A DREAM DEFERRED: DOES IT FESTER LIKE A SORE, THEN RUN...

By Isvett Verde
Staff Editor

New York Times

Think back on the big triumphs of being a teenager: the possibilities presented by a first paycheck; the blend of fear and freedom the first time you drove alone after getting your driver’s license. Upon graduating from high school, scholarship or financial aid made the dream of education possible, opening the door to a far more expansive world along the way.

These milestones, which so many of us take for granted, were long out of reach for the young undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children, better known as Dreamers. That is until Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, was created by the Obama administration in 2012.

While it did not provide a pathway to citizenship, DACA enabled tens of thousands of Dreamers to get driver’s licenses, get health care and live their lives, while Congress worked out a legislative solution.

It also allowed them the opportunity to apply for in-state tuition and get jobs that made use of their skills and abilities. It gave some the confidence to use their voice to fight for other people in the undocumented community. Others started businesses, served in our military and more.

It has even been credited with improving the mental health of beneficiaries, which is not surprising. Lost in the conversation around who should and shouldn’t have the right to stay in the United States is the toll living with perpetual uncertainty exacts on a life – and the ripple effects it has on families.

In the meantime, a generation of young people grew up, got married, bought houses, started families and are now well into their careers. Still, without a pathway to citizenship, they tentatively plan for a future that remains uncertain.

The thing is, the United States needs these young people. A recent survey found DACA recipient households pay roughly $6 billion in federal taxes and just over $3 billion in state and local taxes each year. Like other immigrants, they make vital contributions to our economy and communities.

As we reflect on 10 years of DACA, it’s a good time to listen to what the Dreamers have to tell us — their stories and hopes for the future, and what makes them American.

The Deferred Action Action for Childhood Arrivals program was fought and won by undocumented young leaders like me. I began organizing with the Dreamers movement while still in college and in 2010 co-founded the Arizona Dream Act Coalition, led by undocumented youth.

I graduated with a degree in psychology in 2009, but I wasn’t able to get a job because I didn’t have legal status. DACA changed that. I received my work authorization card in 2012 and went on to get a job as the outreach director for then-Representative Kyrsten Sinema.

Being able to work meant that I could help my family financially. In time, I even bought my mother a house — something I had dreamed of doing since coming to this country as an 11-year-old child. Being protected from deportation also gave me the confidence to be more outspoken and advocate for my mother and millions of others across the country.

But the feeling of safety and certainty I first felt upon getting legal status was short-lived. Those of us who were lucky enough to receive DACA before the Trump administration sought to end it were afraid we had to go back to living completely undocumented and most likely lose our jobs. I also fear the government could use the information it collected from us to target us for deportation.

I have good reason for feeling that way. In 2013, the same day I started my job in Congress, men who identified themselves as the police came to the door of our house. They were really looking for my mom, they said. But my brother, who was also undocumented, was outside fixing his car, and they told me that if I didn’t open the door, they’d take him away.

In the end, the men, who were actually ICE agents, arrested both my brother and my mother. Because of my work in the movement, I knew how to run a deportation defense campaign. I texted Representative Sinema right away to let her know what happened and also reached out to other members of Congress, attorneys and local immigrant rights organizations.

Within hours I was able to rally enough support to get my mom pulled off a bus destined for Mexico. She was dropped off at the local ICE detention center in Phoenix, where my brother was being held, at 9 a.m. the following day. My brother told me that ICE agents had pictures of me and printouts of articles written about me, which led me to think that maybe my family was targeted because of the work I was doing. They were eventually released, and my mom is still fighting her deportation order. The thought that something like this could happen again gives me nightmares.

I think it is important to celebrate a program that was won by young undocumented people and to show young people growing up now the value of organizing. But I also feel very disappointed and frustrated because we thought that eventually something like the Dream Act and broader protection for people like my mother would pass.

Yet, I remain hopeful. A lot of us in the Dreamer movement didn’t know what we were doing when we started organizing. In my school and others across the country, hundreds of young immigrants came out of the shadows. Fear didn’t lead us anywhere; courage and the willingness to share our stories with one another and eventually with the media helped us build a movement that delivered change. Things look hard at the moment, but we must remember that it takes persistence to push people in power to action.

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https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/26/opinion/dreamers-daca-immigration.html?unlocked_article_code=AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACEIPuonUktbfqYhkTlUZBSbSRdkhrxqAwvTVzbU5i2XlaSScQj8HzuEQAoea8lvMYqwlZ8c2237TYu59B4IVZa44yP5DbQsqQhO0o5CAldNaKChu9InqDyZsh8qUGO01oTGvZDmydaIhm-Xi5E7ZbWfpUaPPwDZ2clYe1JhhfF-u3nYOzr6UUbImn4kjgopyQ8xyVjwCZyKVvvb3CBsYON6ObhjU6wVeSPgOEHiI3obas-RcBV0UXVHWT3p_4nI-7sdfOL4UP6X8Lh0ifKnukCBmGgiAwKQPaBAK3muTL5s&referringSource=articleShare