After Paxton Letter, DACA Beneficiaries Say The're Ready For Fight
After Paxton letter, DACA beneficiaries say they’re ready for fight
Mark Wilson
Posted: 4:24 p.m. Friday, June 30, 2017
Highlights
The federal government has approved more than 800,000 initial DACA requests since 2012.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has asked the Trump administration to end the DACA program by Sept. 5.
More than 100,000 initial DACA requests have been approved in Texas.
Yunuen Alvarado struggled to hold back tears as she stood on a sidewalk in front of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office on Friday.
She spoke into a megaphone in front of about 20 activists, describing how she’d been forced to come to the United States by her abusive father when she was 6 years old, and how his eventual deportation led to financial trouble for her and her mother.
When the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program arrived in 2012, she jumped on board.
“When I received DACA I was 15 years old,” she said. “It was a blessing because I had the chance to work.”
The program granted her a temporary reprieve from deportation, and a permit to get a job for the first time.
She’s held several jobs since then, and now works at a labor union and studies journalism at Texas State University.
Alvarado said she became physically ill when she heard about Paxton’s letter on Thursday that called for an end to the program that has given her a lifeline.
“We’ve given so much,” she said. “We’ve sacrificed so much and we’ve suffered so much. It’s not fair. It’s not humane for people like the attorney general to say you don’t deserve this because you’re not human. You don’t deserve this because you weren’t born here.”
Paxton’s letter, signed by the governor of Idaho and nine other state attorneys general, calls on the Trump administration to rescind the program by Sept. 5.
Paxton wrote that the program, like the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents program that was reversed earlier this month, was improperly created without congressional approval.
The Executive Branch does not have the unilateral power to confer lawful presence and work authorization on unlawfully present aliens simply because the Executive chooses not to remove them,” the letter said.
According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, 844,931 initial DACA requests had been approved by June 30, 2016, nationwide, more than 100,000 of which were in Texas. The only state with more DACA recipients was California, which had more than 200,000 initial requests approved.
Adriana Aguirre came to the United States from Mexico with her family when she was a year old.
“I lived in the shadows for a very long time. I was afraid of my status,” she said. “I was afraid of not fitting in.”
She was 15 when DACA was announced in 2012.
“I felt (like) my whole life changed,” she said.
Aguirre is about to begin her third year at the University of Texas, and says that with or without papers, she intends to “fight like hell.”
“I’m still going to be here. I’m still going to fight and I’m still going to organize,” she said. “Yeah, maybe I won’t have a job that pays me the legal minimum wage, but I’ll still work. I’ll still do what I can for my family and my community.”
Alvarado said she feels empowered, even though the future of DACA, and her life in the United States is in question.
“I mean, the government has my information. I have nothing to lose,” she said. “Even if I did, I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t keep fighting. As a DACA beneficiary, I have a privilege that other people don’t, because not everybody qualifies for DACA. I have to use my privilege to help other people.”
What is DACA?
The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program defers deportation for two years but does not grant legal status. Undocumented immigrants must reapply for DACA after each two-year period, and must demonstrate that they meet several criteria to be eligible:
- Under the age of 31 as of June 15, 2012;
- Came to the United States before turning 16;
- Continuously resided in the United States since June 15, 2007;
- Physically present in the United States on June 15, 2012, and at the time of making the DACA request;
- Had no lawful status on June 15, 2012;
- Currently in school, graduated from high school, obtained a GED certificate, or was an honorably discharged military veteran;
- Not convicted of a felony, significant misdemeanor, or three or more other misdemeanors
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