Culture

Ben Carrillo came to the United States from Guatemala as an undocumented immigrant when he was 15 years old. Today, the young man who crossed the border completely alone is a rising producer and singer-songwriter, managed by Fabio Acosta and Vibras Lab. He has worked with Sky Rompiendo and Mosty, recorded with Thalia and Bruses, opened concerts for Bad Bunny and, this month, released his Broken Hearts Anthem EP.

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But beyond his success, Carrillo hopes that his extraordinary story of work, self-improvement and motivation will serve as an inspiration to other immigrants who arrive in the United States — or anywhere in the world — with only dreams as luggage. “We are not illegal aliens; We’re dreamers,” says Carrillo. This is his story, in his own words.

Thousands of immigrants try to cross the border looking for new opportunities. Many of them die on the way, or are victims of violence and rape, others are caught — and those of us who manage to get there are met with great opposition. There are laws that discriminate against us, isolate us and cut off opportunities, when all we want is to work, to be able to help our loved ones. We are not criminals, nor rapists; we are honest people in search of a better future.

I was born and raised in a beautiful country, Guatemala. But it is a country where violence, corruption and poverty are on the rise. From a very young age I was the man of the house. I had to take care of my brothers, study, work and do all the errands. My father was a musician and choreographer. We had a relationship, but he had no sense of responsibility, and my mother, single with three children, did the best she could. The environment in which we lived and what she experienced caused us to suffer great mental and emotional damage and it is only now that my brothers and I are healing.

When I was 15 years old, my father was killed; my mother only got worse. I saw myself at a point where I no longer had a future in Guatemala: Either I would have to take to the streets to seek opportunities, or I would look for a better future in the United States, as many of my relatives had already done. Getting a visa was impossible. We were poor, I didn’t have my parents. I went to the fields and worked with my grandfather on his farm, cutting sugar cane and bananas. There I raised a little money and at the age of 15, on January 2010, I made the decision to cross the desert to the United States, in pursuit of the “American dream.”

It took all of 30 days. Almost three weeks crossing all of Mexico and five in the Arizona desert, where we went through swamps and ran between highways. After many cramps, blisters, bloody feet, days without food, very cold nights and very hot days, I managed to get there.

I talked to different attorneys to see if there was a way to get documented, but the laws were and still are very rigid. It didn’t matter that I was fleeing my country, for now I had to live here illegally. Years went by. I attended high school in Texas.

There I discovered rock, country music and hip-hop. I learned English and graduated. Up to this point, I was an undocumented immigrant. I suffered racism and discrimination, not only because of my skin color, but also because of my legal status.

I started working illegally washing dishes in a restaurant. It was thanks to that, that at the age of 18 I managed to rent my first apartment and create my music studio. Since I didn’t have money to study, I looked for YouTube tutorials and that’s how I learned to record myself, compose and do my own mixing.

After five years of being illegally in the United States, my uncle heard an ad on the radio that spoke of the opportunity to obtain papers for those who were under 21 years of age and who did not have their parents or who had been abandoned/mistreated. That was my case. And that’s how I got a Green Card, or legal resident status.

That same month, I traveled to Medellín looking for opportunities with different producers. I met Sky Rompiendo, Mosty, Feid, Ovy Oo the Drums, Rolo, Jowan and many people from the industry who were essential to my artistic growth. Now that I had my papers, I was able to return to Guatemala to see my family, and I realized that they were in the same difficult situation that I had been in when I lived there. I knew I didn’t want to put them at the same risk of crossing the desert, but I couldn’t just watch them having such a hard time in Guatemala.

In February 2019, I moved to Los Angeles. I took down all my music from digital platforms, knowing that one day I would return. But my focus now was to help my brothers. I got myself three jobs, working from 7:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m., and that same year I became the person in charge of all of them. I rented a house in Guatemala — and with the help of my aunt, my dream of helping them came true, and to date they are under my care.

Now I was at a point in which I didn’t know how I was going to start my musical career again. One day, as I walked into my job as a waiter in Los Angeles, I ran into Fabio Acosta [founder of Vibras Lab and former manager of J Balvin]. I approached him to ask for an opportunity to show him my music and incredibly, he gave me his email. After sending him a lot of music for two years, at the end of 2021 I signed my first management contract with him and Vibras Lab.

I am now 28 years old. Many things have happened that the 15-year-old Ben who crossed the desert could not even imagine. I have a song with Thalia, I sang in front of 40,000 people opening the Bad Bunny concert in Guatemala, and my music is being increasingly recognized.

I look back and I don’t believe all that’s happened to me. I wonder how a boy from Guatemala, with few resources, who lived 5 years illegally in the United States, has achieved all this. It’s not only due to all my effort and dedication, but life has led me to opportunities that are only seen in movies, such as getting my legal residency and meeting Fabio.

I know I have angels watching over me. I know I have a duty, and it is to tell my story and show my Latin people that it doesn’t matter where you come from, what matters is where you are going. Everything that happens to us in this life has a purpose. All trauma can be turned into self-love and love towards others. And with hard work, discipline and perseverance, EVERYTHING is possible.

This is something I write from my heart, for all those people who are crossing or have already crossed, to tell them that YES you can, that the road is not easy, but the reward is sweet. We are not “ILLEGAL ALIENS”, WE ARE DREAMERS. — Ruben Gonzalez Carrillo “Ben Carrillo”