My family came to the US undocumented. People say we're criminals stealing jobs and benefits but here's what I wish they knew.

Yahoo

07-02-2025

Since President Donald Trump's first day in office, he has ramped up his mass deportation plans.
Jazmin, who was brought to the US when she was 6, shares how receiving DACA allowed her to become a nurse.
She reflects on the fear and uncertainty she now feels for her loved ones and herself.
Since entering office on January 20, 2025, President Donald Trump has pushed forward with his plans for the mass deportation of immigrants, something that could be a boon to private prison companies and a hit to Social Security tax revenue.
During his first term as president in 2017, Trump announced that his administration would be terminating the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. DACA is a policy introduced by the Obama administration in 2012 that grants relief from deportation to undocumented immigrants brought to the country as children.
The program's legality continues to be debated in court; as of the time of publication, DACA recipients are still eligible to renew their protected status every two years, but new DACA applications are no longer being accepted. According to USCIS data, there were 537,730 DACA recipients, also known as "Dreamers," as of September 2024.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Jazmin, a 26-year-old travel nurse and DACA recipient, about her experience as a Dreamer and how she has navigated the weeks since Trump took office. Jazmin's last name has been withheld for privacy reasons, but her identity and DACA status have been verified by Business Insider. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
I was six when I came here. I remember living in Mexico and my parents telling me we were going on a trip, which became a very long trip. I think it was really hard for them to tell a 6-year-old what was actually happening.
When I got older, my mom explained that we had left because they wanted to protect my siblings and me from violence and poverty. She had lived her whole life starving and she didn't want her kids to live the same life as her.
My mom always told me, "Education will lead you places, so just make sure you stay educated."
Receiving DACA was the best thing that ever happened to me. I worked 10 times harder because I felt like I needed to prove to this country that I was a good, educated person trying to do good. Today, I'm a travel nurse and am sent to different hospitals to help out wherever there is a shortage.
My family might not have come the "right" way, but ever since we set foot in this country, we've tried to do things the right way.
In the US, we settled in New Jersey and adjusted pretty well. My parents told me not to tell people where I was from and to just go to school, do everything right, and learn English, and I did.
When I was a teenager, I saw other kids having opportunities to work and my mom told me I might not be able to. That's when I learned that I was undocumented. I wondered, Why am I not considered to be here legally? Why am I not welcome here?
Then, President Obama launched DACA. My mom said, "This is our ticket for you." At first, I thought DACA meant I'd be able to get my residency and become a citizen. But then I found out that it was just a work permit and wouldn't lead to citizenship.
I was happy regardless — I was going to be able to work while in high school and go to college.
Even though I received DACA, that doesn't mean that I'm safe. Every two years, I have to pay for and submit a new application to renew my DACA status. With Trump's administration, he could do anything — he could cancel it or even give us citizenship. We're in such limbo between a potential pathway to citizenship and being completely deported.
I've seen people online say we're just stealing jobs and taking benefits. But we don't receive financial aid and we pay taxes and Social Security that we will never touch unless we become citizens. And people say we're criminals, but in order to receive DACA, we have to have a clean criminal record.
In my DACA applications, there's an answer that has always been the same — I always say I want to do something to give back to this country. I started by saying I wanted to become a nurse. Then, I was able to say that I was in nursing school thanks to DACA. And then I was able to write, "I'm finally a nurse, thanks to DACA."
We DACA recipients have to keep advocating for ourselves. I feel that if we contribute to this country, then we should get some kind of pathway to citizenship.
People say, "Just go back to your own country," but I have two homes. The US is my home, and I love it.
I love Mexico too and am proud that I'm Mexican — that's my culture and it's in my blood. I've never been ashamed of where I came from.
I was granted permission to travel through what's called "advance parole" and had the chance to go back last year for the first time since coming here 20 years ago. It was a beautiful experience, and I pray to God that he gives me the opportunity to visit again someday. But being there also felt so foreign because I'd been away for so long after not being able to visit.
I also saw what my life would've been like if I hadn't come to America. We're from a very rural part of Mexico; the closest city and hospital is two hours away and most people don't have cars, and there isn't proper running water. It's a hard life — not knowing if you're going to have food on the table. And many people don't graduate middle school or high school because of the costs involved with getting an education.
What my parents did for me and my siblings was worth it. I see so many opportunities in America that I don't see in Mexico. I know some people criticize America, but America has given me so much. My family is here in America, and I want to stay here.
A lot of people say, "Just go apply for your citizenship." Or, "Why come here illegally? Why didn't you wait?"
We couldn't wait because some of us might not have seen tomorrow if we hadn't crossed the border. And the process of gaining citizenship can take many years.
People say that illegal immigrants are bringing in criminals. My family brought in their dreams, they brought in their kids. Sure, there might be some bad apples out there, but I believe that with any population, there are always more good people than bad.
My mom's a restaurant manager, and for as long as I can remember, she's worked day and night. Recently, after 20 years, she was finally able to get a work permit. We know there's a process to doing things the right way, and we're always working with our immigration lawyer to figure out how to do so.
The last couple of weeks since Trump took office have been overwhelming. I check in with my family and they're OK. They're still going to work and praying to God that everything works out.
What hurts is thinking about what would happen if they were deported. My sister, for example, doesn't have documentation because she didn't get to apply for DACA; she was too young to be eligible before USCIS stopped accepting new DACA applications.
If she does get deported, what would happen to us? We're so close. We wouldn't be able to see each other for 20 years?
I asked my mom and aunt how they dealt with the fear of knowing that this kind of thing could happen. They said, "The fear that we have here doesn't compare to the fear that we had in Mexico — the fear of cartels taking my kids, raping my children, killing my family in front of me. That's real fear. God has given us the privilege to live here for this long. We just have to keep going day by day, working hard, and caring for our families."
I tell myself that it's OK to be sad and feel the emotions we're feeling, but we just have to keep showing up and getting up every day. We can't let them win.
If you have been impacted by President Trump's deportation orders or any other executive orders and would like to share your story, contact Jane Zhang at [e-mail] or on Signal at janezhang.01 using a non-work device.
Read the original article on Business Insider