Myrna Orozco has been in what she calls hiding — avoiding the police, trying not to attract attention to herself and keeping her secret from her friends — since she was four years old, when she moved to the United States.

Twenty-year-old Orozco’s secret is that she is an undocumented immigrant.

But she’s not hiding anymore — Orozco was arrested July 20, when she and 20 other DREAM Act advocates were participating in a sit-in in various U.S. senators’ offices. Orozco and three others were in the office of Sen. John McCain, a Republican from Arizona. Five students were arrested in the office of Sen. Harry Reid, a Democrat from Nevada. And 12, including undocumented KU junior Ricardo Quinones, were arrested in the atrium of the Hart Senate Office Building.

“They said they were going to arrest us if we didn’t leave,” she said. “But we were not leaving until we got Sen. McCain to push for the DREAM Act.”

Quinones said his heart was pounding as he was being arrested and that he knew there was a possibility of deportation, but he was doing it for the DREAM Act.

The DREAM Act is short for the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act. The bipartisan bill would give undocumented college students temporary legal residence in the U.S. Eleven states, including Kansas, currently allow undocumented students to go to college.

Quinones said in a July 22 news release that he was tired of being told he didn’t belong here.

“This is my home. This is my country,” he said. “I believe passing the DREAM Act will show that our society doesn’t believe in criminalizing children for the decisions of their parents,” he said.

Quinones was six months old when his parents brought him to the United States. He was sick, and the doctors in Mexico couldn’t figure out what was wrong with him. They tested him for mental retardation, HIV and anything they could think of. Finally, they told Quinones’ parents their baby would die. With no other options available, the family fled to the United States to try to save Ricardo. Within two weeks of his arrival, doctors told his parents that their baby was lactose intolerant.

“My dad told me he would rather risk going to the United States than risk losing me,” Quinones said.

Quinones is the only one in his family who is undocumented. His parents went through the system when they got to the country, and they even had other children after they settled here who are legal residents. His parents were told it wasn’t necessary to include Ricardo as a baby on their petition to be residents.

“The DREAM Act is the only thing that could help me,” he said.

Orozco and the three other people who were in Sen. McCain’s office were charged with unlawful entry. They were taken by the Capitol Police Department first, then the Washington Metropolitan Police Department, and then taken to a courthouse. Orozco was one of four out of the 21 taken into custody to spend the night in jail. The other 17 students, including Quinones, were charged with disorderly conduct.

Orozco was asked for identification, and she only had her Rockhurst University student ID. She said she told the police that she was undocumented and that it felt liberating to do so.

Orozco was not contacted by Immigration and Naturalization Services, but she hasn’t ruled out the possibility that it will pursue her case.

“I went in knowing the consequences,” she said. “My whole life, I’ve been avoiding the cops, so to do it and know they would be there was a whole new feeling.”

Orozco moved to the United States with a valid visa, but she doesn’t currently have one. Rockhurst University is one of the few private universities in the country that allow undocumented students to study and earn a degree.

Orozco said she was proud that the DREAM Act was initiating conversation about change.

“I didn’t know if I was going to be able to make it to college,” she said. “But, I know by doing what we did that night, I gave myself hope again.”

And, she said, she gave others hope.

“I will continue fighting for the DREAM Act,” she said. “I’m not in the shadows anymore.”

Quinones said he would also continue to fight for what he believed in.

“I used to be timid saying I am undocumented because of that internalized fear,” he said. “When I have that controlled, it feels like I could make change.”