Dreamers’ Future in Limbo

By Lilly Quiroz

Saba Nafees emigrated Lahore, Pakistan and came to the U.S. at the age of eleven to purse a better education. Today, she attends Texas Tech University as a doctoral student in mathematical biology. She is a DACA recipient.

On Jan. 25, 2017, in an interview with ABC News, President Trump said, “[Dreamers] shouldn’t be very worried. They are here illegally. They shouldn’t be very worried. I do have a big heart.”

However, people like Texas Tech student Saba Nafees are worried about their future.

On September 5, 2017, the Trump administration announced the DACA program would be rescinded. In a White House press release, President Trump said, “I am not going to just cut DACA off, but rather provide a window of opportunity for Congress to finally act.” Congress now has four months to pass a replacement.

Although the DACA program has ended, all existing work permits will be granted until their date of expiration. It is unknown whether DACA recipients will begin to be deported. According to Politico, the Department of Homeland Security may someday provide deportation agencies access to DACA files that contain personal information.

Nafees has been an outspoken advocate for the DACA program. She said when DACA was first introduced Asian-American parents discouraged their kids from applying for DACA. The parents did not want to trust the government with their children’s information.

“And they were kind of right about this,” Nafees said. “And I’m personally responsible and feel guilty for it because I’ve been on national TV and around the country advocating for DACA….And now it’s taken away, and the government has all the information they could ever have. “

What is DACA?

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals was established by former President Barack Obama in June 2012. The policy allowed qualifying immigrants to request consideration for deferred action to live in the U.S. for a two-year period and also receive employment authorization.

Nafees had just finished her sophomore year at Texas Tech University when DACA was introduced in 2012. Nafees said she is really grateful to the Dreamers that came before her and fought for immigration reform.

Listen to what Nafees has to say about her experience as a DACA student.

Since August 2012 approximately 800,000 immigrants have been enrolled in the DACA program.

The following chart shows the requirements for deferred action consideration:

The government is no longer accepting new DACA applications. The last day to apply for renewal was Oct. 5. CNN reported approximately 118,000 out of about 154,000 people eligible to renew had filed by the deadline.

Who are the Dreamers? 

Before DACA existed, the DREAM Act (Development, Relief, and education for Alien Minors) was first introduced in 2001. This bill would have permitted qualifying immigrants to receive conditional residency for six years, and upon completing one of three requirements, they would be eligible to apply for permanent residency. The bill has been introduced in the House of Representatives and the Senate numerous times, but it has failed to pass each time.

Unlike the DREAM Act, the DACA process would not provide lawful status, lead to permanent residence or citizenship.

Immigrants who are DACA recipients are known as Dreamers. As of September 4, 2017, there are approximately 689,800 active DACA recipients. The majority of recipients (79.4 percent) come from Mexico. DACA recipients also originate from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Peru, Korea, Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, India, Philippines, and several others.
Saba Nafees said the immigration system is broken – and that DACA is a temporary solution.

On July 20, 2017, Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) introduced the bipartisan Dream Act of 2017. 

Dreamers in Texas

There are approximately 124,300 DACA recipients in Texas. It is the second leading state, behind California, with the most DACA recipients.

    According to a Business Insider report, an estimated 350,000 of the country’s nearly 800,000 DACA recipients are currently enrolled in school, most at colleges or universities.

    DACA helps these students attain employment authorization so that they can afford a higher education. DACA students are not eligible for federal financial aid.

    However, five states—California, New Mexico, Minnesota, Texas and Washington—offer state financial aid and scholarships to undocumented students. Texas, along with 19 other states, offers in-state tuition at public universities to undocumented immigrants.

    Nafees said Texas Tech President Lawrence Schovanec’s statement supporting DACA students was a step in the right direction. However, she still has concerns: what local police enforcement will do to put affected students at ease.

    She proposed a hypothetical situation of a crime being committed on campus. She questioned, “Do you really think [DACA students] are going to report even to Texas Tech police without feeling unsafe? No. They’re not going to report. So, that is a legitimate concern for the safety of our students at this university.”

    Nafees said that there are Texas Tech students who have not come forward as DACA students because they do not feel it is safe to do so. However, she does not necessarily believe it is university’s fault, rather the fact that the students are located in West Texas.

    Nafees said she hopes the Dream Act of 2017 will pass.

    “It’s like a band aid to the wounds that undocumented immigrants have had for all of these decades because it doesn’t actually solve the problem,” Nafees said. “So in a way, we should actually be glad that DACA has ended because now people will really open their eyes.”

    About JOUR 4350

    JOUR 4350 is the multiplatform news delivery class, which is the capstone class for journalism majors within the College of Media & Communication.