Campaign Action
Right now 800,000 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients are anxiously waiting to see if the Republican-led Congress will pass bipartisan legislation allowing them to continue their lives and futures here. Those young people include Zion Dirgantara, a reservist cargo specialist in the U.S. Army and one of the estimated 900 DACA recipients currently enlisted and serving the only country they’ve ever known as home:
It has been a hard road to realize my childhood dream of serving my country. In my junior year at South Philadelphia High School, military recruiters came to a job fair and set up tables in our school library. I went straight over and said I wanted to join. But I couldn’t enlist without a Social Security number.
After graduating from high school, I worked restaurant jobs and quickly learned that even if you grow up here, life without documents in the United States is a partial life. You pay taxes and follow the rules, but you may not be able to drive, go to college, or work in a profession. It’s as if you’re in a house, you’re paying rent, but you can’t use the hot water to shower or cook with the oven.
Then, in 2012, the DACA program was created. Suddenly, everything changed. I could get a driver’s license, apply for college, and work. In 2014, the military opened the door to people with DACA, and several years later, I enlisted. I have been living my dream.
But following Donald Trump rescinding the program in September 2017 and his rejection of a bipartisan immigration that gave him everything he asked for because it wasn’t to President Stephen Miller’s fringe liking, Dirgantara’s dream has turned into a nightmare. “I have lived here for more than half of my life,” he said. “I learned and understand the American culture … the idea that everyone is created equal … leaving the United States would leave me heartbroken.”
Despite Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s lie that his chamber has until March—or maybe even beyond—to permanently protect DACA recipients, they are already getting arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). They’ve already been deported. And if Cadet Bone Spurs keeps listening to President Miller instead of the nearly 80 percent of Americans who want Dreamers on a path to citizenship, he’ll also be deporting military members:
Since September, when President Trump ended DACA, I worry about my future every day.
Back when I enlisted, a recruiter told me to memorize “A Soldier’s Creed,” a set of guiding statements for soldiers. I keep a copy of the creed in my wallet and another taped to the wall beside my bed, so it’s the last thing I look at before I go to sleep.
The Soldier’s Creed says: “I will always place the mission first.”
My personal mission is to serve this country in the military. That comes before all else.
“I will never quit.”
I will never stop trying to earn my place in the Army — or defending my rights as a Dreamer who grew up in this country and is prepared to give everything to it.
“I will never leave a fallen comrade.”
These days, I think about this one a lot. I hope and believe our leaders are committed to it too. I believe and hope the American leadership will not abandon people like me. I still believe our leaders will step up and create a way for people with DACA to keep contributing to the United States.
According to The Morning Call, Dirgantara’s DACA status will expire next year. With permanent protections, he’ll lose his work permit, protection from deportation, and will be kicked out of the military. “I would like to tell our Pennsylvania members of Congress: We were not born in this country, but we grew up here and we’re fighting to earn our place,” he continued. “Please give us our chance to serve the only country we consider home. Please find a way to allow us to work and stay right here where we belong.”