President-elect Trump causes immigrant “dreamers” to be fearful of deportation, according to a Texas newspaper.
The young, undocumented immigrants, granted relief from deportation under President Barack Obama’s 2012 executive order, are “freaking out” because of Donald Trump, the Texas Tribune reported.
During “his smash-talking presidential run,” Trump promised to wipe away the order with a stroke of a pen, according to the Tribune.
The “dreamers” are undocumented immigrants who came here as children. They were granted a “sort of legal status” under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, reported the Tribune.
“I wouldn’t even know how to get around Mexico right now. I have no sense of how things work there, how society works there,” said Jose Manuel Santoyo, 24. He hasn’t been there since 2001 when he left as a child.
“Every society runs differently, and I wouldn’t know what to do if I was there,” he said.
Santoyo was hired by Collin Street Bakery, though he was undocumented and at the time didn’t have DACA status. He became an issue in Texas politics because of Thomas McNutt, whose family owns the bakery. McNutt lost in a close primary race against Rep. Byron Cook. News stories about undocumented workers like Santoyo working in the bakery contributed to the loss, the Tribune reported.
“I’m worried about what’s going to happen to my family”
Santoyo is scheduled to graduate from Southern Methodist University in December and has no idea if he will get a job or whether he will be deported, he said.
“People are just afraid of what’s going to happen. I feel like that’s the worst thing: not knowing what’s going to happen. …That’s impacting a lot of people,” he added.
Jessica Azua graduated early from Brackenridge High School in San Antonio and got a business management degree from Texas A&M University.
“I’m sad. I’m angry. I’m scared,” said Azua, 25, a community organizer at Texas Organization Project (TOP), which fights for immigrants and low-income minorities.
“I’m worried about what’s going to happen to my family. I’m worried about what’s going to happen to my job,” she said.
Omar Perez, 26, who recently graduated from the University of Houston, said, “Once you’re undocumented you’re treated like a second-class citizen in this country. It looks like that’s going to be the reality.”
Obama’s 2012 order granted relief from deportation to roughly 700,000 undocumented who arrived as children. Close to 200,000 of them are in Texas. Legislation for relief was introduced but never passed by the U.S. Congress, according to the Tribune.
“They have to go,” Trump said regarding the Dreamers.
Edgar Navarrette, 22, a University of Texas at Austin student, is another one of the dreamers.
Mary Moreno works for TOP. She said, “Our hope is we can appeal to him (Trump) to not be so cruel and callous about this and have some humanity.”
