DECADE of daca
Anthony’s Story:
Anthony has been a Mainer since he was 4 years old, brought to the U.S. by his parents from El Salvador as the family fled gang violence. “We didn’t come here because we wanted to,” Anthony says. “We had to. The gangs were killing people.”
Anthony remembers starting kindergarten in Maine and laughs thinking about how he never wanted to miss a day: “I loved school, loved sports. I always wanted to be at school with the other kids.”
It wasn’t until Anthony was in high school and wanted to get a job that he learned he wasn’t a U.S. citizen. “I wanted to start working, be a good kid, and that’s when I found out. My parents told me I was different from other American kids. It surprised me. Just because I didn’t have a certain paper, I wasn’t as equal as everybody else.”
Anthony was among the first to apply for DACA when it was announced in 2012 while he was still in high school. “I remember it was June,” Anthony says. “I signed up right away.”
Anthony says that “DACA changed my life” giving him the ability to work and drive, but there were still constant limitations and obstacles. He says that as a teenager not being a U.S. citizen “made me feel different. I was like everybody else except this one thing. It hurt me in a way. It put a label on me.”
Loving school the way he did, Anthony graduated with great grades and dreams of college. He recalls sitting at a computer during high school trying to apply for FAFSA, the federal student aid program. “The system wouldn’t let me. It kept declining. I got accepted to all these big schools, but I had to put all my dreams down. It was too expensive.” DACA recipients are not eligible for federal student loans.
Anthony received a scholarship to a college in Maine and attended for two years, studying accounting and business, but having to work to support himself while being a full-time student was untenable. Today, Anthony has a good job in the construction industry in Maine but calls the experience “heartbreaking.”
Anthony describes his life, and the life of his parents and siblings – all on temporary immigration statuses – as being in limbo and constant uncertainty. “I have lived in Maine my whole life but it’s uncertain. I’m here today, maybe not tomorrow. We’re all uncertain. Our future is uncertain.” Anthony and his family find strength in their faith and love for each other. “We just have to believe everything will be alright.”
As Anthony looks ahead, one thing is clear to him: Congress needs to act and pass a pathway to citizenship. “We need a permanent solution, we can’t just keep doing two years at a time.” DACA recipients must renew every two years and pay hundreds of dollars in fees.
If Anthony had the opportunity to speak directly to Congress today, he would say this:
“I’m just here to do the right thing, to better myself, to feel safe. We’re young, we’re the future. This is where we grew up. This is what we know as home. If you send us back, we will be lost.”
“We have been waiting 10 years, now is the time for citizenship. It is time to take a step. You must not continue to push DACA to the side. We need change. We can’t be living our lives this way anymore. Citizenship now. That’s what we ask for.”
take action
On the 10th anniversary of DACA, June 15, 2022, take action for Maine’s DACA recipients and demand a path to citizenship now for ALL undocumented people. To get started, download our #MainersForDreamers toolkit!