On July 29, 2020, the Trump administration announced changes to DACA that impact some of the details in this story. See a summary of changes at the bottom of this post.

By: Nichole Davari

In late June, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked the Trump administration's attempt to dismantle a program that has protected 700,000 DREAMers from deportation. (The term DREAMer takes its name from the proposed Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors, or DREAM Act.)  The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, created by President Obama in 2012 after Congress failed to pass the DREAM Act, enables individuals who were brought to the U.S. as children to receive temporary legal status, if they graduated from high school or were honorably discharged from the military and meet certain other requirements. (They must also pass an extensive background check.)

Although the Court’s decision was issued by a narrow 5 to 4 majority and leaves much work to be done, this is cause for huge celebration for our community members who have been living in fear since President Trump moved to revoke the program. 

Exactly one week after the Supreme Court ruling was announced, I had the privilege of meeting with Tania Crescencio, a 20-year-old college student, activist, and DREAMer. As our Zoom meeting began, her beautiful sonrisa (smile) brightened my screen. We exchanged saludos (greetings) and I asked her to share her story.

“I came to the United States when I was eight months old, in a guitar case,” she said, “which is so funny because that’s become such an important part of my life as a creative now.” The humor was not lost on me as we were both in Nashville, America’s Music City, for this conversation. 

“I have been here all my life in Tennessee, but I never knew I was undocumented until my freshman year of high school. Which felt too late because I had already dreamed of going to a huge university. I even did research projects in middle school about where I wanted to go,” Tania said. 

She learned from her parents that the reason they raised her so strictly and that they kept a low public profile was to guard against the real possibility of deportation. “I knew my parents were immigrants because I heard them always talking about needing papeles — ‘un dia vamos agarrar los papeles [one day we will get our papers]’-- but I didn’t know what the papeles were. So as a kid I’d be like ‘all I want are papeles’ and my teachers would be so confused. I wish I had known sooner what that meant.” 

As Tania grew older, she began to understand that her journey into adulthood in the U.S. would be harder than it was for many. “But now I’m a rising senior in college! I remember that in my senior year of high school I would cry almost every day because I really thought I wasn’t going to be able to go to college. I would cry to my parents, ‘Why did you bring me to this country? Why would you do this to me?’ I blamed my parents for wanting better for me. Now I’m finally getting that they did this truly for me to have a better future.” 

Former president Barack Obama created DACA through an executive order in 2012, after the DREAM Act failed to pass, even though Congress spent several years advocating for it. “I remembered my parents yelling with happiness. My birthday was near and my dad turned to me and said, ‘For your birthday, this is what I’m going to get you.’ It was a birthday present to me to feel a sense of freedom.” 

Within the first few months of Donald Trump’s assuming the presidency, he threatened to revoke DACA. Tania had to prepare for the worst. “There were some days I just couldn’t sleep. I didn’t know what was in store for me or for my friends.” She said that the months leading up to the Supreme Court decision felt long. She felt like she could lose everything at any second.

Over the years, Tennessee Justice for Our Neighbors has represented more than 1,400 DACA clients. Since the court ruling, TNJFON has received more than 70 inquiries — most from first-time applicants.  While we don’t know if U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is accepting new applications at this time, we continue to update clients as we gain more information.  

Tania finds that she continually must educate people about DACA. “Even at the college I go to now, I had to educate them — unlike my friends, who could just pull up and apply to become a student.” 

The burden to educate the privileged yet unaware should not fall solely on the shoulders of young immigrants. This is one reason why TNJFON created its podcast, “Oye Vecino” (“Hey, Neighbor”). Listen to episode four to learn more about the ruling!

Tania’s life is evidence that DACA is worthy of investment. It is evidence that organizations like TNJFON are worth supporting. At the end of our time together I asked Tania what one thing she would want our listeners to know. She responded, “My generation is the future. There are so many wonderful and talented individuals that are just waiting for a chance. They have so much to give to our community.” 

8/10/20 Update

Here’s a summary of what you need to know about changes to DACA announced on July 29:

• All first-time DACA requests will be denied

• All DACA renewal requests will be decided on a "case-by-case" basis and, if granted, will be for one year (instead of 2 years)

• Almost all advance parole requests will be denied 

• If you currently have DACA, you may keep it until it expires

• TNJFON will do everything in its power to serve those impacted