It seems that this year will be the year of truth and education for my blog. I am constantly horrified at that falsehoods that are being promulgated throughout social media and elsewhere. I am further horrified by the grown people that share those lies without taking five minutes to google the facts. If it fits their narrative of life or any such belief about any situation, they share it without regard to the truthfulness of content.
Today I will attempt to dispel the my myth of illegal DREAMers since it has been a centerpoint of the latest government shutdown. I will also attempt to keep my political opinion neutral and only state the facts. I encourage you to set any predisposed political ideology aside and focus on the facts and the humans that are affected.
DACA Defined
DACA stands for Deferred Action for Child Arrivals. These children have been dubbed the DREAMers. DACA is the result of an executive order issued by President Obama June 15, 2012. This order was written to protect the children of illegal immigrants. The protection is in place because children brought to this country illegally were brought through no fault of their own. Many are brought here as toddlers and grow up in the US. In most cases they have never visited their native land and they do not speak the language. They grow up in the same manner as all native citizens. They did not have a choice to be here and to send them to a country foreign to them would be unfair. In fact many DREAMers do not find out that they are undocumented until they apply for a license, attempt to get a job or apply to college.
What Is DACA
DACA is a program that allows undocumented children the ability to drive, work, and go to school without the threat of deportation. How is this done? There are rules when it comes to DACA. Gang members and those less desirable illegal immigrants do not qualify. Contrary to popular belief, DACA is not blanket amnesty for all. The rules are as follows:
- Under 16 when entering the US
- Must have entered before June 15, 2007
- Must have been undocumented before June 15, 2012
- Must be in school, graduated high school, received a GED or discharged from the US Armed Forces
- Must not be a threat to national security or public safety
- Must not have been convicted of any felony or egregious misdemeanor
- Once approved you can work, get a drivers license and buy property
- You must get approved again every two years
- The fee is $465 in year one and every two years it is renewed
Who Are the DREAMers?
Maybe I should start with whom the dreamers are NOT. Recently Judge Jeanine, a Fox News personality, shared this photo.
I just don’t know where to start. There are so many parts of this picture that are wrong. Let us start with the most obvious. These are not DREAMers or at least there is no evidence to support such a claim. Not to mention that a gang member would never get approval under the previously stated DACA mandates. This is actually the mug shots of gang members from the deadliest gang in the world known as MS-13. MS-13 is a gang that has an estimated 19 thousand members in Honduras and El Salvador. There is no evidence that these individuals are even inside the US. Furthermore, This photo also promotes the idea that all DREAMers are Hispanic and that Hispanic males are dangerous. Shame on you Judge Jeanine. You knew that this photo did not represent the facts and yet you shared it anyway so as to promote fear and your own agenda.
Have any DACA recipients ever committed a crime during their 2 year amnesty? I am sure that they have. I would argue that there are priests that have molested children. No person or group is above deviant behavior. I would also argue that they would be subject to deportation upon attempted renewal of their DACA papers. There are white kids from the suburbs arrested daily. DREAMers are raised just like those white kids. They go to the same schools, watch the same TV shows and suffer under peer pressure just like any other citizen. So to say that they are bad people when they make a mistake is wrong. Unless you are willing to label the white kid the same way.
Since Judge Liar…I mean Jeanine…wants to spotlight the negative, allow me introduce you to a few DREAMers.
Lukazs Niec is from Poland. His parents decided to illegally immigrate to the US when he was just a toddler. His parents felt that the political climate was unsafe in Poland and they wanted a better life for Lukazs and his sister. Lukazs is now a medical doctor with a thriving practice in Michigan.
Jin Park is from South Korea. His parents came to the US on a visitors visa when he was seven. Due to the threat of uncertainty from North Korea, they never went back. Since he and his parents overstayed their visa, current immigration law states that people in that situation must leave the U.S. and they are required to stay away for 10 years before they can reapply for a visa to return. Jin didn’t know until high school that his family’s application for permanent residency had been rejected. Since becoming a DACA recipient, Jin has gone on to become a sophomore at Harvard University.
Ainsyla Charlton is from Jamaica. Her parents brought her here as a child because her grandparents, here legally, were ill. Her parents could not wait the years it would take to make it to the US legally due to the health of their family members. After becoming a DACA recipient, she is also a college student with plans to become an immigration attorney.
Here are a few more numbers*:
- 6 is the average age of DREAMers when they arrived in the US
- 26 is the average age now
- 91% are employed
- 100% have no criminal record
I think we can agree that America has gained an advantage from the examples above. I could go on to list many more. Most people come to the United States in order to work hard and contribute to society. I agree that it should be done legally. The issue that seems to get lost in the discussion is that the legal system of obtaining a visa or green card is broken. A complete overhaul is needed. But all talk of a complete change in immigration is void in the discussion of DACA because these kids had no choice. Now that they are here and this is the only life they have ever known, it is incumbent upon us to protect them. Of course this is just my opinion. Dammit, I said I would keep my opinion out of this!
I just want everyone to know that the DACA issue is much bigger than just letting a bunch of illegal criminals stay in this country and deplete our resources, kill our cops, rape our women, steal our cars and eat our cheeseburgers.
When you go to bed tonight I want you to imagine yourself in the shoes of a DREAMer. Imagine that you have lived your entire life in America. You are just like everyone around you. You never asked to be brought here but here is all you know. English is your language. The local Kroger is your grocery store. You love your Dunkin Donut coffee. You worship at your local church. This is your home. You don’t know anything about Africa, Korea or Mexico. You don’t fully understand the native culture or speak the language. Imagine that you’ve been a good person and tried to do right by others. This is not the life you chose but this is the only life you know. Now imagine being deported. Imagine the horror of being in a foreign country that you know very little about. Imagine not being able to communicate. You have no money, no job and no place to live. Imagine that this is your life for decades until you can legally make it back home.
The DACA issue is not blanket amnesty for all illegals. It is amnesty for the innocent children.
I tried and failed to keep my opinion out of this piece. However, I hope that you find yourself more educated on the issue. Share this link if you come across someone spreading lies about DACA.
*numbers based on material produced by the Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy
The Bearded Mad Man 