• DACA revocation leaves local beneficiaries in limbo.
Juan Felix thought beforehand that the Trump administration might end the temporary residency program for people like him, who were brought to this country illegally as minors.
At the same time, the former Yuman was hoping President Trump might reconsider.
Then Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the temporary amnesty program, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, will be dismantled beginning in six months, unless Congress acts legislatively to resolve the question of legal status for the “dreamers.”
“I knew that a decision was going to be announced,” Felix said. “But I had hoped that in some way President Trump would decide to keep DACA, that something would change his decision.”
After Sessions’ announcement, Trump said on Twitter he will “revisit” the issue failing a decision by Congress, where Republicans so far have no consensus on how to deal with issue of minors having been brought here illegally.
Felix is among what could be hundreds of area youths or young adults in the Yuma area who benefited after then-President Obama issued an executive order establishing DACA in 2012.
Felix gained two-year legal status under DACA in 2015, allowing him to legally work and study here. He enrolled in Grand Canyon University, and last February, he got another two-year extension of his legal residency.
Now his plans are in limbo, he said. Come 2019, he’ll be in the country illegally, if by then, Congress or the president haven’t acted to make DACA benefits law.
Sessions’ announcement “was like a bucket of cold water, even though we knew the intention of the new administration was to end the program,” said Emmanuel Villegas, immigration specialist with Somerton-based Chicanos Por La Causa, which helped Felix gain legal status under DACA.
With Trump’s revocation of Obama’s executive order, only those DACA recipients whose current permits under the program expire on or before March 5 will be able to seek two-year extensions of residency, said Villegas. But, he added, they must apply by Oct. 5, the deadline set by the Justice Department.
Given CPLC wasn’t the only immigration agency in Yuma County helping people apply for residency through DACA, Villegas estimates that hundreds of young people in the area could be affected by the termination of the program.
Felix, who was brought to this country at 10 by his parents, attended Kofa High School, went on Arizona Western College and transferred to Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in finance. He said this week’s announcement prompted him to put a hold on plans to seek a master’s from the same university.
“I don’t know how my situation is going to change in two years, or what expenses I will have,” he said. “Nothing is certain.”
He hopes Congress will at least act to pass a law maintaining the benefits that hundreds of thousands of young people have received up to now under DACA.
“We hope for something positive from lawmakers,” Felix said. “I don’t think it’s fair for them to offer people nothing more than hope. We have done all that we’ve been told to do to achieve the American Dream. We study, we work. We haven’t done anything bad for the community.”
Villegas urged DACA beneficiaries — and even those who failed to qualify for the program — to follow events in Washington closely.
“We hope lawmakers take action,” he said. “For now those young people are protected by DACA for two more years. My suggestion to them and those who didn’t get the program’s benefits is to stay informed and not hesitate to visit one of the accredited (immigration) organizations to seek answers to any questions they have.”