The Guardian US invited Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients to do one of the many things they do best: share their stories, and in ways that cut to the heart and matter of why passing the DREAM Act—and passing it now—is imperative. The outlet invited four Dreamers to guest-edit “We Are Here To Stay,” a series highlighting the lives of some of the 800,000 DACA recipients who stand to have their lives upended if Congress does not pass the DREAM Act by the end of the month.
“Itzel, Irving, Allyson and Justin live, sleep and feel American,” notes the Guardian, “but they’re now caught in political crossfire. The US grants green cards to foreigners who invest $1m, and yet these young Dreamers—who have built their entire lives here, and are helping build this country too—are now at risk of deportation.” Irving Hernandez, a 23-year-old DACA recipient, is an aerospace engineer and brilliant young mind. Instead, the only country he’s ever known as home could cast him out:
When did you arrive in the US, and where from?
I am from Xaltianguis, Guerrero, Mexico. I arrived in the US in 2000.
Is there anything you’d like our readers to know?
As a border Dreamer, I have experienced first hand the militarization of the border. Praying to see my mom and dad come home has become a daily routine. There are random checkpoints with Customs and Border Protection officers in my neighborhood and all around San Diego.In August 2018 I will lose my DACA status, which means I am vulnerable to making the wrong turn into one of those checkpoints or being at the wrong place during a raid, and I will never make it home. Living through the militarization of the border communities has made me conscious of dangers other, more vulnerable, individuals like my parents would face under harsher enforcement.
Why do you need a Dream Act?
As of May 2017 I graduated from San Diego State University with a BSc in aerospace engineering. I need the Dream Act to continue bettering myself in my career and work in the industry, where a security clearance is often needed (meaning US citizenship is required). I need a pathway for citizenship to financially support my family, to become a better aerospace engineer, to further contribute to this country, to be truly free.
What do you want to say to Donald Trump’s administration, in one line?
Abandon party lines and help us, the children of the United States and immigrants.
“The fight for the Dream Act is reaching its peak,” notes one of the pieces edited by the group of DACA recipients, “but time is running out.” While the Trump administration declared a March 2018 deadline for Congress to act on a DACA fix, it’s an arbitrary one. With 122 DACA recipients losing their protections every day—that number totals over 11,000 since Trump announced the end of DACA back in September—this is an emergency. “Democrats and some Republican lawmakers believe the next two weeks offer the best and perhaps only chance to enact legislation that would grant these young immigrants legal status.”
Justino Mora, a 28-year-old DACA recipient, is a software engineer in Los Angeles and the cofounder of UndocuMedia, a hugely popular Twitter and Instagram account among young Latinos and immigrants that disseminates cultural, political, and humorous information and memes. Mora’s message to members of Congress who are not listening to the vast majorities of American voters who want immigrant youth to stay is clear. “You’re on the wrong side of history, and history will judge you,” he says. “Do the right thing and pass a clean Dream Act”:
Where were you born, when did you come to the US?
I was born in Tlalnepantla, in Mexico. I came to the US at the age of 11 in the summer of 2000.
Why is a Dream Act important to you?
It is is going to determine my future goals, aspirations and dreams, as well as those of about 3.3 million Dream Act-eligible people.
In short, my community cannot be allowed to suffer any longer.
The federal government already has one of the best-funded and largest deportation machines in the history of the country. The Trump administration has increased the number of immigration raids, thus separating entire families. In fact, just today I heard of one of my friend’s grandmother, who received a letter from Ice threatening her with deportation.
According to a Washington Post/ABC News poll in September, 86% of people support allowing undocumented young people to stay in the country. It is not only important to me, but also to the vast majority Americans.
The “We Are Here To Stay” series is available here to read (“the stories range from politics to the environment. Allyson Duarte is responsible for the story about efforts to save butterflies on the border (they are endangered by the wall Trump wants to build”). While not a part of the series, United We Dream co-founder Cristina Jiménez also penned a Newsweek op-ed urging Congress to act on the DREAM Act within the next two weeks, which is the best chance immigrant youth have right now to pass the legislation. “Our lives hang in the balance—that’s the message immigrant youth are delivering to Congress right now”:
Increasingly, we are seen and heard as the new American majority fighting for a better country, and for the bedrock values of freedom, dignity and the pursuit of happiness. We are here to stay. We’ve turned that idea into a national rallying cry in the era of Trump.
And, now, we’re asking the leaders of Congress, point blank: Are you going to take action to protect immigrant youth or will you take action to deport them?
“If legislators pass the Dream Act,” Jiménez continues, “they will join a tradition of leaders who have fought to protect and help fulfill the dreams of immigrants, women, people of color, LGBTQ Americans and others. If legislators choose to deport immigrant youth, they will become part of a tradition of leaders who have opposed protections and rights for immigrants, women, people of color, LGBTQ Americans and others. Either way, we will soon learn where Congress stands.”