21 and Legal

Many young people look forward to turning 21 because they can finally go to bars to drink or see shows. For Erika Romero and her twin sister Andrea, it was an entirely different story.

2015 / Erika Romero / The College of Saint Rose, USA

Family

Many young people look forward to turning 21 because they can finally go to bars to drink or see shows. For Erika Romero and her twin sister Andrea, it was an entirely different story.

For them, it meant that they could legally sponsor their Colombian parents to become permanent residents of the United States

Producer Erika Romero spoke with her sister about what it meant to reach"legal" age. The story was originally produced for a class project at the College of Saint Rose in Albany, NY.

What was it like for Erika to let her classmates into her personal life in this way? And what is she up to now? Learn more... in

To hear more great reporting on immigration from new angles, check out Latino USA , especially the episodes A Latino History of the U.S. and Heartland.

We also recommend State of the Re:Union , especially the episodes Tucson, Miami, and Twin Cities, MN.

For more first-person stories from young people grappling with immigration, listen to Juan's Story and Juan: 16 Years Later from Radio Diaries, and American Dreamer from Long Haul Productions and Latino USA .

produced by

Erika Romero

Erika Romero graduated from The College of Saint Rose in May 2014. She is the first recipient of the Noticias Y/e Notas Award, celebrating the value of multicultural voices in media. She is currently a StoryCorps facilitator, travelling around the country recording conversations for the 2015 Mobile Tour.

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