‘Dreamer’: A San Jose resident is skeptical of the agreement.
Jose Arias woke up Thursday to reports that President Trump was maybe, just maybe, striking a deal with Democratic leaders to enshrine in law a program that protected hundreds of thousands of immigrants who came to the country as young people.
The 31-year-old San Jose resident was skeptical.
As the morning went on, Trump asked his millions of Twitter followers whether anyone in the country really wanted to “throw out” people who, like Arias, had received protection from deportation and a work permit through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
While the president’s conservative base felt betrayed, Arias did not feel relieved. He wanted to see the details of the reported deal — and a guarantee of a follow-through. Would it lead to permanent residency for him and a green card? Would it even happen?
Arias’ protection is set to expire in January, although he has applied for a two-year renewal under the program known as DACA. He came to the U.S. from Mexico as a child.
“This is a president that has backtracked on his word before,” he said. “I think I can speak for most ‘Dreamers’ — we need to see something more concrete. We’re not going to get excited.”
He noted the past disappointments that occurred before former President Barack Obama implemented DACA in 2012. So many times, he said, it appeared leaders had struck a deal to offer people like him protection and a path to citizenship. Now, with Trump, he said, the uncertainty is magnified, given the president’s history.
“He says one thing and then five minutes later he changes his mind — there’s multiple examples of that,” Arias said.
He couldn’t help but feel as well that Trump was using his group as “leverage” to gain funding for a wall on the Mexican border or support for other parts of what Arias sees as his anti-immigration agenda.
“To me, it’s very untrustworthy,” he said. “It’s frustrating more than anything. We’ve been playing by the rules since we lived here.”
Thanks to DACA, Arias was able to pursue a career in the food industry and is now training to run a restaurant while also bartending. His goal is to one day direct food and wine service for a hotel chain.
“It’s opened up a whole world for me,” he said.
Later Thursday, a White House adviser said the Trump administration would discuss a potential path to citizenship for DACA recipients. But Trump denied that and reiterated that “the wall” was essential to any movement on immigration.
“We’re working on a deal for DACA, but a lot has to do with the amount of security. We want very heavy security at the border,” the president told reporters. He said he was “not talking about amnesty at all.”
After months and years in limbo, Arias said the intrigue on Wednesday and Thursday seemed like just more of the same.
“Most of my life,” he said, “I’ve lived with that uncertainty.”