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Ten years ago, when I was 24 years old and received DACA protection, I immediately burst into tears. I recently graduated from Arizona State University with a degree in mechanical engineering, but I wasn’t allowed to have a legal job or even legally live in the United States. Now you have a social security number.It Changed Everything For Me—And More 23,000 young adult immigrants in Arizona.
I moved here from Mexico when I was 6 years old and have lived in Phoenix since graduating from Carl Hayden High School and never really felt safe. This was especially true in the months leading up to DACA. Joseph Arpaio, then sheriff of Maricopa County, was involved in the anti-immigrant movement. He feared he would be deported for just driving back and forth to the construction site. DACA allowed me to move forward without fear. I was able to find my vocation and a place in the community.
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But that security didn’t last long. In 2017, the Trump administration tried to shut down DACA, claiming it was illegal. Today the program is suspended, long legal battle.
Nevertheless, Congress has the power to eliminate the need for DACA entirely. Last month, Senators Dick Durbin (Democrat-Illinois) and Lindsey Graham (Republican-South Carolina) dream act Secure access to residency and citizenship for the two million immigrants who came here as children. DACA was never envisioned to become a status quo. It was a stopgap measure to enable hundreds of thousands of young people to participate in American life. Now the new Congress needs to show real leadership and make Dreamer’s protection permanent by creating an efficient process for longtime immigrants like me to officially call Arizona my home. there is.
Our state and city leaders understand the importance of fully integrating Dreamers into society. pollLast fall, Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego and Tucson Mayor Regina Romero Join 70 Mayors Across the country, we are asking Congress to codify protections for Dreamers. But it’s not just a symbolic act. It makes no economic sense to exclude residents who grew up in the American school system. The end of DACA is 22,000 jobs Lost every month for two years across the country.Arizona needs industry contributions that include: health care, education
I was fortunate to attend college on a private scholarship before Arizona voters passed Proposition 308. I studied engineering and felt a strong desire to help young people. She joined Teach for America in 2014 and taught her high school students in Avondale for two years. Currently, I work for a non-profit, non-profit organization helping illegal students get an education. I do this in honor of my beloved elementary school teacher who raised and supported me when I arrived in America as a student who was scared and didn’t know English.
I have lived in Arizona for 27 years. I graduated from Arizona school, helped teach Arizona youth, and paid Arizona taxes. I’m honored to have attended “the first his DACA class” almost ten years ago, but I’m dejected to renew my legal status every two years. If a court permanently overturns her DACA, that’s no longer an option. Like many of his DACA patients, I am approaching middle age. No longer his teen or young adult. At this point in my life and career, I can’t imagine being relegated to the shadows. I crave real security. I want to vote and put down roots as a homeowner with my fiancée.
DACA was great, but now we all deserve the real thing.
