I AM A DREAMER | DACA

Photo by Liney Figueroa

As a young Latina, turning fifteen meant that I was going to have my quinceañera – the celebration of the transition from girlhood to womanhood, but in my situation, it also meant that I officially qualified for the Deferred Action of Childhood Arrivals, or commonly known as DACA.

My name is Liney Amairani Figueroa-Espinoza, and I was brought to the United States in 2001 for a better future. I was born in the small town of Huajuapan de León, Oaxaca, México, and although México is a beautiful country, my parents knew that I was not guaranteed a very successful life. Which is why they decided to sacrifice everything they had and move to the United States. My DACA journey began in 2012 when our former president Barack Obama introduced a policy that would protect the undocumented immigrant students, also known as Dreamers, who had been largely raised in the United States. This policy allowed Dreamers to stay in the country, legally work, and attend school for two years, which could be renewable upon good behavior. As of 2018, there is an estimated total of 699,350 active DACA recipients, and I am part of it!

Being part of DACA has saved my life in so many ways such as being able to get my license and being able to get my first job. When we get accepted to be under DACA, we receive our social security number. For me, it was a very emotional moment when I was able to write down my very own social security number on my first job application. That was when I knew that I had to fight for DACA in order to keep this opportunity that seemed so simple to others, but to me it meant my entire life and future.

I have been an active recipient of DACA since 2015, but in September of 2017, which was my senior year of high school, President Donald Trump announced that the DACA program was going to be repealed. At that time, approximately 800,000 immigrants who were part of or qualified for DACA would be eligible for deportation after a six-month period. During that time as well, I was beginning to apply for colleges to expand further my education, but now I was being faced with not only the fact of being deported but also the worry that now my parents and I should save my college savings for an emergency plan in case if anything occurred such as deportation. It was a frightening time for my parents and my future. The future that my parents sacrificed everything for. Luckily, I was able to renew it for another two years, but after the two years the future was untold.

In June of 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it had decided to review the DACA court cases and therefore issue a decision that could end DACA. The U.S. Supreme Court announced that this decision could be made by late June of 2020. At this moment, DACA recipients are living in uncertainty because our future is in jeopardy. DACA is so crucial for not only undocumented students who want to achieve their dreams and their aspirations, but it is also crucial for the United States because we are the next generation that will carry this country. We are the ones who will create new businesses and phenomenal companies. We are the future medical professionals that will care for our older and younger generations. These are just small examples of what America’s future can hold because DACA recipients are the future! Therefore, I will always defend for DACA because this my future and America’s future, and most importantly, because I am a Dreamer.

Liney and her Family

Photo provided by Liney Figueroa

Liney and her Mother

Photo provided by Liney Figueroa