DECADE of daca
Gisselle’s Story
Gisselle came to the U.S. from Honduras when she was just eight years old to be reunited with her mother. “I came straight to Portland,” she remembers. “I was being raised by my grandmother in Honduras but wanted to be with my mother.”
Now a grown woman, Gisselle’s own children run around her and play. “For my Mom, leaving me behind in Honduras was immensely hard, but she says that there wasn’t any other option. She had to miss all my early childhood so I could have food and shelter. She went through depression for a lot of years because we were not together. Emotionally and mentally, it impacted me tremendously, too. It took time to heal, understand the decision she was forced to make. Now that I am a mother, I understand her even more. As a mother, I want to give my kids the best life possible mentally, physically, emotionally.”
Both of Gisselle’s parents worked hard in the United States to support her and give her that better life. Her mother cleaned houses, her father trimmed trees. Gisselle became the first person in her family to get a high school education, something she doesn’t think would have happened if she was still in Honduras. Gisselle also says that that achievement – which was not just for her, but for her whole family -- was because of DACA.
“I still remember that day,” Gisselle says, recalling June 15, 2012, when then president-Obama announced the DACA program. “I was in my living room, and I saw the news on TV. It meant I would be able to finish high school, go to college, have freedom to apply for a job, get a car, build credit. It meant a lot. I applied right away.”
Gisselle is currently working her way through nursing school. She has to go part time so she can support herself (DACA recipients can’t get federal student aid). “A lot of my other classmates were able to go to school full time with financial aid. With DACA you have to work harder than everyone else.”
Gisselle says she wants to be a nurse because “I enjoy helping people, making a difference in someone else’s life.” She says she wants to serve her community in Maine and beyond. She dreams of being able to travel one day and provide medical care to people in conflict zones or facing humanitarian disaster in other countries with Doctors Without Borders or another program. But with DACA, that kind of travel may not be possible. Inability to travel due to changing policies and the lack of safety and security she feels about trying to re-enter the U.S. has already had a big impact on Gisselle’s life – the family funerals in Honduras she could not attend, the trip to France her daughter has been begging for.
Giselle describes DACA as a “blessing” but longs for the security and identity of U.S. citizenship. “Citizenship would be a dream come true,” says Gisselle. “This country is my home country, this is where I belong. It would mean no one could take this from me.”
On the tenth anniversary of DACA, if Gisselle could speak directly to Congress, she would say this:
“First of all, I am thankful for DACA on its own. It’s been a privilege. The U.S. means a lot to me. It’s my life. It’s my country. I can’t see myself anywhere else. Citizenship or a green card would mean a lot for me, my stability, my family. I want to study as much as I can. I would be more secure knowing I could take care of my mother when she grows old. I want no limits on me.”
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!