‘It was striking to see so many of my classmates dropping out because they were told they couldn’t go to college.’

Osman Canales, Mastic

“I am originally from El Salvador. I came to Long Island when I was 10 years old with some part of my family. Another part of my family was already here. Like my father was already here, some of my siblings were living here on the Island already. So we came here with my mom and some of my siblings in 1999.

“I’ve never been undocumented. I came here with a visa, and then I was able to get my green card.

“However, I’d like to focus on and be an advocate for undocumented immigrants. I made this decision when many of my classmates in school were undocumented. I started my advocacy journey in high school. I started assisting and pretty much mentoring other high school immigrants like myself for them to graduate and continue their education after high school.

My goal is to bring the Latino community together and develop new leaders to achieve equity.

“I’ve seen the challenges of the Latino community on Long Island. Many saw no future in terms of education after high school because of their lack of a Social Security number, so they dropped out.

“I started my organization called Long Island Immigrant Student Advocates, which provides support to immigrant youth so they can continue their education after high school. It’s a mentorship program where we visit high schools and middle schools to motivate immigrant students to continue their studies and provide resources for higher education.

“I’ve been doing this for almost 12 years now. Being an advocate for the Latino immigrant community for so long, I see the need to create a platform for advocacy for the Latino community in a unified form.

“My goal is to bring the Latino community together and develop new leaders to achieve equity. We advocate for the advancement of Latinos on Long Island, for access to opportunities and resources, and for equal representation in government and various industries on the Island.

“It was striking to see so many of my classmates dropping out because they were told they couldn’t go to college. Not just because they knew it, but because they were told by people who were supposed to support and guide them in school. They were told, ‘I’m sorry, you’re undocumented, you don’t have a Social Security number, so you cannot go to college.’”

Interviewed by Christian Spencer