Border Dreamer Shares Why She is Joining the Border Week of Action
Immigrant youth refuse to be bargaining chips in exchange for anti-immigrant policies, border walls and border militarization.
This week, people from all over the nation are calling Congress to ask for a clean Dream Act without border militarization. The #BorderWeekofAction is an effort to uplift the reality of border communities and push back against more Border Patrol agents and invasive technology, like lights, cameras, and drones that intrude on the lives of border residents.
Nelly is an immigrant youth from the Rio Grande Valley who is at risk of losing DACA and protection from deportation unless Congress acts to protect immigrant youth by the end of the year. Here she shares why she is joining the Border Week of Action to push for a clean Dream Act.
Through the DACA program, I was able to land a job as a pharmacy technician, which helps me to provide for my two year old daughter and I.
Through the DACA program, I was able to land a job as a pharmacy technician, which helps me to provide for my two year old daughter and I.My life before DACA was wondering what was going to happen to my parents, two older sisters, and I, if somebody found out that we were undocumented. Who was going to take care of my younger siblings, who are US citizens, especially my little sister, who has down syndrome? At times, I would even wonder if I would even be able to finish high school or even be able to get accepted into college.
But all of that changed with former President Obama when he announced the DACA program in 2012. Since, 2012, I was able to get into the DACA program, which has allowed me to further my education, by not only graduating high school, but also by getting accepted and attended UTSA to obtain my license into becoming a pharmacist.
Through the DACA program, I was able to land a job as a pharmacy technician, which helps me to provide for my two year old daughter and I.
Take action for Nelly and border immigrant youth. Call Congress and demand a clean Dream Act before the end of the year: 888-369-9935
Right when I felt things were starting to fall into place, the Trump administration decided to terminate the program. Now, on top of the anxiety of being a new parent, now I’m having to face a reality where I am going to possibly face deportation, by the end of October of next year, (2018) to a country I have no knowledge of, and have my daughter ripped away from me by the government.
We are also people, too, and we aren’t going anywhere without a fight.
Trump’s administration threatens many dreamers, like myself, by taking away DACA, which allows us to obtain a great education, jobs to contribute to our communities and to society, but going to another extreme to dehumanize us, by building a wall to throw us over and keep us from having the right to live the American dream.
It’s so important for Congress to pass a clean DREAM Act so other Dreamers not only can live without fear of being deported and being separated from their families, but also to have opportunities, like I have, and even the new opportunity to become citizens of the United States.
We, as Dreamers can’t give up and must continue sharing our stories with our communities, and let our voices be heard, and let the people know we are also people, too, and we aren’t going anywhere without a fight.
