Texas Rep. Luna Hernandez Shares Story of Growing Up Undocumented

For her, the debate over HB 12 is a matter of personal privilege.

By Jamilah King May 13, 2011

It’s not often that we see politicians make the personal political, but this week Texas Rep. Ana Hernandez Luna took to that state’s House floor to tell her deeply moving story of growing as an undocumented immigrant. She used her story as clear opposition to HB 12, a bill that critics say is one of many anti-immigrant SB 1070 copycat bills sweeping the nation. Hernandez Luna talks about feelings of shame and fear that marked her childhood. "I remember the constant fear my family lived with each day," she says while fighting back tears. "The fear my parents lived with each day as their two little girls went to school not knowing if there would be an immigration raid that day."