Transcriber: Sweta Haldar

Lakshmi Parvathinathan (LP) (0:08):
Today is April 11, 2021 and I'm here with Sarvani. Sarvani is a DREAMer who has kindly agreed to talk with me today about her experience of growing up in the United States as a dependent Visa child. Sarvani, can you start by telling me who you are and where you're from?

Sarvani Kunapareddy (SK) (0:25):
Sure, so my name is Sarvani and I was born in Hyderabad, India, and moved to the US at the age of four, and currently reside in Lake St. Louis, Missouri.

LP (0:35):
So Sarvani, you moved to the United States when you were four years old. Have you gone back to India since then?

SK (0:43):
Yeah. So I was only able to go back to India once in my time of being in the US. And I went at the age of 14. So it has been 10 years since I have seen a lot of my family and close relatives.

LP (0:56):
Wow. 10 years. So you've only gone back to India once since you first immigrated to the US? Is that correct?

SK (1:06):
Yes, that's correct.

LP (1:08):
Wow. So can you tell me about what you remember about the early years that you spent in India? Or about, you know, your first days here in the US?

SK (1:16):
Sure. Yeah. So growing up in Hyderabad, I do remember a lot of different things. I mean, I was a little younger, so I have to kind of like, recollect my memories. But I used to live with my dad, because my mom immigrated to do her second Master's when I was three. So I remember going to my grandparents’ house, and you know, eating all the good home dishes and TV, and all that. I used to go to this preschool and I had friends and stuff. So I do remember some of that. And when I went back, I was able to visit some of my close friends when I was younger, so that was kind of fun. And then living in Hyderabad, so that was like the city. So I remember, I used to ride on my dad's motorcycle. So that was a lot of fun, too.

LP (2:06):
Wow. Okay, it seems like you had a lot of nice memories from there. So you mentioned that your mom came to the US to do her second master's degree. So your mom came to the US on a student visa. And in a few years, you might have to switch to a student visa. How does that make you feel?

SK (2:28):
Yeah, so my mom did come on an F1 visa. And I think it's just mind blowing that the way the system works, that I'm going to be in the same situation as her. I don’t know, I just never thought it would be like that.

LP (2:42):
So can you tell me more about when you first found out that you're in this situation, you know, finding out that you're on an H4 dependent visa, stuck in the Green Card backlog with maybe no option but to self-deport or switch to a student visa, the kind of visa that your mom was on when she first came to the US?

SK (3:01):
Yeah, so growing up, talking about the immigration visa, it was a pretty common topic in my house. And so it wasn't really that new to me to speak about, you know, the green card and everything. But I found out about the backlog and how I would be affected the summer right before my freshman year. And so it took a mental hit, like I could not process it for a while. And it took a while for me to even understand how big this was. And so that took a while and then I had to have a support group. So luckily, my close friends and my teachers and coaches were supportive of me. And so that helps a lot. And so after getting over the fact that this would happen in a few years, I realized that, you know, I had to go and advocate. And so we started speaking to different senators and representatives. And from there on, we continued advocating.

LP (3:53):
Wow. Well, I really think that one of the best things to have is an amazing support group. And I'm glad that you were able to find that because like you said, in order to start advocating, I think we first have to be able to come to terms with the situation. So tell me more about your experience with advocating at first. How did you get involved? Like how did you know who to reach out to? What was your initial experience like? How were your representatives and senators reacting when you were telling them about the situation that you're in?

SK (4:32):
So starting out, advocating, I started speaking to local representatives in my county, and then the senator in my state. And so with my mom's help, because she's a regional planner, we had certain people we could reach out to and get meetings with. And we used to take other students like me and you know, that was a big effect because one of the kids, she recently actually aged out and so seeing that was kind of sad and so going to these meetings, we explained the situation that we students were in, and how parents would get affected, and so, how families would get affected. And a lot of times, these representatives and senators, just they were mind blown, because they didn't know this was a thing. They're like, what? Like, why wouldn't you be able to stay here? So that was a big issue at first because they weren't educated on the issue. So at that point, it became a hassle of educating them first before even trying to advocate.

LP (5:31):
No, no, that's a really good point. Like a lot of people don't really know that this is an issue, you know, and I think that's definitely one of the biggest issues that we face within this bigger issue. Yeah. So Sarvani, so you're a senior in high school, and you know, you've been applying to colleges this year. Tell me more about your experience applying as an international student, because we're considered international students, when you're applying to college, correct?

SK (6:01):
Yep. Yeah. So that has been a long process. So I started applying to colleges last year, and I just got all my decisions. So you know, April, I have to make my decision. So I haven't done that. And so applying to these colleges, first of all, let's talk about the application fee, because international students have to pay a lot more. So that was one thing I had to kind of get over. And so then at that point, you know, I applied to all these schools and some of the schools that I thought I would be getting out-of-state tuition, we're like, no, you're paying International. So like their policies were changing, maybe due to COVID, whatever. So their policies are changing. And so a lot of them were like, no, you're actually International. And so that was one thing. And then knowing that I would be considered international was just crazy, because I wouldn't be compared to students at my school. It would be students from other countries. And so there's a lot of self-doubt, like, am I good enough to make it? And so that was another thing. And so obviously, international tuition is much more expensive than anything out of state. So right now, as I make my decision, that is one thing I have to consider because I'm not eligible for loans. And there's only a few scholarships that I am eligible for. So just going through all of that is a hassle and trying to figure out where you're going. But it's been a process.

