months Old. She Had To Self-Deport—Because She Came Here Legally.

Naturalization ceremonies on the Fourth of July are singularly joyous occasions. New members are officially inducted into the American project on the day that celebrates that very thing. So what is a July 4 self-deportation?

Patricia Rojas, 25, found out this month, when she moved to Mexico. Like many immigrants, she had wanted to stay in the United States. Unlike many immigrants, however, she had lived in America legally since she was 4 months old and has never known another country as home.

Rojas is, in other words, a “Dreamer,” the nickname given to those who came to the United States as children through no fault of their own. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program shielded from deportation many immigrants who came here illegally as children. But there is an asterisk in Rojas’ case, and in about 250,000 other cases: She is a Documented Dreamer, in that she came here lawfully. Had her parents opted to come illegally, Rojas would not have had to self-deport.

But the path to legal permanent residence is not easy. In a statement, Rojas said her father arrived in the U.S. on an E-2 visa, which allows some foreign entrepreneurs to build businesses here. Yet, while the visa is renewable, it does not allow the recipient to get in line for a green card. The H-1B visa, meanwhile, does—but country-of-origin caps can take decades, and many die waiting in line. Those like Rojas age out of the system if their parents cannot obtain permanent residency before they turn 21.

The subsequent options are few. In Rojas’ case, which she also detailed in a New York Times essay published today, she did not win the H-1B lottery after three attempts—the maximum. This is not surprising: Roshan Taroll, another Documented Dreamer whose case I covered two years ago, had the same experience and had to self-deport to Taiwan.

This hole in the law has received some attention in Congress, although no legislative fix has ever gotten over the finish line. Sens. Rand Paul (R–Ky.) and Alex Padilla (D–Calif.) have introduced the America’s CHILDREN Act multiple times, backed by Rep. Deborah Ross (D–N.C.) in the House. The co-sponsors are heavily bipartisan. “My bill America’s Children Act fixes the documented dreamer problem by prioritizing the children of legal immigrants for permanent status,” Paul told me in 2024. “So, a child whose parents came legally will not have to face deportation when they turn twenty-one.”

The immigration debate has been even more charged than usual recently amid the Supreme Court’s ruling upholding birthright citizenship. Paul, for his part, has made it clear he does not support it. Yet his advocacy for fixing the problems faced by Documented Dreamers is a reminder that there is widespread agreement that we should not actively punish people for coming here “the right way.”

The birthright citizenship debate also looms in Rojas’ mind. How could it not? “Those four months altered my life trajectory,” she writes in the Times. “Had I been born after my family relocated, like both of my younger siblings, I would be an American citizen today.”

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