Racial Inequality in the Justice System
She clutches the blue straps of her backpack as her short legs trudge behind the adults. Her sneakers dig into the hot desert sand with each step. Her face pinkens under the beating of the sun. The towering shadow of a father carrying his son on his shoulders provides her a temporary relief of the heat. Only ten meters until she and the others will arrive in Arizona. She makes it to the brownstone where her parents, aunts, and cousins all live in a crammed apartment. Brooklyn is nothing like the farms of Ecuador where she would help take care of the cows and chickens. Her parents look older, with dark circles under their eyes after working three jobs for years and only sleeping four hours if they were lucky. They look different from the pictures that her aunt had shown her.
"President Trump and his supporters have called DACA recipients “criminals” and think that they are costing them tax dollars."
School has already started and she immediately starts first grade. She can’t even say “hello” in a language that is not her own; a language of a nation she doesn’t know. Her classmates push her down the stairs and pull her braids. They laugh because they know that she laughs too, not knowing that they’re laughing at her.
Yet, somehow amidst all this bullying, she manages to become valedictorian, go to college, and graduate with honors. She is more American than anyone. She goes to football games with her friends in college, lives in NYC, and is well educated in finance. She spent the major part of her life here and barely remembers Ecuador. She became a financial analyst for a Fortune 500 company in NYC and pays thousands of dollars in taxes each year. She’s a homeowner and is married to an American. Her sister goes to the top boarding school in the nation because of her help and support. Her parents feel accomplished because it was all worth it thanks to her success.
Who is she? She is my sister. She is a DREAMer. She is one of the 800,000 immigrants under the DACA or the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program. This is her story but there are hundreds of thousands of other stories just like hers. Thanks to the Obama administration, DACA was issued in 2012. This gave work permits and social security cards to people like her that came before they were 16, are younger than 31, have lived here since 2007, and are or have pursued secondary school. DACA allows DREAMers to have a temporary relief of deportation. It also enables people like my sister to get a license and work legally.
President Trump and his supporters have called DACA recipients “criminals” and think that they are costing them tax dollars. As a DREAMer, you can’t have a criminal record to qualify and you must go through a process of biometrics every two years. If during one of these appointments a crime shows up on your record, you will be deported. In regards to tax dollars, DACA recipients are actually contributing $11.64 billion in state and local taxes each year, according to Unidos US. Not only are DREAMers good
for the economy but they are also incredible, bright, and hard working. The only difference between them and an “American” are papers. We all have a DREAMer that we’re close to whether it’s our teacher, friend, doctor, lawyer, or our relative. Like my sister, they grew up alongside citizens and have known this country as their own for almost all of their lives. Most DREAMers don’t remember their parents’ country and being deported there would not only be inhumane but illogical.
Trump took away DACA and placed the lives of 800,000 people on hold because of it. No new applicants will be considered and the current people covered will only get to renew it once more, before March 2018. In 6 months, the program will be dead. Without a work permit and license, DREAMers will not be able to drive or work legally in a country that is and has been their home for years. Yet, there is also an impending problem of being deported to a country that is unknown, with a different language and lifestyle.
In a nation built by immigrants, Americans should push together for a permanent legal solution for DREAMers. We should push for a clean immigration bill that will not compromise other undocumented people like the parents of DREAMers. A clean immigration bill will make sure that there isn’t an increase of deportation and ICE agents targeting communities of people of color. All that DREAMers have been asking for is a line to stand in for a pathway to becoming legal in this country. We cannot let discrimination and stereotypes rooted in hate determine what happens to DREAMers. We cannot let them be deported simply because they don’t have papers. They are American at heart and deserve a line to stand in at the very least. There are currently 3 bills on the table that are being considered in Congress. Yet, the best one for everyone is the Dream Act which will require bipartisan support and backing by Trump. DREAMers are part of this country and papers should not decide their fate. We should all do our part to push for a permanent legal solution for Americans at heart, DREAMers like my sister.