In an era of intensifying anti-immigrant rhetoric, bilingual educators face mounting pressure to assimilate multilingual learners into dominant language frameworks at the expense of their cultural and linguistic identities. This practitioner narrative centers the classroom experience of one Venezuelan-born student navigating a South Texas dual language program — and one educator's deliberate pedagogical response. Drawing on three years of classroom practice and doctoral inquiry in Curriculum & Instruction, this piece documents three practices: explicit academic language instruction that positions immigrant students as capable language learners rather than deficient speakers; curriculum redesign that centers immigrant narratives as intellectually rigorous content; and strategically planned translanguaging tied to ACTFL proficiency goals. The narrative argues that culturally sustaining pedagogy for immigrant students requires specificity — honoring the particular linguistic and cultural origin of each child, rather than subsuming diverse identities under a flattened "multilingual learner" category.