Washington, DC – Tomorrow, June 15, is the 10-year anniversary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
The following is a statement from Mario Carrillo, Campaigns Director of America’s Voice, who is married to a DACA recipient:
This week, on the ten year anniversary of DACA, I celebrate my wife Angie, the strongest person I know, an incredible mother, and a 10-year DACA recipient.
Angie is on her fifth DACA renewal while we still await a decision from USCIS on i-601a waivers to provide a more permanent status. As many other families can relate, it’s difficult living life two years at a time, knowing that the future of DACA has long been in question. But we’ve made a life for ourselves here in Texas, despite our leaders’ best efforts at trying to make life tough for immigrants, including Gov. Abbott’s recent threat about the future of the Plyler vs. Doe case that allows undocumented kids to attend school.
My wife is able to be employed legally, and is protected from deportation. But we also know it’s not enough.
We’ve long known that DACA is only temporary and has also left out millions of people from the relief and opportunity that it has provided families like ours.
As we both celebrate 10 years of DACA and continue our fight towards bigger, more inclusive victories, we know there is much work ahead. Threats to DACA still exist, including after Texas Judge Andrew Hanen’s ruling last July which goes before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on July 6.
But I am proud that families like ours – despite the odds, the uncertainty and the fear – keep thriving in this country. And we are thankful for the support of so many and the knowledge that the American public is way ahead of the dysfunctional political system in their support for citizenship for DACA recipients and other undocumented immigrants.
If nothing else, I hope 10 years of DACA’s successes reminds Congress of its role in securing permanent protection to millions of undocumented immigrants and makes the case for why expanding opportunities for immigrants benefits all of us in the America.
In June 2020, after the Supreme Court ruled against Trump’s attempt to end DACA, Mario and his wife Angie co-authored a USA Today op-ed that noted in part:
“We’re a mixed status, married couple living in Austin, Texas. One of us is a DACA recipient and the other is a naturalized American citizen. And like tens of thousands of other mixed-status families across America, Thursday’s ruling allows us to breathe a sigh of relief and plan our futures with more certainty in our own lives.
…We are overjoyed by the ruling, knowing what it means for our family and other families who are directly affected. We also are heartened knowing that the ruling stands with the overwhelming majority of Americans, across political ideologies, who support Dreamers and want our government to keep DACA recipients safe and working. We know that DACA is not the ultimate goal of our movement, but as our fight for the entire immigrant community continues, DACA status allows many of us to breathe a bit easier.”
In May of this year, Mario Carrillo authored an op-ed for El Paso Matters, “Is My Family American Enough for Greg Abbott?” that included the following:
“Texas Republicans have made it clear that they intend on attacking immigrants in the state, regardless of the contributions that we’ve made or how long we’ve been here. And Gov. Abbott’s attacks on the children of immigrants proves that Republicans, whose argument has long been that they support immigrants who ‘do it the right way,’ are untruthful, and they don’t care if their policies harm immigrants here legally or otherwise.
…our leaders only seem intent on appeasing an ever-more extreme base, fear-mongering against immigrants, attacking women and the LGBTQ community, and scoring cheap political points on policies that are wildly unpopular. Texans, and especially our children, deserve better.”
