This oral history interview with Ivan Hernandez was conducted by Sankar Raman on October 17, 2017. The interview was recorded for The Immigrant Story, an organization that documents and archives the stories of immigrants and refugees in the United States. In this interview, Hernandez discusses his family’s migration to the United States from Mexico when he was 11. He talks about the reasons that his family chose to immigrate and describes in detail his experience of being smuggled across the border in 2003. He talks about living in migrant labor camps in Oregon, learning English as a second language, and his education in both Mexico and Oregon.

Hernandez describes his middle school and high school education in Hillsboro, Oregon. He talks about making friends, helping his family work, and the ways teachers influenced him. He discusses his senior year of high school and his graduation. He talks about how his undocumented status affected his ability to get financial aid for college; about attending Mount Hood Community College and dropping out for financial reasons; and about working various jobs. He then discusses his decision to apply for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program; continuing his education at Portland Community College; and working jobs on campus. He talks about getting involved in student government. He closes the interview by discussing his plans for the future, particularly his plan to run for president of Mexico in 2036.