Ten Years Dreaming: A Wisconsin DACA Recipient Speaks Out

It has been ten years since the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) came to be. I was a young high schooler in the city of Milwaukee, trying to finish my sophomore year strong, when I first heard about an executive order that would grant temporary legal status to children who had migrated from their home country with a visa. At the time, having very limited knowledge about how my status played a role in it all,  I did not completely understand what DACA meant. My dad assured me it was going to be worth the sacrifice they made for me to be here. He was right.*

Milwaukee is a city of opportunities, and in the late 90s the growing Hispanic/Latinx population was thriving. My father's side of the family had already established themselves in the community, and so my parents decided to join them and make a life in Milwaukee as well. We left our hometown of Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico in 1999, unsure of what the future would bring. We celebrated our first New Years in a whole new country. My parents hadn't planned on staying in Milwaukee for good, but the immigrant community was prospering at the time, and our new city offered more than what our small hometown ever could. The ability to receive assistance for food and healthcare helped us settle permanently. Milwaukee was and still is a safe haven for the immigrant community. It is a place where many, including myself, now call home.

My parents have always emphasized the importance of education as the gateway to a bright future. Being a first-generation college student has unique challenges, even though, like many of my US-born peers, I too had a dream to pursue higher education. But being undocumented makes college even more complicated. From the start, I was denied any funding through FAFSA, a federal funding assistance program. This meant I could only apply for private or DACA scholarships, which are often very competitive if they exist at all. Nevertheless, I was determined to make the best out of my education. Somehow I managed to balance three part-time jobs throughout college just to pay my tuition, even though that denied me from having the full college experience that others do. In 2019, I graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Education and a minor in Spanish and Communications. I had achieved my parents’ dream for me, and opened doors of opportunity for myself.

DACA has allowed me to live a limited American Dream. Why do I say limited, you may ask? It is limited because even with a driver's license, a work permit, and paying taxes, DACA recipients are not considered "American enough." We are treated as second class. We do not have permanent residency, we are not allowed to vote, we are not allowed to travel outside of the US without “advanced parole,” and we do not have a legal pathway towards citizenship. This is NOT enough. We need more. DACA recipients want to contribute in full to the growth of this country, to the city of Milwaukee, and prove that we can make a difference in our society. 

Am I grateful? Yes, without a doubt. Is it far from being perfect? Oh, yes it is. DACA is only temporary, meaning it can be removed at any time. DACA-mented people are like pawns in a game of political chess. We can easily lose our spot with a simple move, as dictated by those with greater power. The ones who view us as less are the same people who have chosen to oppose immigration reform, due to the fear of losing the power they tightly hold. DACA is constantly under attack, and now, with a new generation of people desperately wanting to apply for the first time, it has been put on halt once again. 

The constant debate on whether DACA is “unlawful” or not creates uncertainty and fear among us. The future of DACA is starting to feel more like a worry than a feeling of safety. When will I stop worrying about it? Sadly, not until a permanent solution is put into place. And until then, I have to keep uplifting myself through it all. I have to stay hopeful, even though I know that at any moment all of what my parents and I struggled and worked for could come to an end. My dreams are their dreams, and if DACA were to end, our dreams would too. 

For me, a second grade bilingual educator in the Milwaukee Public Schools, this means that I need to keep advocating for the immigrant community. Many are not aware of the obstacles we have to overcome on a daily basis. Milwaukee is home to a large and vibrant Hispanic/Latinx community, of which many are undocumented. The families I work with find it difficult to obtain the necessary basic needs for their children, due to a lack of “status.” US-born children are limited when their parents are undocumented. Many parents don’t drive, due to Wisconsin not allowing them to obtain a driver’s license or an ID. My students are being directly impacted by decisions that are out of their control. It is completely unfair. No child should have to fear that their parents could be deported while they are at school receiving an education that their own parents most likely did not have the opportunity to receive.

