By: Gabrielle Martinez and Melisa Rodriguez
(Disclaimer: all names included in this article are nicknames to protect the identity of the students and their family)
Sixteen-year-old Kat is the Vice President of one of the club’s at Murrow , an active member in her community and who hopes to pursue a career in forensics. While she keeps a warm and friendly smile, she cannot conceal her fear when she found out her opportunity to stay in the United States is in jeopardy.
Kat is a Dreamer. One of the more than 800,000 young immigrants who’s legal residency is protected by the program.
“After I heard about the news, I was so scared…I was in shock,” said Kat, who came to America when she was 11.
The program, which is known as the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or DACA, is quite controversial. After President Donald Trump announced that he will end the program in March if Congress doesn’t come up with an agreeable solution, it has left these Dreamers – some of them at Murrow – wondering how it will affect them and if they are going to have to return with their families back to their native country.
Junior Darla’s sister and cousin are Dreamers and can’t help but think how unfair it is for them.
“My sister graduated from high school and got her diploma and my cousin got her GED,” the 16 year old said. “They finished their studies and weren’t lazy and are working and pay their taxes. DACA is a fair system, it gives so many great opportunities to immigrants because they didn’t have that kind of support in their country.”
It was 5 years ago when President Barack Obama signed the DACA program into law. DACA allows undocumented immigrants to obtain temporary citizenship in the United States and continue their studies in college.
The DACA act was made for applicants that have continuously lived in the U.S since June 15, 2007, and that they had arrived in the U.S. before the age of 16. There are roughly 42,000 Dreamers living in New York State.
For now Steph’s cousins are protected under DACA. She said one of her cousins works as a hairdresser and the other is working on getting her GED while waitressing. If there was a message she would give President Trump it would be that her cousins work hard and all they are looking for is a fair chance.
“My cousins came here eight years ago and they have been working and studying to get where they are today,” said Steph. “I would tell them that these people are as American as any other citizen because they grew up in this country like any other kid since they were brought at a young age and they are in fact getting jobs legally.”
Steph also warned that deporting Dreamers is bad policy.
“Many of the people that are protected under DACA work,” she said. “If they no longer have the ability to do so the economy will go down and their families would not be able to survive.”
As for Kat, she said she is not going to sit quietly in the shadows. She has been to a number of protests with her mother to raise awareness against deportation.
“In the future I would like to see changes, and more support programs for immigrant students,” said Kat. “They deserve all the support…I want to see them have more opportunities.” Kat wants to see political and societal changes for immigrant students that deserve the opportunity to have their dreams come true. Kat remains faithful and urges that unification is key, “It’s possible if we all come together and help one another.”
The Murrow Network 