DACA Repeal: An American Dream Deferred
Originally I intended to write this as part of my “Ahh…Murica” series, which highlights the absurdity of society in the United States. I also considered discussing how, like nearly everything else, the move to repeal the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program was just another example of how the Trump administration isn’t necessarily concerned about making this country great, but more interested in reversing nearly everything the Obama administration has done; however, I decided that the overall message is bigger than stating the obvious.
After receiving a message from a reader encouraging me to continue to use my voice, through writing, to speak up and for others that might not be able to, I remembered that this should be more about supporting Dreamers. This should be about supporting my brothers, sisters and those that I don’t know that could potentially be affected by the repeal.
The DACA policy protects individuals that were illegally brought into the country as minors. It grants these individuals a renewable period of deferred action from deportation as well as provide eligibility for a work permit. Essentially, the program protects those that had no say in coming to the often claimed “Land of the Free”, and have continued to positively contribute to this country in a number of different ways.
Why repeal?
Who truly understands? The action that the Trump administration is prepared to take isn’t necessarily random; in fact, it fits both his and his supporter’s rhetoric. Can we blame him for doing what he said he would do all throughout his campaign? Can we be mad at a savage for being a savage?
From the time he announced that he was running for president until now, he has been extremely consistent in attempting to do what he said he would do, especially when it comes to immigration. He stated that the repeal of the program isn’t to remove all Dreamers, but to remove criminals, security threats, recent border-crossers, visa overstays, and repeat violators. That would be believable if he had never uttered some of the disgusting remarks about illegal immigrants that he had in the past while discussing plans to build a wall in between us and Mexico.
Of course there were the “they are all criminals” talk and plans, before he was in office, to eliminate sanctuary cities; therefore, the repeal isn’t unexpected. It is, however, cruel. There are reports of around 800,000 individuals that take advantage of the program. They trusted the government enough to provide information and detail of their lives. Names, addresses, employers, etc. Dreamers took a chance, and now their well-being could be in danger.
What happens if the government begins to deport more than just the “criminals”, “security threats”, etc.? What happens when it becomes an outstanding example of what a citizen should be that is ripped from their home, car, or place of employment? Are the jobs really going to return to the “good, tax-paying citizens of America”? Probably not. The truth is, Dreamers have continued to work hard for what they have. They weren’t given jobs, homes, and an education; however, they were afforded the opportunity to obtain those dreams without having to continue to hide. They had to work hard for all of those things and more, while living in fear that a Joe Arpaio would come to strip their rights as humans — another reason why I can’t take Trump seriously when he claims this will just affect the “bad hombres”.
The repeal could be detrimental to Dreamers and our country in many ways. Dreamers would be sent to a foreign land, possibly without knowing how to navigate in the society of that country. As for our country, our qualified workforce would drop significantly. We could lose outstanding teachers, workers, and entrepreneurs that were working to provide more jobs to citizens. What would they do? What would we do? Who wins? Not only would we lose a significant piece of what has our country on the road to becoming great for the first time in history, but we also risk retaliation.
We again see history repeating itself. Foreigners of this land are attempting to force out others that just want a piece of the American Dream like them. What would’ve happened if Native Americans were like, “Naw, fam. All you Europeans do is kill, rape, steal, and spread disease. Go home”? What would happen if they had the ability to round up the descendants of those immigrants and force them to head “back” to countries that they have never been to? That is what will eventually — I only “eventually” because a snake will always be a snake — take place here with the repeal of the DACA program.
It’s up to all of us to stand against ill-advised moves and stupidity. Remember the wise words of Emmett Till’s mother, Mamie, “Two months ago I had a nice apartment in Chicago. I had a good job. I had a son. When something happened to the Negroes in the South I said, ‘That’s their business, not mine.’ Now I know how wrong I was. The murder of my son has shown me that what happens to any of us, anywhere in the world, had better be the business of us all.” Stand for something or fall for anything.
More from Kevin L. Cole, Jr. at: https://medium.com/@kevlcole
