DACA stands for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. According to US Citizenship and Immigration Services, in order to qualify for this program, aside from being above 15 years of age, an immigrant child must met the following criteria:
- Were under the age of 31 as of June 15, 2012;
- Came to the United States before reaching your 16th birthday;
- Have continuously resided in the United States since June 15, 2007, up to the present time;
- Were physically present in the United States on June 15, 2012, and at the time of making your request for consideration of deferred action with USCIS;
- Had no lawful status on June 15, 2012;
- Are currently in school, have graduated or obtained a certificate of completion from high school, have obtained a general education development (GED) certificate, or are an honorably discharged veteran of the Coast Guard or Armed Forces of the United States; and
- Have not been convicted of a felony, significant misdemeanor, or three or more other misdemeanors, and do not otherwise pose a threat to national security or public safety.
Under strict requirements, DACA recipients are able to continue live in the US to work, get an education, and serve in the US military. However, with the program being taken away, the progress these people have made is being threatened because they may have no way to stay in the country.
For those that do not know anyone being affected by this governmental change, it's easy to say someone who is not a permanent citizen needs to leave the country. But do they really understand who the DACA people are?
The thing is, DACA recipients are the people you would never suspect. They are children who have grown up in the United States, some brought over as a baby. Often times they only know one language--American English.
They have grown up in America's education system, learning about checks and balances, and a Constitution that allows for freedoms they would not otherwise be able to have if they had grown up elsewhere. They have received college educations, never once taking for granted what has been given to them. They have served in the American military, proud to represent such a respectable nation.
You would not have thought twice about them singing in your child's choir 10 years ago, or about them waiting on you every week when you dined out, while they paid for college just as your children had to do. Unless you personally spoke to someone about being part of the program, you wouldn't even know who was part of DACA.
But all of a sudden, because the they were not able to gain documentation given situations out of their control, they are the bad guys. To support doing away with DACA is to turn against your neighbors, your friends and important components of the community.
Why haven't DACA recipients become citizens already, if they have been here long enough to grow into adults? It turns out citizenship is not that easy. According to Business Insider, getting a green card has been an issue for a lot of people because they were here by a US citizen family member or sponsorship. Using facts from the US Citizen and Immigration Services, they created a handy flow chart that highlights the various criteria one must meet to earn a citizenship.
It's not easy to become a US citizen. But for the Dreamers, the US is all they can remember, so of course they're going to try to defend their privileges until they can legally obtain citizenship.
So, before you form an opinion on DACA, it is important to understand who they are. They aren't the people that you fear are going to destroy the country. They are the open minded. They are the hard working. They are the educated. They are the loyal ones. They are just trying to get the same chance that any American's ancestors had when they first came to the country.
