A fair path to citizenship

My mother raised me to fight for the things I love,andadvocatefor the people I believe in. She is a strong woman and raised three children alone after coming to the United States when I was 7 years old to find a better life and future than the one we had in Mexico. I’ve dedicated so much of my life to organizing, whether successfully campaigning to become one of the first undocumented student body presidents of Santa Ana College, or starting my own business hustles. It’s all led me to the same conclusion: Something must change.

Having a work permit and protection from deportation because of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program has given me opportunities, and I’m so grateful. I had a meaningful education, went to prom and met the same milestones as any regular American teenager does. However, along with 17,000 other Dreamers in the state of Colorado, I am constantly questioned due to my immigration status. After working at America Votes to help ensure a fair democracy exists across the United States, I decided to leave my position and become a full-time food-truck owner. I love food, and I love giving back to my community. It’s a perfect combination, or so I thought. Because of my status, this was all thrown up into the air and almost taken from me … simply because of that black bar on my driver’s license that wouldn’t allow me to get a business permit.

Thankfully, I was able to work through the permit issues because of the resources dedicated to helping immigrants here in Denver, but so many others don’t have that same luxury. My life is a testament to the horrors of America’s immigration system. If I learned anything on the campaign trails, it is to never give up. But it shouldn’t be this hard.

Last month, the American Dream and Promise Act was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives and it will receive a vote this month. This bill would give Dreamers and longtime residents protected under the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program, which was terminated by the Trump adminis

tration, a fair process to earn citizenship by meeting certain requirements including education, employment, military service and security and background checks.

I hope that our Colorado delegation will vote for this solution that will not only allow countless Dreamers and families to move past the fear of being separated from their families, but also continue to roll up their sleeves, just as I have, and keep making Colorado stronger.

Congress must make sure that our immigration system reflects the needs of everyday people in our country, and that includes investing in a holistic approach that not only helps people like myself, who already consider themselves Americans, but those who are being driven here by outside factors. Whether you’re a Dreamer, a TPS-holder, a refugee, or an asylum seeker, you deserve a fair chance, and that is not what is happening. So many untapped people — thinkers and doers — could contribute even more to our communities, if they were given a chance, and knew how to get around these huge roadblocks.

Separating families didn’t solve these issues, building a wall definitely won’t, and neither will shutting down the border. The United States is better than this. In history class, I was taught that this great country was founded by immigrants and refugees — they’re our past and our future. We have to invest in them and make sure that people seeking a better life here — people like me and my mother who have been here for 23 years — can contribute to our communities and economies. We must address the root causes that force them to leave in order to truly create a future where all people are protected under the banner that all men are created equal.

I am many things: a son, entrepreneur, political organizer, cook, Dreamer, music lover, American. But this plurality would mean nothing had I not been given the chance. That’s why we have to alter our immigration system to not only better the future of America, but ourselves.