Since the inauguration of President Trump, “The Dreamers” are now waking up. President Obama knowingly played with the future of many individuals by giving them a false hope to citizenship, through the illegal passing of DACA by executive order. He knew he needed the approval of congress to pass this policy, and he also knew he would not get it, so he passed it on his own. He knew the next president could easily get rid of this program. Or continue it-- either way, he started something he knew he could not finish. And so here we are, a society found conflicted in what to do? Should we deport all dreamers, or just some-- if only some, what criteria should they fit? What about their parents? And will this be the end of it? Or is this only the beginning for more demands?
What is DACA? According to Wikipedia, “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is an American immigration policy that allows certain undocumented immigrants who entered the country before their 16th birthday and before June 2007 to receive a renewable two-year work permit and exemption from deportation.” What many sites do not tell you, however, is that DACA recipients have the same rights as American Citizens. Minus the opportunity to vote, but if they did vote (and some do), who do you think they’d vote for? Essentially, these illegal children are competing against American children in the workforce and in scholarships to name a few. DACA allows them to work- which is unfair for all those who graduated college and cannot find a job, those who lost their job in the recession and want to immerse into the workforce again, or for those who are underemployed because someone will do the job for cheaper. It allows them to attend school, most of the time for free.They can apply for financial aid, and many of them qualify for all grants. Cutting the funds available to American Citizens. And because of their “struggle”, they are more likely to be chosen for scholarships to fund their higher education. All while the average American puts the little change they can each month into a college fund, spend thousands of dollars on sports, in hopes that their child can get a scholarship that way, or on tutoring, because tutoring is not free for their child, as it is for low income families. Almost all benefits for low income families are free. Leaving those parents who sacrifice not spending enough time with their children, so they can go to work, with resentment. Most of the time, they work long hours and scarcely make enough money to get by, yet they do not qualify for not a single subsidy. Think about it, how much do you spend a month on your child’s school, after-school care, lunches, tutoring, sports or enrichment? More often than not, these children enjoy more benefits from a system that their parents did not pay into.
Now I guess I am making an assumption above that all DACA recipients come from low income families, and while not all of them, the majority do. For one, when they come here illegally, they are setting themselves up for a life full of hardship. Often, they come with limited resources, little money, no English and no documents to work legally. Yet, they come by the thousands. So let's take a look at what attracts them to our country. First, they know about sanctuary cities,and are fully aware that the chances of being deported are slim once they are here. They know they can come with absolutely nothing, not even know the language and have a better life here than back home. Anchor babies, perhaps are our biggest problem, because it opens up the doors to public assistance. Once a woman gets here, she quickly learns the welfare system. She knows she can walk into any welfare office, or nowadays the communities they settle into, have outreach centers situated there to target this demographic and cater these services to them, with the emphasis of no public charge. The logic behind this is to prove to the federal government that the state has a need for funding, and the more people they get on aid, the more money the state gets--- but this can be a topic for another discussion. Now back to the benefits a newly immigrant woman faces--- she has the right to apply for as many benefits as she wants. Generally this is what she will get approved for: Medi-CAL for all pregnancy related services- all free, never a co-payment, including free labor, food stamps and WIC. When her baby is finally born, she now has something that permanently ties her to this country. And most importantly, this child just paved the way for them to qualify for all public benefits. The mother is now entitled to all emergency medical services for free, the child is entitled to full scope Medi-Cal services, food stamps and cash aid to name a few. This creates another batch of anchor babies, only this batch helps them keep their foot in the welfare system. Women quickly learn, the more kids they have, the more their allowance is in food stamps, WIC and cash aid. And for anyone who says this is not possible, they have not worked for a welfare office. No other country in the world, would have offered such thing; not even their own. Often when they come here, they settle in poor areas, since that's all they can afford. And take away from the already marginalized community, awakening more feelings of resentment and anger, only this time it ends in crimes against one another.
So you see, many DACA recipients have already benefited tremendously from this country. And yet they want more, essentially they want amnesty. As the saying goes, you give them an inch, they take a mile. At first they demanded for their right to stay, all 800,000, and now they want some type of amnesty for all 11 million illegals, as we saw earlier this week when a group of them hijacked House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s speech, the one person who has been fighting for them endlessly against this new administration. Although, her intentions are politically motivated, because she can care less about them, or they would have come up with a solution 8 years ago. Still, you couldn't help but feel sorry for how dumbfounded she looked, if only for a second. It is now time for congress to come up with a permanent solution and the Trump administration has given them 6 months to do so, but we all know what that means ---nothing will get solved. So for now, not a single person really knows how many illegals are in this country today, but 11 million seems to be the best estimate. We shouldn’t have to guess how many people are here illegally, it is time to enforce the laws that have been established for years and know who we are living amongst.
What to do with the so called dreamers, a name strategically given to them to paint their parents crimes in an innocent light, is the issue that seems to be the straw that broke the camel's back amongst Trump supporters. Many Americans want these individuals deported, because they feel they were able to “skip” the line. And some, can’t understand why they haven't taken the steps to become a legal citizen. Well, what's the point in spending the money in legal fees, when it seems the government will still afford them the same benefits, right? Others want some form of amnesty. But today, as a society we are forced to come up with a solution to address the law breaking parents and the children they brought with them. And hope that this will be enough for them, hope that they see how much they have benefited from America already. It is a difficult task because no one will be fully pleased, it's impossible to do so in any issue these days, just take a look at where we are with all these gender pronouns. I do not claim to have the answer. But I have come up with the following idea: for each DACA member deciding they would like to stay and become a citizen, they must agree to pay back any amount they or their parents borrowed from the government. Just like when an absent parent repays the state through child support payments, if the other parent ever received public assistance, until the amount is fully paid. This can be done in payments, family can contribute to this debt and even Hollywood, they can throw an event of their kind- just as long as the debt is paid off, anyone can contribute to it. The money being repaid, can be invested in the same communities they took from. Most importantly, for those who want to stay, they must pass a background check. If you have committed a crime, there is no room for you here; that should be an instant disqualifier. Lastly, if you want to become an American Citizen, then one should embrace our values, learn the language or at least attempt to, respect our flag, the pledge of allegiance, understand why we stand when we do it, and tell us how they contribute to society. As for their parents, I have no sympathy for, they created this problem for themselves, their children and now, us. For years they have benefited from another country that is not their own, so we must ask ourselves, what are going to ask from their native country in return, since we essentially took over their responsibility to their vulnerable citizens. Lets remember dreaming is free, but these “dreamers” have been dreaming on the backs of the American taxpayer, while their own child’s dream is given to a non-citizen. The forgotten man and woman have had enough, hence, the division of the base on this issue.
What do you think? Is this harsh? Not harsh enough? Comment below on solutions you think should be considered by congress.