By Mariame Aana
What Do DREAMers Dream Of?
“DACA Has Changed My Life in Major Ways...” –Catholic Charities DACA Client Setting the Stage It was one week before the taping of a special episode of ABC’s 20/20 and Ricardo was unable to accept a starring role. Earlier that summer, network representatives had met with him at the downtown Houston office of Catholic Charities, but the extended invitation to share his story on national television came with a catch—he would have to travel to McAllen, Texas for the show. A trip to McAllen posed a risk the nineteen-year-old youth had not faced in years: passing through a checkpoint. As a DACA recipient whose initial DACA grant expired before his renewal was approved, Ricardo was cast back into the treacherous territory of being “undocumented.” Repeated daily checks of his USCIS Case Status online continued to indicate a “pending” case, while he hoped for a decision that would render him “DACAmented” once more. The expiration of his DACA amounted to the following documents in his possession: an expired driver’s license, an expired work authorization card, and an invalid Social Security Card imprinted “Valid for Work Only with DHS Authorization.” More intangibly, with the expiration of his DACA, Ricardo now carried around a keen awareness that he was no longer assuredly able to travel within United States territory.1 The Beginners, DACA Defined While there are many types of deferred action in immigration law, DACA, (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), is one of the more prominent examples of the government’s exercise of prosecutorial discretion. Created by a June 15, 2012 executive memo, DACA is available to individuals who meet all of the following eligibility requirements: