Luis Quiroz is a DACA recipient and a senior in the College of Business at San Francisco State University. He is pursuing his bachelor’s degree in marketing. Though it has not been a very easy road as a first-generation college student, Luis’ family has always supported his academic goals.

Luis was born in Guerrero, Mexico and moved to the US with his family when he was only an infant. His parents fled due to the violence and corruption that existed and continues in many parts of their country. Their hopes were short-lived as one by one his family members were separated by the U.S. immigration system. His older brother was deported before Luis attended college. During his first year of college it was his father. And just a year and a half ago, Luis’ mother was also deported, leaving just Luis and his younger sister in the U.S.

Good work ethic was instilled in him from a very young age as he saw how his parents worked tirelessly to provide for him and his siblings. Both of Luis’ parents are merchants; amongst their many different jobs, his mother was once an awarded sales representative for Tupperware and his father sold gold and silver jewelry. Luis has held many different jobs himself, which include retail, hospitality and an after-school hip-hop dance teacher. Luis now owns his own business. He is co-owner of Trending Socials, where he works with small businesses to develop social media strategies that align with their marketing mix.

Luis’ commitment to civic engagement stems from the injustices he and his family have had to overcome. Like many other immigrant families, they’ve been separated due to a flawed system. Very recently, his family suffered an unexpected tragedy. Luis received a phone call from Mexico and learned that his brother’s shop in Mexico had been robbed at gun-point, and his brother did not make it. Immediately, Luis wanted to make arrangements to go be with his family, but because of his limited DACAmented status, there was nothing Luis could do to travel outside the U.S. to attend his brother’s funeral.