Border ‘ DREAMers’
Caught in middle of immigration debate
SAN JUAN, Texas – Abraham Diaz would like nothing more than to see protection from deportation for undocumented immigrants such as himself whowere brought to the USA at a young age.
He also deplores the idea of a border wall slicing through his community and fears for his parents, also undocumented and living in this small border city.
“It’s tough,” said Diaz, 24, who came to San Juan with his parents and two siblings from Monterrey, Mexico, when he was 8 years old. “I want to say yes to getting more protection. But I can’t. A wall would ruin this community.”
Diaz and thousands of other undocumented young people living on the border are stuck in the uncomfortable middle of a heated national immigration debate. As “DREAMers,” or children brought to the USA illegally by their parents, they would like a clear path to citizenship or better protection from deportation.
President Trump revealed an immigration plan that offers a path to citizenship for DREAMers, but only if Congress agrees to contribute $ 25
billion for a border wall, which would be erected near Diaz’s home. “Even if there’s a deal, we don’t want a wall,” Diaz said.
Last month, the government briefly shut down when Senate Democrats voted against a shortterm spending bill because it didn’t include protection for DREAMers. About one in five of the 3.6 million DREAMers in the USA live along the 2,000- mile U. S.- Mexican border, according to the Southern Border Communities Coalition.
Trump’s plan would end the diversity visa lottery and drastically narrow family- based immigration. The president has given Congress until March 5 to comeup with a solution.
Last week, White House chief of staff John Kelly said immigrants who hadn’t applied for protection under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals ( DACA) policy were “too afraid” or “too lazy.”
The immigration debate has stirred anxiety in this stretch of the Rio Grande Valley, said John- Michael Torres of La Unión del Pueblo Entero, or LUPE, an immigrant rights group. In Trump’s first year, the area around San Juan has seen a rise in Border Patrol activity and deportations, Torres said.
Though many here would like to see a path to citizenship or more protection from deportation, the thought of a wall is unpalatable, Torres said. The money would be better spent on things the border needs, such as better roads and schools or a veterans hospital, he said.
Any immigration deal would need a strong enforcement element attached to it, just as it would require some form of amnesty for DREAMers, said Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies for the Center for Immigration Studies, which favors stricter border enforcement.
“It’s not ideal, but if anything is going to get done, this seems like the best chance for it,” Vaughan said.