Immigration relief from Obama to OC
New process for handling deportation cases is step in right direction, says DREAM Act activist
ocregister.com
Published: Aug. 22, 2011 Updated: 4:34 p.m.
By YVETTE CABRERA
COLUMNIST

For years, Adrian, 24, lived in fear of revealing his secret.

He was – and is — an undocumented immigrant.

That he was only 3 years old when his mother brought him to the United States illegally from Mexico, and that the only life he's ever known is an American one, made little difference. Same for the fact that the only dreams he's every worked toward have been quintessentially American – to study, go to college, work hard and make a difference in his community.

If his immigration status became known to immigration officials there was a strong chance he'd be deported, just like his parents, Juan Manuel and Martha Morales, who were deported in 2008.

But a few years ago, Adrian decided to set aside his fears and go public with his immigration story.

He wanted to be a voice for students like himself — young, undocumented immigrants living in the shadows. He wanted to advocate for state and federal legislation such as the DREAM Act, which would give undocumented students a pathway to legalization.

"I did feel that I had to be careful with what I was doing every day of my life," says Adrian, a college junior. "But after my parent's deportation it did change, where I was losing the fear of being deported only because I felt that need, the energy to make a change and make a difference."

It was a risk. Every rally he attended, every speech he gave, brought with it the possibility that he would be taken from his home country and sent to a place he last lived as a toddler.

Now, Adrian is getting relief on two fronts.

Last week, the Obama administration announced that the Department of Homeland Security has established a new process for handling deportation cases.

The new guidelines aren't a free pass. While they call for scrutiny of undocumented immigrants who commit crimes or are considered a threat to security, they also give prosecutors the authority to take into account certain factors – the circumstances by which the immigrant came to this country, their pursuit of education, their lack of a criminal record.

Some have claimed this move is de facto amnesty, or that it is a lawless act. It's neither.

"This is just an administrative action saying, 'Look, we have all of these cases and we are instructing you to deal with those cases in a particular way, within the laws that we have,'" says immigration law expert Marisa Cianciarulo, an associate professor of law at Chapman University in Orange.

Cianciarulo points out that this new procedure does not grant legal residency, it only halts the deportation of those individuals who qualify.

"Only a change in law can give them the basis to change their legal status and that does not exist," says Cianciarulo.

For Adrian, who for now isn't involved in any deportation process, the decision is a step in the right direction, and it relieves his fears of being taken in by immigration officials.

But the larger issue, he says, is whether Congress and California's state legislature can take the next step to reform immigration laws to bring the country's estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants out of the shadows.

"Whether it's passing the federal DREAM Act, or comprehensive immigration reform, we're not even half way there," he says.

Living the life of an undocumented student has been a struggle for Adrian, who is helping his older brother to raise their two younger brothers, 12 and 16. Their parents now reside in the border city of Tecate and hope to one day return to Orange County legally.

Often, the financial stress of paying the bills and the occasional extras — such as brother Rodrigo's high school senior photos — leaves Adrian with little for his own dreams. In the past, he's relied on scholarships to pay for school, which currently runs him about $3,000 a semester. But he was facing the prospect of leaving school for the fall semester due to lack of money.

That, too, is changing.

Earlier this year Adrian's life was profiled on a segment of KCET's "SoCal Connected." The piece talked about his status and his situation as a de facto co-parent for his younger siblings.

After it aired, in March, an anonymous donor stepped forward offering to pay Adrian's college tuition and related costs for this year. It will allow him to continue his work in deaf studies.

I'm still a little in shock," says Adrian, who recently received confirmation of the donation. "If I could I'd thank this individual with all my heart."

The donation will allow him to move closer to school, eliminating a long commute. Without the financial stress, Adrian hopes to improve his grades and stay on goal to graduate in 2013.

Students like Adrian deserve help like this. He had no say in the decision to come to United States. All he wants now is a chance to carve out his own path and chase his own dreams, just like any other American.

Setting aside his fears of deportation has been part of the process of realizing he's part of a larger community, and that means having compassion for those still too fearful to speak out.

"If (my deportation) were to happen," says Adrian. "I know it's going to happen based on something good, that I was doing something positive."

Contact the writer: 714-796-3649 or ycabrera@ocregister.com, or twitter.com/ycabreraocr

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