It is heartbreaking having to explain to my second graders the fear I have as a DACA-mented person, because I know that if I were no longer legally able to work, they would lose me as their teacher. It would break my students’ hearts to know that their teacher could no longer be with them just because the government said so. They understand how serious it can get, and they fear for me. I fear for everyone who has benefited from DACA, including my family, my students, and my community. It is inhumane and cruel to play with the timeline of our lives. We only want to better ourselves and the communities we serve. I teach my students to have empathy towards one another. We foster a caring community through listening to each other and understanding each other's differences. 

Becoming an educator has opened so many doors for me. I have been able to use my voice to amplify the DACA community through organizations like Voces de la Frontera.** Voces has given me a safe space for me to be myself and instilled in me the confidence to be vocal about our demands to people in power. I and others at Voces mobilize voter turnout in favor of those who are supportive of the immigrant community and who will make decisions and policies that benefit and respect immigrants. We also educate those who are unaware of the large undocumented community that call this city, state, and country home. Many people do not know the complex challenges that face undocumented immigrants and how our status is not a safe one. We raise awareness of the need for permanent protection and a pathway to citizenship. 

In 2021, I had the honor to be a part of a nine-day, 90-mile march from Milwaukee to Madison as part of a Voces delegation of immigrant leaders and allies. Walking through the suburban parts of Wisconsin made me realize and appreciate how diverse and historically rich Milwaukee is in comparison to surrounding smaller communities. Passing cornfields and cows grazing in pastures, I found the landscape itself simple but our journey profound. This is symbolic of the journey that many families have taken to start new lives and new futures in this country. It is a reminder that we have worked tirelessly to get to where we are today, that we belong here and deserve to be treated as such.

We walked to Madison to make a bold statement and an impact. Our presence was seen and felt. I remember when we finally reached our state Capitol after a long and tiring journey, my eyes were filled with emotion, my voice strained but strong. I was one of the marchers in front, helping to hold a banner and leading the group to the Capitol Building steps, where we made our demands clear to President Biden and congressional leaders. 

The fight is not over. We will keep pressuring every single one of them to stay true to their promises. We will hold them accountable for the decisions they make. We will not allow oppressors to belittle us. We are more powerful than they make us to be, and we have proved it by making our presence known at the ballot box, and at rallies like these in Milwaukee and Madison. There is power in numbers, and we are many. As the saying in Spanish goes, "We aren't one, we aren't one hundred, we are 11 million. Count us well." Our voices will not be silenced. Our presence is louder than ever.

DACA has opened doors for thousands like me, but the underlying anxieties never go away. It is going to take standing up for ourselves and not backing down if we, the undocumented community, want permanent protections. This country can do better than temporary solutions like DACA, which for the past ten years has provided relief but always with the fear that the program might end. 

Our futures should be strong and stable, not fragile and susceptible to partisan attacks. Standing up for ourselves means many things. First, we need to make sure we educate ourselves about the program itself—the pros and cons of it—and demand that our representatives act in our favor. We need to make sure that when midterm elections come around we are voting for those who will fight to ensure that our voices and demands are heard and implemented. We can no longer stay seated and wait for a miracle to happen. The work needs to happen from within, and that starts with us. The United States would not be where it is today without us. Immigrants are and have ALWAYS been essential to the growth of our economy and the social fabric of this nation. 

Immigrants are not the enemy. We are the future. Let us live our American Dream without limits.

*According to the Migration Policy Institute, as of December 2021, there are over 1,000,000 DACA eligible recipients living in the United States, of which at least 6,200 live in Wisconsin. In Wisconsin alone, DACA recipients and DACA-eligible individuals paid an estimated $15.9 million in state and local taxes in 2018, evidence that supports the benefits that DACA recipients bring to this country.

**Voces de la Frontera has been Wisconsin’s leading immigrant rights organization for more than 20 years. Voces is a membership-based community organization led by low-wage workers, immigrants, and youth whose mission is to protect and expand civil rights and workers’ rights through leadership development, community organizing, and political empowerment. Alondra is a member.