Since President Trump ended the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals last September, many students in the program have been left wondering if they can remain in the U.S.
“I honestly don’t feel safe anymore,” psychology major Zuriel Godinez said. The 21-year-old remembers how he felt when the president ended DACA. “I know no one can take away the education that I receive here, but still knowing that I could be deported at anytime Trump decides makes me nervous,” he said.
DACA was introduced by President Barack Obama in 2012. It shields those who were brought to the U.S. as minors from deportation and allows them to work legally.
Now DACA is up for debate–and one of the causes of the recent government shutdowns. Democrats in Congress want a “clean” bill reauthorizing the program that doesn’t come with any strings attached. Republicans say that the left’s focus on Dreamers, comes at the expense of legal immigrants and citizens.
The U.S. Representative for Illinois’s 4th congressional district, Luis Gutierrez, said in a statement after Trump’s State of Union Speech that it would be unfair to other immigrants as well as the Dreamers to choose between them. He says he will not allow Republicans to force a choice to prioritize one of these two groups.
Trump said he would extend the program if Congress agrees to fund the $18 billion he needs for a border wall, one of his first campaign promises.
DACA students, also known as Dreamers, feel that they are being used as bargaining chips to build the wall as well as more border security.
“I feel used. I’m angry. My hopes of grad school or law school went up in smoke,” junior Jacqueline Herrera said. The psychology major said she hopes for a permanent agreement between the president and Congress. “Higher education was hard enough to achieve even with DACA, but now they felt impossible. I was devastated,” she said.
Herrera said will continue studying until she gets her bachelor’s degree, then hopes to pursue a master’s or law degree.
Lisa Steele, the former assistant dean of Intercultural Development at Lipscomb, has met many students who would be affected if DACA continues to unravel. She encouraged students to stay the course.
“It’s important for students to tell their story, to stand out and say who they are. It is also important to empower them to continue their lives and their studies,” Steele said.
“No matter what happens I am not going to give up, I will finish my degree. If Donald Trump calls Dreamers criminals, then I guess you can call me a criminal with a pen and a paper,” Godinez said.