Felipe Molina Mendoza and his boyfriend Francisco Vargas Guadalupe spent Valentine’s Day at Mendoza’s immigration hearing in Charlotte. He was allowed to remain in the U.S. on Tuesday while awaiting a possible ruling from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on his case.
Audio Director Alice Wilder has been following the couple’s story.
The Daily Tar Heel: Like most high school seniors, Felipe Molina Mendoza was planning for his future. It was 2009. Several universities had invited him to apply for scholarships, and he wanted advice.
Felipe Mendoza: That’s when my counselor told me well it’s great that you have all this — offers and opportunities to apply for them — but, um, they all require socials and you don’t have a social.
DTH: Social, as in social security card. Felipe is undocumented. This was the moment he realized just how deeply being undocumented would affect his future. Felipe came to the United States in 2000 when he was eight years old. His mom gave him a choice:
FM: She told me, you know what, you can either stay here and just work like a regular job or you can go back to Mexico and I’ll pay for your college.
DTH: So in September 2009, Felipe took his mom up on her offer and moved to Mexico City, even though it meant he would be away from his family for the first time.
FM: I remember when we crossed the border from the United States to Mexico. In that moment I had, like, a lot of regret. It was like basically like if they took you and they cut all your connections away and you were just thrown into, like, a place, but I knew I had to do it — I guess in that moment because that was like basically my only choice. And in 2010 between having the struggle of not having papers and having to leave the United States, I also had my internal struggle of being, my feelings about my orientation.
DTH: That year, Felipe came out as gay.
