Dear Diane,

You are gorgeous, talented, inspirational and a much needed voice.

I loved you as Maritza and loved you as Lina. I appreciated seeing a Latina face on television. I laughed and giggled at memes that featured your "puta" face - but that was about it. You were another celebrity actress I would never meet and I continued with my life. That is, until I saw you were publishing a book. It captured my interest for sure, I was curious as to what Maritza could possibly be writing about, what did she have to say...and there it was: an instant point of no return "Television Actress Diana Guerrero was just fourteen years old on the day her parents were detained and deported while she was still at school."

Trust that I read "In The Country We Love: My Family Divided" from start to finish, cover to cover. I spoke to anyone who would listen. If I overheard people talking about OITNB or Jane the Virgin, you could bet I was mentioning your name and recommending your book. As an advocate for the New York State Dream Act and my personal ties to the undocumented community, it was refreshing and nearly monumental for me to see a celebrity speak of the issues so close to my heart. I needed your voice, your face, you. Diane, you were the perfect excuse for me to publicly speak on these issues, people may not care about my voice, but they sure as hell might be interested in what you had to say.

You see Diane, I was afraid to speak. I advocated as much as I could without having to declare my personal ties. I tried to dismantle the stereotypes "Undocumented Immigrants do pay taxes," "Without exploitation there wouldn't be this opportunity of labor, but everyone wants a cheaper product. The chances are, undocumented immigrants have no impact on whether you get a job or not." However, I never once tried to speak about my personal stories. After reading your book, I opened my mind to what those close to me had always asked "Tell your story." I slowly began to speak, first I wrote letters to senators, later I spoke to colleagues and acquaintances, but the hardest of them all: my friends. While, I still have a lot of inner battles of when I should or shouldn't speak. Or when it is safe or unsafe, or whether this will get me in trouble in the future, at the very minimum of my efforts, I now speak.

So, thank you Diane, for letting us into your life. For letting someone like me, know your fears and struggles. Exposing those intimate details of your family and life is incredibly hard to do. You opened yourself up to bigots and hateful remarks but I thank you for taking action and speaking out, for creating a conversation so many do not want to have. Hearing from and about the people who are impacted by immigration is hard to come by. Mainly because of the fear "If I speak out they will know me, my name, my family. Then they can deport me, they can harm me." I know for a fact you are very aware of the hush, hush kept within most families. Nonetheless, I know now, with even more confirmation what I already knew before: We, are not alone. 11 million strong "In The Country We Love."

Thanks to you Diane, I am no longer silenced by fear.

With Love,

JP Torres