Trump’s immigration crackdown clouds future of DACA, Dreamers

President Donald Trump signed multiple executive orders related to immigration on his first day in office. His swift action sent waves of fear throughout immigrant communities across the country, including here in Wyoming. Exacerbating that fear is uncertainty about just how far Trump will take his crackdown on unauthorized immigrants.

As a Wyoming educator, I’m particularly worried about what will happen to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Commonly known as DACA, the program allows undocumented young people brought to the U.S. as children to legally remain and work in the U.S. 

These children, who arrive in a new land without a voice in the migration decision-making process, are often referred to as “Dreamers” because their resilience and hope for a better future embody the spirit of the American Dream. I’ve seen firsthand the positive impact Dreamers have on their families and communities here in Wyoming.

Since President Barack Obama created the program in 2012, it’s faced multiple legal challenges, but for now, it remains intact. Because it was created by executive action and not legislation, it can be revoked by another executive action. It must remain in effect and should become a permanent conduit to citizenship.

As Trump’s rhetoric about the mass deportation of millions of undocumented immigrants continues to escalate, I’m particularly worried about Dreamers because government officials collected their personal information when these young immigrants applied for DACA years ago.

There are approximately 800,000 Dreamers in the U.S. Some 500 live in Wyoming. On any given day in Wyoming, we may interact with Dreamers at academic institutions, businesses, stores, hospitals, schools, government offices, parks, construction sites, churches or gyms. DACA recipients are students, craftsmen, nurses and professionals. They are a vigorous part of our society in Wyoming and our country.

I emigrated from Mexico City as an adult in the late 1990s. My first home in my host country was Cheyenne, where I met immigrant families with recently arrived minors who were potentially eligible for DACA status. In 2017, raids authorized by the Department of Homeland Security were happening in Cheyenne. Over several weekends, the American Civil Liberties Union, in conjunction with my church, organized the completion of the necessary documentation to assist in the disposition of their minor children in case their parents were seized during a raid. I volunteered to interpret for the people who needed help completing the forms in English.

Many of the parents were desperate, trying to find an adult who, in the event of their deportation, could take care of their children. Anxious children cried about the possibility of losing their parents. I don’t know how many people were deported from Cheyenne. Seven years later, some of these children have lived most of their lives in the United States, attending American schools and speaking perfect English. Many still live with the American dream of equal opportunity for everyone.

The United States has not ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which ensures the rights and protection of children. Thus, in 2019, after being separated from their parents at the border, minors were held in cages commonly called “iceboxes” or “dog kennels” at private detention facilities. That may soon be repeated. The challenges these children face are daunting. They live in a perpetual state of fear and anxiety.

Many migrant children, accompanied and unaccompanied, have become part of U.S. society. They adapt and thrive. Despite the political rhetoric leading people to believe the opposite, they significantly contribute to and strengthen their local communities and their new country.

Recent surveys indicate support for immigrant youth is growing. It is clear the American public values compassion, equity and the belief that everyone deserves a chance to succeed. Despite hateful discourse against immigrants, Dreamers are determined to succeed and live the American dream. They deserve a permanent place to live and all the rights of U.S. citizens. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals must continue and become a pathway to citizenship.