Campaign Action
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients are bravely sharing what will happen to them, their families, and their lives if they lose their DACA protections. J.J., a DACA recipient and undocumented mom of a 5-year-old U.S. citizen, has lived in the U.S. since the age of seven. She has built her entire home and family here, but without a DREAM Act, she could lose everything once her protections expire. Her family is already struggling as they deal with the fact that they may soon lose the family’s matriarch to Donald Trump’s immoral mass deportation force:
Now, my family faces greater uncertainty than ever. My mother, who still lives in Georgia, 17 years later, was recently in a car accident. Despite the other driver being at fault, she was arrested for not being able to provide a driver’s license and now faces deportation proceedings. So my son and I recently took a trip to see my family and to also say goodbye to my mom. As painful as it was, it hurt so much more because it may also be the last time my son will get to see his “Abita,” the name he calls her. I couldn’t bring myself to tell him the truth, only that his Abita was going to go away for a little bit. I don’t want my son to ever feel the same way that I feel now if I were ever to be in her situation. My dad has tried to remain strong and still go to work every day, but I know that he is hurting. They had recently purchased their home, had their cars payed for and all of that is nothing but a memory at the snap of a finger. During our visit, she asked me if I was happy in my new relationship, if I am going to move back, and what will I do if DACA is ended and nothing else comes in its place. I tried to stay calm and answer her questions, but I just wanted to wake up from this horrible nightmare. My mom has tried to remain positive, but I have never seen her eyes filled with so much despair and pain, only being able to talk to us through a glass window. Coming back home to California, I felt like a big piece of my heart stayed in the cell with her.
“I’m now left wondering what will happen to my family in more ways than one,” J.J. continues. “My son just turned five and started kindergarten, I am in a two-year relationship with a man who I love and who has helped me through so many of these obstacles, and yet, when my DACA status expires, I could lose it all.”
There’s no doubt that ending protections like DACA stand to have severe economic effects—research has shown that if DACA had been kept in place, recipients would have gone on to contribute $460.3 billion to the U.S. gross domestic product over the next decade. But what gets lost too often are the emotional costs of ending DACA.
According to a Rice University study of undocumented immigrant youth, “more than 90 percent of all respondents cited the loss of their home, social status, family, and symbolic self as reasons for mental health distress.” It even led to a plea from the American Psychological Association to the Trump administration to continue the program:
“As psychologists, we are committed to policies that keep families together,” said APA President Antonio E. Puente, PhD. “Psychological research shows that the combined experiences of exposure to violence and displacement from home countries at an early age can have long-lasting negative consequences for cognitive, emotional, social and physical development. We do not believe that it is safe or ethical to send young immigrants back to dangerous conditions that they or their parents fled.”
APA has a longstanding commitment to support immigrant children and families. It issued a Resolution on Immigrant Children, Youth and Families in 1998 recognizing that immigrants to the United States experience unique stresses, prejudice and poverty and can be considered at-risk populations for health, emotional and behavioral problems.
“These young people — many of whom refer to themselves as ‘dreamers’ — have complied with the DACA program's requirements regarding educational attainment and/or military service,” said Puente. “We, in turn, need to keep our commitment to provide a safe haven to them.”
Yes, J.J. has been able to work, drive, and provide for her family, but her DACA protections are so much more than just permits and pieces of paper form the federal government. Her DACA protections represent her family staying together, her family’s security, her family’s emotional well-being, and her family’s dreams:
DACA has provided more than just jobs and the ability to drive without being worried that I’ll get pulled over – it has given us the freedom and resources to be the best that we can be. My hope is that something else better comes out of the DACA debate, and hopefully soon. I still want to go back to school to become a teacher. I don’t want to fear for my safety and future, or for my son’s. While our families may have come to the U.S. in pursuit of economic opportunity, I don’t want it to be forgotten that our lives are much more than that.
As Laurene Powell wrote last year, "immigrants, with their hopes and energies, should be seen not as threats but as blessings." That any person would leave everything familiar behind in their home country to aspire to reach the American Dream should also not be seen as a threat, but as a blessing.
J.J., DACA recipients, and their families deserve a chance to stay here to continue living their lives and thriving. If we believe in the American Dream, we should also believe in giving them that chance. Make a call today to your member of Congress and demand a clean DREAM Act now, for J.J. and all the American Dreamers.