Who are the people of DACA and immigration? Well, it’s pretty simple. They are people who you work with, pass in the street, and say hi to every morning.
They come from many different backgrounds; some look like you, some don’t.
They speak the same language as you, and some don’t.
They’re studying the same major as you in school, and some aren’t.
They’re wearing the same clothes as you, and some aren’t.
The point is these immigrants are just regular people living ordinary lives just like you. So why does where they come from have to separate them from us. Why should their lack of documentation offend you? Is it affecting your personal day to day life?
The tagline for most people supporting the ban is “they’re taking our jobs,” but how? The DACA recipients are attending the same schools and colleges as us, studying just as hard as us, and applying to the same jobs with the same credentials (maybe even more) as us; in fact, 97% of recipients are attending school or working. They have to work 10 times as hard to get half of what we have, so rather than taking our jobs they are earning these jobs; putting their blood, sweat, and tears into earning what they have.
The real issue here seems to be Americans nationalist egos at work; there are people who feel enraged that an immigrant is able to work a high-class job and they aren’t. It’s as if they don’t like being beat at their own game, but if the difference in someone beating you is the hard work they put in- it seems like a pretty fair game to me. But that’s the issue. All of this isn’t a game or something that should be taken lightly. No one’s life should be valued more than someone else- neither should someone’s citizenship. People who lived here their whole lives will be deported back to a country they’ve never even been to before if DACA is rescinded.
If you are unfamiliar with DACA, it’s a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. Since 2012, this policy protects over 800,000 people who entered this country as minors, some even babies, from being deported; it gives them the protected opportunity to get their citizenship. Rescinding this program takes away future doctors, lawyers, scholars, students, and children from this nation. People who are building or have built a name for themselves. Who was strong enough the fight the adversities placed on them for being undocumented and still succeed? Not just morally is taking DACA away devastating, but economically as well.
This program has risen the wages and revenue stats. Since DACA gives those the opportunity for furthering their education and careers, they are able to get high paying jobs and in return afford costly things; things such as expensive houses and cars and clothes. Consumerism is what fuels this economy, especially high-end consumerism. Without DACA the inverse will happen — around $60 billion in revenue will be lost, GDP will reduce by .4% and annual earnings will decrease. Guess who be left to suffer all of this? Those who have supported the deportation of these people and everyone else. This blatant proof that a country that is divided will never survive.
We must work together, literally, to understand each other's differences, weight the consequences, and recognize the positive impacts that we've gained from DACA. It’s time to stop thinking of immigrants as “aliens,” and, instead, as our neighbors, friends, and co-workers because at the end of the day that’s all they are.
