It was March of 2008 few months before my graduation from Monache High School, when I came to Porterville College to sing up for my classes. I was in the financial aid office talking to a counselor about my future plans, she was checking my application then ask me why I had a social security number and not a green card. My English at that time was not so good and it was hard for me to have a conversation with someone, then I freeze. She went to talk to the main head of financial aid at that time. He came back and looked at me and ask me again why I had a social security number and not a green card, I was really nervous and scared, both of them looked at me like If I did something wrong. The financial aid office was packed with students and …show more content…
My parents were really sad I was not going to be able to go to college and my dad told me to start working and to save money for it, and that’s exactly what I started doing. Since 2008 to 2013 I worked at much as I could, working in the fields in the morning with my mom and working in the afternoons at Jack in the Box. Me and my older sister were able to help my mom and dad buy a house and a family car, we tend to be really united and help each other as much as we can. Then the E-verify came in and as much as my area coach try to keep me at Jack in the box, she couldn’t. It was June of 2012 when me and my mom were getting back from work, something inside me told me to turn on the TV, and there was President Barack Obama talking about DACA. I turn the TV volume all the way up and my mom run all the way from the kitchen to the living room. We both looked at each other and I started crying, she told me really exited “you and your sister qualify”! Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) was signed up by the Obama administration on 2012 that allows certain undocumented immigrants who entered to the U.S as minors, to receive a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation and eligibility for a working permit. To be eligible, an undocumented immigrant must
President Obama’s order Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) awards employment and education opportunities as well as a short-term break from deportation to illegal immigrants that were brought to U.S. as children. Hundreds of thousands of undocumented
I am the product of divorced parents, poverty stricken environments, and a blended family, but I refuse to let that dictate the outcome of my life. At the age of ten, I had to assume the role of a fatherly figure to my three siblings, so I missed out on the typical childhood most would have had. I grew up in neighborhoods where gangs and criminal acts of violence were a pervasive occurrence, but I resiliently did not allow the peer pressures of others to force me to conform to their way of life. By the age of 15, I received my worker 's permit, and that allowed me the ability to help my mother financially in the absence of my father’s income. I worked the maximum amount of hours I could while balancing my academics and extracurricular school activities. I was a scholar athlete and triathlete in high school, and although I continuously faced much adversity, I still managed to be accepted to the University of California State, Bakersfield after I graduated from high school in 2005. Sadly, after
Through the experiences of over 150 individuals, the apparent divisiveness of American public policy and political climate comes to the forefront in a dispiriting dichotomy of the undocumented experience coping in the
His health, like that of many others, has been impacted in negative ways. For instance, he has felt anxious and fearful about the future so much that his eating habits have run amok and sleeping cycle has been irregular. Antonio’s concern is shared by thousands of other “DACAmented” and undocumented immigrants. Currently, they have been grappling with various “what if”’s. What if I can’t continue my education? What if I get deported? What if my family gets deported? Especially now with a barrage of news on immigration raids, the trepidation within the undocumented immigrant communities has escalated to an unprecedented level. Although the beneficiaries of DACA realize that the program is far from perfect, it was the most translational action from the government in regards to immigration reform. It helped them contribute to their community legally and more freely. Now that DACA is under threat, thousands of young people fear that their Social Security numbers will no longer be valid and that their working permits will get revoked. If that happens, their education and future are jeopardized once again as they will be vulnerable to
Imagine a world with an educated youth. Now imagine a parallel world where children are fighting to keep a smile on their faces, because, in truth, it is the only thing they have. In reality, this is what is happening. Youth, who have the privilege to be American citizens, are granted a very fulfilling education with a promise of a career. Children of illegal and undocumented immigrants do not have such luck. Some undocumented children in America have very promising futures and even a degree under their belts, but they cannot apply for a job because they have no proof of citizenship. A controversial topic is the matter of the DREAM Act (Development, Relief, and Education, for Alien Minors) which permits undocumented immigrants to obtain citizenship and later get a job. Is this topic really a law… or a lifestyle? Should we really be arguing on the matter of life or death?
In June 2012, President Obama announced an immigration policy that would grant deportation relief to qualifying immigrants. The policy, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), would also give these undocumented immigrants the right to work. Although DACA has changed since President Obama’s initial announcement, the policy still has stringent requirements. Beneficiaries must have immigrated at a young age, and they need a high school education. Yet despite DACA’s restrictions, the policy has proven controversial. While Democrats have cheered DACA as a step towards immigration reform, Republicans have denounced DACA as an example of executive overreach. The conservative organization Heritage Action for America, for instance, has accused DACA of leading “residents of foreign lands [to] illegally enter the U.S.” Indeed, according to Heritage Action, Obama’s amnesty policies make undocumented immigrants believe that “they will not be returned home.”
