“She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted.”
This quote has become a well known one for many people. Standing up for what we believe, what we know to be right, and what we’d like people to hear is important isn’t is? We do it everyday. We generally know the consequences of our actions, we can be explained something over and over again but we still continue to move forward. Striving everyday for change, for our goals, for our dreams; sometimes even away from the crowd resulting in us standing either all alone or only with a small group of people. This can feel so lonely, so shameful, and leave the person who feels they’re doing the right thing feeling guilty. There are many times in my life that I can say that this has been a feeling that has shaken me to my core. It has made me feel that my beliefs, my goals, my dreams, my ideology was utterly wrong. That feeling is unexplainable. You question everything you know, you isolate yourself, you lose a sense of yourself and your identity.
There are many situations that currently have me feeling many different ways. We as people have come so divided that being able to be your true self is so rare. It’s almost shameful to be yourself if you do not fit in with the crowd or the current ideology of the time, or even the ideology of the people in your surroundings. Immigration has been a huge topic as of late. This idea that these people are less than people who are American citizens is one that I will never understand.
I met a man 4 years ago. A man who changed my life, majority of it for the better. I learned so much, I gained a beautiful son, and I became much more humbled. This man came from so little and had built so much. He had been brought to American when he was not much younger than my oldest child. I look at my daughter and can’t imagine the fright a child that age must feel coming to a new country. New people, new culture, new language, new everything. Nothing resembles the place that you’ve known since birth and on top of that you cannot be you. You cannot let anyone know the biggest secret of your life. You already are less than others. You are not a citizen, you do not have any opportunities, you do not exisit, you are treated poorly based only off of the color of your skin and the ideology that because you are Hispanic you must be illegal, and because you must be illegal you must be a murder, rapist, or other criminally offending individual. Not to mention it’s probably assumed that you don’t pay taxes, you live off the government, and you steal all of the employment opportunities.
When I met this man I had a 5 year old daughter, I was living on my own, nice car, had just graduated college with double bachelors, and was working a job that paid really well. I remember sitting with my head in his lap, him looking at me, and telling me that I was too good for him. When I had asked why it boiled down to the fact that I was an American Citizen. The amount of opportunities and things that I could accomplish was fair more than the ones that this man had. He would struggle his whole life to maintain a visa so that he could work. He would struggle to purchase a house, a car, and even go to school. Things that I never dreamed of not being able to do he was unable. He lived in fear everyday that he would be sent back to a country that he didn’t even know. That he didn’t even remember. I was better than him because I was privileged. Things that I took for granted, things that were just “expected” to happen as I got older wasn’t even something within arms length for him. He was thankful for what he had and worked harder than anyone I had ever met to achieve the things he had.
In 2012 Obama came out with an executive order referred to as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). This executive order allowed people who were brought to the United States while they were under the age of 16 and before 2007 to apply and possibly receive a visa that would allow them to work, have a social security number, go to school, and be protected from deportation. To receive this visa the individual must pass a background check, pay a fee, and register with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. The people who qualified for this visa were children who, while they were brought to the United States unlawfully were not brought here on their own accord and President Obama felt that these children deserved opportunities, and not punishment for a decision they had no choice in. DACA has helped over 800,000 people work, study, and contribute to the society of the United States. They have helped our economy and bring many beneficial things to our society. These visas must be renewed every two years and undergo the same process ie, background checks, pay the fee, and register each time.
The misconception is that these people don’t pay taxes, steal jobs, commit crimes, and live off of the government (or American citizens tax dollars). While I cannot speak for every single DACA recipient I can speak about the ones I know and the undocumented individuals I know. All of them pay taxes each year, just as I do. They generally pay in more money than many other people. DACA is not covered by any tax payers. The fee’s pay for all of the immigrantion services that are offered in the United States. These individual are hard workers and generally work for less money than American citizens would. Americans have gained this sense of entitlement while these individuals are hard working and deserve everything they have.
​I am fairly certain that the Obama administrations intentions were not to allow people to be rewarded for breaking the “rule of law” but rather to allow these young “DREAMers” who arrived in the United States without authorization but by no fault of their own to work, attended school, and received protection from deportation as long as they continued to pass a background check, not partake in criminal activity, and register with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
By canceling DACA and taking away these opportunity from DREAMers we’re not only negatively effecting DREAMer’s themselves but many also American’s and the economy. Our country was build by immigrants. It has been a place where a large iconic symbol, the Statue of Liberty, is an icon of freedom and of the United States, and was a welcoming sight to immigrants arriving from abroad since 1886. Engraved with the quote “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore.” As we become so insistent on removing illegal immigrants I begin to wonder what the symbol of the Statue of Liberty will become.
In the United States we have prided ourself on being caring, giving, and helping individuals but punishing individuals who did not come here on their own accord and know no other country does not seem in the least bit sympathetic. The United States has always been considered a melting pot, which has been seen as a positive thing. We are accepting of everyone and their different nationalities and learn so much through them about different cultures helping us as people to grow and evolve. These are individuals who are hard working and taking their jobs from them because of a bill that was past through an executive edict or an executive overreach seems like punishment to them because of a decision of a previous president. These individual have built families, bought houses, cars, and have children. Losing DACA and their right to work can jeopardize all of these things for them not to mention if they get sent back to their county of origin, who knows what will happen to them. It can also result in the remaining family they leave behind being unable to financial support themselves on one income and needing to rely on state support therefore costing more money in these areas. DACA recipients who lose the current opportunities they have will have an economical impact on all of us in the United States. We will also lose many great people with many great qualities, great potential, and who bring great insight to America.
The other question often asked is why don’t these people get their citizenship but what most people don’t understand is that obtaining citizenship is a long and expensive process that many can’t afford. While I agree that a solution needs be decided by congress, I’d like to remind you that while DACA wasn’t ideal in the way it was rolled out the removal of it isn’t ideal either for many people. Supporting and passing the Dream Act of 2017 which allows DACA recipients a pathway to citizenship and helps keep these individuals working and with their families should be the ultimate goal. The grass isn’t always greener on the other side of DACA.
