I saw this article on Politico. It’s one Dreamer’s story and I think reflects the stories of many. Cesar Virto wrote the article about himself. I’ll hit the high points and provide a few quotes from his article.
Virto came here at the age of 3 with his parents. Grew up in a small town in Alabama. Never learned Spanish. He did not even knew he was undocumented until he tried to take driver’s ed in high school.
I first heard the word “undocumented” when I was 16 years old. I enrolled in driving classes at my school, but I was told I couldn’t get a driving license because I didn’t have the right documents. Until that point, I had no idea I was considered an “undocumented” person in America.
He went to a Bible College with the help of some church members:
Luckily, a white couple from a few doors down began helping me. They introduced me to their church, which I started attending. I worked odd jobs during the day, and researched colleges that accept undocumented immigrants at night. When I expressed my interest in attending a Bible college, members of the church helped me pay for tuition. I started attending the college that fall.
Then DACA came and he was out of the shadows:
I immediately applied for a driver’s license, Social Security number and work permit. I remember taking my first road trip with my valid driver’s license. I went to the beach to visit a friend, and for six hours I cried like a baby because for the first time in my life I wasn’t scared of getting pulled over by the police. Each mile I drove felt like a pound no longer weighing me down.
He graduated and has a full-time job with a Christian book company. With benefits. Got married and bought a home. Also drives for Uber and Lyft on the side.
And then Trump ended DACA.
Even scarier is the prospect of deportation.
I haven’t been to Mexico since I left as a three-year-old, more than 25 years ago. I have no memory of the place, and I’m culturally American—I would feel more like an outsider there than I do here. I have no clue how I would make a living, or where I would go.
His final statement is most touching. He shows more far human decency that the Sessions and Trumps of the world.
But what hurts me the most—more than the alienation, more than the fear—is the sense of betrayal. It pains me that many of the same Christians who supported me as a youth, who helped pay for my college tuition, can turn around and chant, “Build the wall.” People I love post things on Facebook that break my heart. If I were any less grounded in my faith, I honestly would have left the religion.
But I’m glad I didn’t leave, and as a Christian, I am trying to understand the points of view of those Christians who would like to see me deported. Many of them, I know, are struggling in their own lives. I pray that our shared faith will give them compassion for immigrants like me, and I wish that we can love one another as much as I love this country.
This is about right and wrong. Human decency.
We need to pass the 2017 Dream Act.