Spoiler alert: This post contains plot from the season 4 finale ofSuperstore.
StarNico Santoswrites about the personal impact of the episode below.
The ICE Agents bore down on me from every angle.
Credit: Tyler Golden/NBC
I was trapped, and I was truly terrified.
Yes, I knew there were cameras, that we were on a set and playing make-believe.
But in that moment, the fear felt very real to me.
What shook me to my core was knowing that I couldve very well been Mateo.
I was born in the Philippines, just like my character Mateo.
In the early 80s, my family vacationed to the United States.
They wanted more for us.
They wanted us to dream big and to have every opportunity to achieve those dreams.
We learned in the episode Olympics that Mateo was undocumented.
It never occurred to him that he wasnt in the country legally.
This couldve very well been my story.
We couldve overstayed our visas.
I wouldve become an undocumented child who grew into an undocumented adult.
But thats not what happened.
My family decided to return the Philippines.
My brother and I eventually made our way back and I gained my American citizenship in my mid-twenties.
But the consequences for a persons life are immense.
My brother joined the Army.
He served multiple tours in Iraq and now lives in Texas with his family.
And, as my parents wished, I achieved my big dreams.
Im not a doctor, but I think theyre proud of how everything worked out.
My brother would be no less courageous, and I no less ambitious had we been undocumented.
But our opportunities to contribute our greatest strengths to this country wouldve been severely diminished.
These are hard-working people who contribute to our society in so many important ways.
I see kids in cages.
I see the absence of humanity for people seeking a better life, the chance to achieve their dreams.
But more immediately, we must return compassion to the conversation about immigration.
We must work to change in our hearts and minds what it looks like to be undocumented.
It is the high schooler dreaming of college who isnt aware of his status.
It is the single mother working grueling hours in a warehouse just to provide for her children.
It is the family that sits next to you in church.
It is your neighbor.
And it couldve been me.
