A Dreamer of another era
A few years back my wife said to me, “You could have been a Dreamer.”
She was referring to people covered by the federal program DACA ( Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals). They are known as Dreamers. DACA was initiated in 2012 to protect these foreign- born individuals, who were brought to the United States as youngsters, from being deported after spending their lives in America.
I was very much aware of the anxiety Dreamers constantly faced. Individuals who in every way were as American as apple pie fearing that one day they might be forced to return to their country of birth. I’ve known one such Dreamer since he was 10. Arriving in the United States from a South American country at age 6, he is now applying to law schools.
Until earlier this month, the DACA program had been in jeopardy. Doing away with it could have led to mass deportation of individuals who had become part of America. Then relief came a few weeks ago as a Supreme Court ruling gave Dreamers a temporary reprieve.
The court’s decision reminded me of my wife’s comment about my possibly having been a Dreamer. But it also triggered a forgotten concern about the legitimacy of my American passport and how U. S. Immigration handled my brother and me differently — though we came to the United States at the same time.
In my early 20s I decided to get a passport. Immigration wanted a birth certificate or other proof of my citizenship. I had the original Cuban birth certificate in Spanish and a notarized English translation. But my argument was that I was indeed a citizen by virtue of my father having been born in Puerto Rico. It was less than pleasant exchange when they turned me down.
On my second trip to Immigration I returned with papers that showed my father was a citizen. My recollection is sketchy, but I recall making a major scene when they again said “no.” Yet that day ended with my first American passport being approved.
It has been renewed multiple times as I’ve traveled to 51 countries. Later I learned Puerto Ricans became U. S. citizens in 1917 with the passage of the Jones Act.
My brother’s citizenship story is another saga. He had been a teacher and an assistant principal in the New York City School System and was being considered for a principal’s position. His paperwork listed him as Cuban born. One requirement for becoming a principal was one had to have U. S. citizenship. Like me, he maintained he was indeed a citizen because our father was Puerto Rican.
Peter wanted to become a principal quickly. Rather than going to a lawyer or me for advice he decided to go through the naturalization process. Later he was saddened when a colleague demeaned that process, characterizing it as a path to second- class citizenship
As to the young Dreamer I mentioned earlier, we recently spoke over the phone. My goal was to find out more about his aspirations and what he was going through. He had become as much a part of the American fabric as have other thousands of Dreamers. A sports fan rooting for the New England Patriots’ football team, a basketball maven, and a die- hard New York Yankees fan, he watched as many Yankees games as he could in 2019
He also told me he knew every provision of the DACA program. He said, “I rush down to renew my DACA status every two years and pay the $ 489 fee. I can’t take any chances. If I were deported back to my country I would be lost. I don’t even write in in that language. I want to stay here.”
So, this subject of citizenship can be filled with anxiety and many concerns.
A fellow consultant warned me about making my passport story public. He said, “Aren’t you taking a chance?” Though laws often are transitory, especially these days, it was hard to imagined Immigration knocking on my front door and saying, “You’re an illegal. You gotta go back ”
Regarding the possibility of dreamers being deported if DACA is rescinded, Peter recently said, “We all should be concerned. The person sent back could have developed a vaccine for the next pandemic!”
Juan Negroni, a Weston resident, is a consultant, bilingual speaker and writer. He is the chairman and CEO of the Institute of Management Consultants. Email him at juannegroni12@ gmail. com.