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“There was a raid … [w]e were stopped and my dad was taken out of the car very aggressively. We were all taken out of the car and sat on the sidewalk, and they put my dad in handcuffs. I remember just crying.” That experience was part of a long jourIt does not grant them official legal status ney Anali Hernandez Cruz has undertaken or a pathway to citizenship, but it does to reconcile her identity. In many ways, it allow them to apply for a driver’s license, has proven longer than the 1,600 miles her Social Security and a work permit. Many, family journeyed from their home like Anali, have only known the in Mexico. Anali has faced a lot of United States as home. sufferings to call the United States Opportunities have limitations home: bullying over her immigrawith DACA. Anali shared that tion status, separation from her while DACA has enabled her to family in Mexico and incertitude work and drive legally, things like about her future. When asked if “... [housing] programs ... to assist Leyden any of this was worth living here, first-time home buyers ... I did not Rovelo-Krull she said, “... puedo romper cadequalify [for] because I am not a nas (I can break barriers). I was the resident nor a citizen.” There is first one in my family to receive a bachealso the threat of DACA ending. The prolor’s degree, and I cried like a baby ... [k] gram stopped accepting applicants, and nowing that I can also help my parents and even for those in the program renewal is be able to teach them the ... things ... that not guaranteed. Anali says it comes with I have learned.” a great weight of uncertainty. What if this Anali came to this country as a child. Her is the year DACA finally goes away? She father came first, as usually happens, with says, “I would have to start all over because the hope of providing for his family in Mexthe door that opened up to me would now ico. But the separation proved difficult, and be closed.” soon her mother and the children followed. Having a foot in two worlds means she For Anali, Kansas City is home. Her hopes can often feel as if she is neither Mexican for a future here are not diminished by her nor American “enough.” She’s learning love of her heritage. They are enhanced to make peace in this in-between space because she is acutely aware of everything it cost her family to get here. As a childhood arrival, Anali qualified for an immigration status called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). DACA protects a group of young people, about 3000 in Missouri alone, who entered the country undocumented.
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and finds her identity defined through her Faith. She relies on her parents and God for that. “God continues to show me that I am loved and worthy. I know that when I feel defeated it is not me that gets back up, it is him that picks me up and pushes me forward.”
Catholic Key • August/September 2022 • catholickey.org
Anali Hernandez Cruz, a parishioner at Sacred Heart-Guadalupe Parish, is a graduate of Donnelly College. She is also a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient. Anali Hernandez Cruz, feligrés de la parroquia Sacred Heart-Guadalupe, se graduó de Donnelly College. También es beneficiaria de Acción Diferida para los Llegados en la Infancia (DACA).
National Migration Week SEPT. 19-25, 2022 For nearly half a century, the Catholic Church in the United States has celebrated National Migration Week, an opportunity for the Church to reflect on the circumstances confronting migrants, including immigrants, refugees, children and victims and survivors of human trafficking. National Migration Week will take place Sept. 19-25, 2022, and will climax with the Vatican-sponsored World Day of Migrants and Refugees. The theme for this year’s celebration is “Building the Future with Migrants and Refugees.” migrants-refugees.va/resourcecenter/world-day-of-migrantsrefugees-2022/
