When María Lopez was 6 years old, her grandmother gave her a piece of advice: marry someone with papers. María was undocumented, and throughout her teens and 20s, she dealt with the struggle of dating to find both love and a path to permanent legal status in the United States. María, now in her early 30s, tells Anita about this journey and the community of “undocu-cuties” she made along the way via her Instagram page, @ytienepapeles. 

Meet the guest:

- María Lopez, former Delayed Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient and creator of the page <a href="https://www.instagram.com/ytienepapeles/">@ytienepapeles</a> 

<a href="https://www.wunc.org/2025-09-16/searching-for-love-and-legal-status-transcript">Read the transcript</a> | Review the podcast on your preferred platform

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Boomers On Psychedelics

Sex and relationships are intimate — and sometimes intimidating to talk about. In WUNC’s award-winning podcast, host Anita Rao guides us on an exploration of our brains and bodies that touches down in taboo territory.Follow the show on Instagram at @embodiedwunc and on Bluesky at embodiedwunc.bsky.social. You can find Anita on Bluesky at asrao.bsky.social.