At the start of September, Donald Trump terminated a program and in turn put fear into the hearts of nearly 800,000 people and their friends and family. Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, was a program that was made to replace the DREAM Act (a policy that was not approved by Congress which would have created a path towards citizenship for “illegal” immigrants that came to the United States as children). DACA was put into effect in 2012 by former President Barack Obama through an executive order. This policy protects immigrants who, as children, were either illegally brought to the United States or were brought legally but then stayed past their visas’ expiration dates. DACA provides this specific group of immigrants with protection from deportation, a social security number, and a work permit; however, it is not a way of gaining legal status. Not only are the qualifications for eligibility specific and limiting, but the application process itself is expensive, extensive, long, and it has to be done every two years.
My mother is someone I think of as a victim because the beginning of school year; my assistant principal, Mrs. Rungee, informed my parents and me to fill out my financial aid. The finan...
Financial aid is money in the form of loans, grants and employment that is available to a student to help pay the cost of attending. Financial aid comes from the federal government, which is the largest provider of aid, as well as state government, the school and a variety of other public and private sources.
I am not from here, in other words I’m an immigrant. Which affects my opportunities in school, the process of applying to universities and FAFSA. My parents have always wanted me to get a good education and succeed so I can have what they couldn’t, a good education and a better life than they do. But they have also made some rigorous actions that will allow me to have more security and some opportunities that I wasn’t able to have. When they realized that this was my last year of high school and I needed to fill applications where they asked for my social security number, they started a process where I am able to get my number, permit to work and be applicable for DACA. Before this process started I found out that I wouldn’t be able to go straight
Currently, there are 11.7 million undocumented immigrants in the United States; 6 million of those immigrants are Mexican-born (Preston). Within that undocumented population are individuals who were brought to the States as children. These individuals have grown up in the American culture and consider themselves American, but struggle with being treated as second class citizens due to their undocumented status. On June fifteenth of 2012, the Obama Administration announced the executive order Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). This order will allow immigrants who were brought illegally to the U.S. as children to apply for work permits and avoid deportation (Hennessey and Bennett). President Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals is not only beneficial to it applicants but also to the United States as a whole.
As an immigrant, my father worked multiple hours, starting his morning in the field work picking fruits, vegetables, etc. and evening at a restaurant. The little money collected, with time, my father was able to pay for the loaned money he used for a ?Coyote? that transported him from the border to a near city with family and to cross my mother. Both parents working morning and evening jobs were granted a residency card from their field job because of their extended years of working with the company. The residency card is to be renewed every ten years and as a resident, they are to obey the laws and stay out of trouble. Therefore, allowing my parents to have better opportunities such as; minimum wage jobs, Driver?s License and renting their own home. Although my mother had the opportunity to minimize her working hours and stay home with her children she continued to work and pay a nanny because she learned to work at a very young age and has been self- sufficient since then. The Immigration and Nationality Act is also known as the Hart-Cellar Act and other immigration groups have shaped my families past by being a diverse community. The different languages used in the U.S. is an advantage for those who are bilingual and there is a high demand for bilingual speakers. Also, the work and wage opportunities there are now available for those with their
At a young age, my teachers and parents taught me to believe that I could do and accomplish anything that I set my mind to. I grew up thinking that I was unstoppable and that the only limit to my achievements was the sky. However, during my second year in high school, I began to realize that I was not as unstoppable as I had thought. I began to experience the consequences of my parent’s decision of bringing me to the United States illegally. Among those consequences were, not being able to apply for a job, obtain a driver’s license or take advantage of the dual enrollment program at my high school, simply because I did not possess a social security number. I remember thinking that all of my hard work was in vain and that I was not going to
My story started the day I step foot in the United State, October 4, 1994. I was lost in an unfamiliar world. My only academic guidance was my father who was a Certified Nursing Assistant. My new family was also composed of my stepmother, my 16-year-old brother, my 10 years old, and my 4 years old sisters. I spoke very little English, and my body was experiencing a culture chock for the first time of my existence. Finally, I was given a counselor while
If you don't have adequate income on your own, you may still qualify for a mortgage with a co-signer. Parents or a significant other can co-sign if they meet the qualifications for the loan and earn enough to afford the mortgage. You might qualify for an FHA loan that requires only 3.5 percent down and will allow the down payment to come as a gift. Such an FHA loan has acquired the nickname "kiddie condo loan" and has been used by parents to finance their student's college pad. Parents and students both can invest in the home rather than throwing money away on rent.