DACA Recipients Pin Hope on Next President
By Bev Llorente, ABS-CBN North America News Bureau
Posted at 08/05/2015 4:08 PM | Updated as of 08/05/2015 4:16 PM
LAS VEGAS, Nevada – Filipinos in Southern Nevada who are recipients of President Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, are now clinging to what the next president of the United States will do to permanently fix the country’s immigration system.
Three years after President Obama unveiled the DACA program, Pinoy undocumented immigrants in Southern Nevada were among the hundreds of thousands whose lives were changed.
The program allowed them to work and offered relief from deportation.
A Pinoy DACA recipient, who asked not to use his name, came to America in 2003 with a tourist visa. He said that the DACA program was announced just when he thought the American dream was out of reach.
“When I was 16, I couldn’t get a legal job, go to college and doing grants and scholarship,” he said.
He spent most of his childhood in America. But his parents were deported last year along with his sibling who was born in the United States.
“It’s really sad because I feel that it was unfair that I get to stay here. I get to do pretty much everything a normal American can over my parents who really did not do anything wrong,” he said.
He recalled that seeing his parents being deported was heartbreaking.
More than 664,000 undocumented immigrants have received DACA benefits since the program began and 60 percent of recipients found jobs. US Citizenship and Immigration Services said that those recipients account for just a portion of undocumented immigrants who will likely qualify.
“These are Filipino children who came here since they were kids. They are really talented, matatalino. Sayang at nakapanghihinayang kung hindi sila mabibigyan ng pagkakataon. Marami akong kabataan na going through deportation process. Kulang na lang na isyuhan sila ng deportation, pero napahinto pa namin yun,” said Immigration attorney, Vissia Calderon.
Immigration represents the top political issue for the 2016 presidential election. With Nevada being a battleground state, more US presidential candidates are expected to be in town as the presidential bid heats up.
Among the biggest concerns is that the DACA program only offers a temporary sigh of relief with its two-year work permit.
That’s why Nevada leaders are closely and eagerly watching what the next US president can do to solve this immigration concern.
“I think Nevada is the new Iowa. It’s really the stomping grounds for all the candidates to come. Already it’s a melting pot of the new Americans; Americans who now really want to be engaged who want to be part of the political process,” said Nevada community leader Gloria Caoili.