 These are young people who study in our schools, they play in our neighborhoods, they're friends with our kids, they pledge allegiance to our flag. They are Americans in their heart, in their minds, in every single way but one, on paper. I wasn't sure how I was going to be able to afford housing and food because my parents are very low income. Three weeks before like starting fall semester, I did not know where I was going to live. Each year, millions of students graduate from American high schools. Counted among that mass of proud graduates are about 65,000 undocumented students. Unlike their classmates, this moment of achievement is muted by the fact that their path to higher education continues to be a challenge. The concerns of tuition, affordable housing and food affect these students much more significantly. Here in Berkeley, undocumented students had the idea of living together in a house in an effort to relieve the issue of housing and security for students like themselves. Director of the Chicano Latino Student Development Office, Lupe Gallegos, has been involved in the development of this home since its origin. So the idea was actually by students who were facing these kind of issues around economic issues of not being able to pay that much money. So Linda Sanchez, who was a student, basically said with a couple of the students, Jesus and other chewing, said to let's do a cooperative living situation. And so they did, they got together. I think there was about four or five of them. And their first house, they were able to pull their research together, put down payment on a house, and that became the first dream house. An undocumented housing space such as Casa Sin Fronteras is vital in helping the undocumented community combat the issue of affordable housing. Housing is huge for all students, but it takes a double burden or a triple burden for undocumented students. The question is like, how many students have had the chance to come to Berkeley, right? Have been accepted, but because of their legal status, they haven't had the opportunity or the resources to find housing. Now named Casa Sin Fronteras, the house has decided to move away from the dreamers narrative in an effort to include all members of the undocumented community. We acknowledge that the movement, the undocumented movement is moving away from the term dreamers because the term dreamers is not inclusive to the large narrative of the undocumented community. Eight student residents, such as Oscar and Tanya, work to remove barriers to higher education in Berkeley for the undocumented community by addressing the issue of housing insecurity and putting the focus back on personal development in academics. I think by creating a space that welcomes undocumented students, it shows that Berkeley is here to aid that population because I know in other UCs, there's no such thing as a house where undocumented students are welcome. So vision is to have housing security for undocumented students, right where we don't have to worry about that, but instead develop our leadership skills, our scholarly skills, focus on our school and our career where we then could help give back to our community. Although this group of undocumented students have started the initiative to address the issue of housing insecurity, there are still important concerns that must be addressed. Well, I think it's important to have a place like this. And even though right now we're outside of camp, we're an organization outside of campus, I hope that like the house becomes part of campus like in the years to come. We only have spaces and it's very limiting, but there's so many. UC Berkeley has like the number one undocumented population out of all the UCs. So we need a bigger house. Casa Sin Fronteras has impacted these students' lives in countless ways, and they hope to continue to break down the borders that the undocumented community at UC Berkeley face every day. When you first come to UC Berkeley, you might find yourself a little lost. Like, who can I tell that I'm undocumented? Who can I express that I'm a different type of student? Is everybody here understands what I'm going through? Home is where you grow, I feel. Home is your intimate, personal, safe space where you should feel comfortable, you should feel like safe to say how you feel, to express how you think. So this space being offered as that space, as at home, I want my peers to continue growing, continue like, and get to the point where they feel comfortable with their identity, comfortable to say I'm undocumented and unafraid, and I'm going to help other peers feel the same way or feel empowered in the same sense.