LP (7:22):
It definitely is a process. And you know, you bring up a good point, International student tuition, it's even higher than out of state. And I understand you've been living in Missouri for how many years now?

SK (7:40):
For around 13 years.

LP (7:43):
Wow, so you've been living in Missouri for nearly 13 years now. But for some schools, you don't even qualify for out-of-state tuition. You have to pay international student tuition. That's definitely mind-blowing. And you know, one thing, it's like, if you go on a college's website, you may notice information for international students, undocumented students in-state students, out-of-state students, but then there's kind of this weird box, you know, because you're not exactly an international student. Can you tell me more about your process with navigating that, kind of like figuring out how to access this information that may not readily be available?

SK (8:33):
I'm going to be honest, I think I've been looking at colleges for about four years. Sadly, 9th or 10th grade, my mom was like, we need to start looking because originally, I did want to go into the medical field, but you know, I started getting into programming, I really liked it. And so I was like, you know, computer science, that's a great field, data science. And like, now that I grew into it, I really like public policy. So kind of relating those two, I thought that'd be a cool avenue to go into. And so I started looking at different schools. So first, I started with Purdue, some local schools. And a lot of these schools were like, oh, we've never dealt with someone in your situation, so let me go speak to someone else. So there's a lot of back and forth emails, with like, ten different people from three different departments and getting various different information. And I'm not gonna lie, it still happens today. I had to email like five different people last week for one of my schools, just to find out if I was able to apply for this one scholarship or not. So it's a lot of going back and forth. And then the other thing is, because they don't know about your situation, they might try to put you into a loophole and make you pay more money. Try not to fall into that. It's kind of rough too. But yeah, a lot of doing your own personal research.

LP (9:55):
Doing your own personal research, right and kind of figuring out how to advocate for yourself. So, Sarvani, you recently turned 18about a few weeks ago, right? So, 18, 21, these are ages that, you know, American teenagers generally eagerly look forward to? But what does turning 21 mean to you?

SK (10:22):
So, turning 21, I think ever since I was like 14 years old, I kind of despised that number almost because I was like, 21, I'm going to be separated from my family. Like, that's what that number means to me. Because you know, I came to the US at a young age, you know, with my family. And, you know, my family was chasing that American dream. And now all of a sudden, there's a chance that we might be split up, and I might have to go to India, or I don't know what's gonna happen, right? So the number 21, to most individuals in the US, is a big thing. Because you know, there's a lot that comes with that age. But obviously, for students in our situation, it's kind of scary to approach that age.

LP (11:06):
Right. It's like approaching 21, there's so much uncertainty that comes with it. And really, it's something that we fear, for sure. Yeah. So Sarvani, you mentioned the American dream. Tell me more about what the American Dream means to you.

SK (11:27):
Sure, yeah. So I feel like the American dream, the way it's kind of advertised or shown is like, you know, you chase the American dream, as you kind of assimilate to the community here, you are able to make a mark on society and be able to stay here. But I feel like that's very different for documented Dreamers, because, you know, we came here and we're trying to pursue this career or whatever we're trying to pursue and all of a sudden, the system's kind of locking us in, and we're gonna get self-deported at 21. And so it's kind of scary to think that the one thing we were chasing is the same thing that's going to send us back. It’s scary.

LP (12:08):
No, it definitely is scary. So Sarvani, tell me more about how you're feeling hopeful, maybe with the advocacy work that you've been doing--tell me more about the organizations that you're involved with.

SK (12:24):
Sure. So currently, I am the co-founder of the Hidden Dream. So the Hidden Dream works to create a community and give resources and scholarships to documented Dreamers and to advocate for reform in the immigration system. So currently, we have released a survival guide to help students at any stage of the documented Dreamer process to kind of get ready for college or for work life. And so that resource is out there. And then I also work with Improve the Dream where I'm part of the regional advocacy liaison. And so we work to advocate for immigration reform. And so with the work of 100 individuals from all over the country, we've been able to be included in the Dream and Promise Act of 2021. The documented Dreamers are now in there. And so that is very hopeful, but we have a lot of work ahead to get ourselves into the Senate part of that bill. So it's a lot of work ahead.

LP (13:30):
Certainly. Yeah, there certainly is a lot of work ahead, but it seems like we really have come a far way. So well, thank you so much, Sarvani, for sharing your story with me today. I've really learned a lot from you. And I want to wish you the best of luck as you begin to enter the next chapter of your life.

SK (13:50):
Thank you.