For the past four years, the people who've come to be known as "Dreamers" — those protected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program (DACA) — have been living in limbo. The Trump administration had tried to do away with DACA, and the Obama-era program only survived thanks to a series of legal challenges and court interventions.
Now, President Joe Biden has directed the Department of Homeland Security to take steps to preserve DACA, and he's backing immigration legislation that would grant immediate citizenship to recipients. Despite Biden's stated support, some young people protected by DACA aren't ready to shed their skepticism, including local DACA recipient Allie Rojas.
"As much as I want to believe Biden, I also want action," local DACA recipient Allie Rojas told GBH All Things Considered Host Arun Rath in an interview Thursday. "Because we've been here before. Right now, it's just promises."
If approved as currently conceived, besides granting immediate citizenship to DACA recipients, Biden's plan would create a path to citizenship for millions of other immigrants. But with Democrats holding thin margins in the House and Senate, its passage is anything but guaranteed. Given the possibility that Republicans could win back either chamber in 2022, backers want it passed quickly.
Rojas says that if passed, the legislation would benefit people like her parents.
"As of now, they're still completely undocumented," said Rojas. "I at least have a work permit where I'm able to work. They have nothing. So I really would like for other people, their parents, to also benefit from this."
Unless DACA recipients are granted citizenship, Rojas says that the fundamentals of her life won't change, even with the new administration.
"I am still having to renew every two years and pay over $500 to remain in this country," said Rojas. "We still have to plan our life in two-year increments. I'm still in the same boat until legislation is passed."
