DREAMer deportation, new immigration policies worry DACA students

By Olivia Olander
GSS Correspondent

SAN DIEGO — High school is a time for making dreams about the future. But the first deportation of an undocumented student protected under the so-called DACA program has shattered expectations for some.

USA Today reported last week that Juan Manuel Montes, 23, who has lived in the U.S. since he was nine years old, was seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection Feb. 17 after having dinner with his girlfriend in Calexico, California, on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Despite having been twice granted deportation protections under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program created by President Barack Obama and left intact by President Donald Trump, Montes was deported and is now living with relatives in western Mexico.

However, according to The Washington Post the Department of Homeland Security disputes that Montes was protected under DACA, saying that he lost his DACA status by leaving the United States without permission “on an unknown date prior to his arrest.” DHS also disputes the date of Montes’ deportation, saying he was arrested on Feb. 19, not Feb. 17, as he was trying to cross the border back into the United States.

The National Immigration Law Center has filed suit against the Trump administration, saying that it “failed to provide any documentation to explain the legal basis for sending (Montes) to Mexico” even after his lawyer filed a Freedom of Information Act request.

The Montes case has triggered worry among U.S. non-citizen residents protected by DACA — also known as DREAMers — across the U.S.

In Encinitas, California, 134 miles east of Calexico, a 17-year-old undocumented student at San Dieguito Academy lives in constant fear of her family being deported.

“I’m scared that if they go to work and they don’t text me that they get there, that they probably already got sent to (Tijuana), or I won’t be able to see them at night because they’re not here anymore,” said the student, who asked to remain anonymous due to these fears.

The student said her family’s preparations for such a possibility have made the situation feel more real.

“It did affect me when my parents told me that they already signed a guardian release to my aunt, because they know it’s that real that they’re gonna be taken,” she said. “They go to work, they see (law enforcement) pass by, and they freeze because they feel like they’re going to get pulled over.”

New “implementation rules” released Feb. 21 give Immigration and Customs Enforcement and border agents more power  to deport undocumented immigrants (see related story: “Breaking down today’s new immigration rules“). 

Any undocumented immigrant who commits or is suspected of a crime could be subject to deportation. The order could affect a huge group of undocumented people in the U.S. — about one million, according to the White House, or up to eight million, according to the Los Angeles Times.

President Trump has promised to support those illegally brought to America as children and protected under DACA. The far right website Breitbart reported that Trump told the Associated Press last week that DACA students can “rest easy” because “this is a case of heart.”

However, the new rules have caused concerns for many young people across the country who are undocumented or who have undocumented family.

Students from the Latina DREAMers club at York High School in Elmhurst, Illinois, denounced the new immigration rhetoric.

“I don’t agree with Trump’s updates on the immigration policy — specifically, the deportation of illegal immigrants,” said Julissa Lozano, 17, a member of the DREAMers club, which organizes Spanish heritage events and discusses social issues relating to the U.S. and Mexico. 

“Deporting illegal immigrants that are hardworking, married and have kids that are legal is cruel and unjust,” said Lozano. “Forced separation will definitely result in emotional and financial chaos for the family left behind.”

The increased enforcement has sparked new fears throughout immigrant and Mexican communities, said 18-year-old Edith Reynaga, who heads the club. “I’ve heard many stories of people being torn out of their homes, even at work.”

“I’m lucky enough to not have that fear of being taken out of my home, and both my parents are legal, but I sympathize with (those who are undocumented) … because they’re my community,” Reynega added.

York students say Trump’s policies and behaviors regarding immigration have diminished their opinions of him overall.

“Although he might be beneficial for the United States’ economy, he is not my president, and his political campaigns are not beneficial for our nation at all,” said Iqra Shaikh, 18, a York High School student whose parents immigrated from Pakistan three decades ago.

However, not everyone agrees with this assessment of Trump.

Dominic Zamora, a 17-year-old at San Dieguito Academy, said that the U.S. needs a clearer path to citizenship but that “not enforcing (immigration policy) makes us look weak.”

“When (undocumented immigrants) get sent back, people say the laws are unjust or racist, but the thing is, people (who are undocumented in the U.S.) knew the consequences of their actions,” Zamora said. “They knew very well that the would be risking their security and their entitlements that they could have as a citizen.”

Zamora believes illegal immigration is “not fair to people who go through the system … because they do all the work, and there’s all these people that are just crossing the border.”

—GSS correspondent J.J. Hennessy contributed reporting, video and photo.

CORRECTION: The president of the DREAMers club is Edith Reynaga. Julissa Lozano is a club member.