My Economy: A Dreamer caught between DACA and what comes next
There are plus or minus 700,000 people in the U.S. brought here illegally as children who now contribute to the economy legally as a result of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals — DACA for short.
The Obama-era executive order establishing that program was sharply criticized by candidate Donald Trump. Those criticisms are being soft-peddled by President-elect Donald Trump, but DACA participants — or DREAMers, as they’re known — are caught in-between.
Kathia Garcia told her story for an installment of our series “My Economy.”
With DACA, I was able to think a little bit more about my future without hitting a wall. Because I felt like, okay, now I have the opportunity to achieve certain things that, without money, I wouldn’t have been able to. I was able to find a part-time job tutoring at a high school and I wasn’t able to do that before. I graduated with a Bachelor’s in Sociology. I feel like I’ve accomplished a lot and I have been able to help my parents.
Now it’s harder to picture my future with the new election results. I feel like I won’t be able to support my family anymore. We just have to stay strong and this is the time to voice how we feel.
Correction (Dec. 14, 2016): A previous version of this story misspelled Kathia Garcia’s name.
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