To immigrate is to move not just across a border but across a self — to carry one identity into a context that does not recognize it, and to build, under pressure, something new that is neither what you left nor what the new country assumes you are. Every immigrant navigates a gap between the self they know and the self the new place sees, and the navigation is one of the most demanding identity projects a human can undertake. What is remarkable is not how much is lost but how much, against all odds, survives the crossing.
Juana