Local family’s story highlights DACA uncertainty

By Andrea Bruner, White River Now

For more than 20 years, Josephine has never felt like she’s belonged.

She works a full-time job, pays for childcare, and files her taxes on time, but she also lives in fear that on any given day, she or her husband Alex could be taken away and sent back to a country they have not laid eyes on in years.

Born in Mexico, Josephine (Josephine asked that her real name not be used) said her dad worked at a factory until 9/11. The business closed, and suddenly, the family couldn’t afford to pay their rent. Unable to find work, they made a hard decision.

They would come to the United States, and as Josephine put it, her parents were firm in their belief that what was over here had to be better than what they were leaving behind.

Her mother came over first.

With the help of a “coyote,” she walked through the desert for days without food or water. She arrived with thorns in her shoes and cuts on her legs, but it was a start.

Josephine’s dad was going to bring her over with him, but he decided the lake they had to cross was too deep for Josephine, so she instead crossed with another family, pretending to be one of their children so no one would look too closely. As it turns out, no one would even ask any questions as their group came through.

They arrived at a sketchy-looking motel near the border before moving on. There was family in Arkansas, and with that, the promise of jobs — jobs that would not only mean Josephine’s parents would be able to support their family but also support their sick mothers back home.

Josephine was 11 at the time.

She was placed into public school, not knowing a word of English, which meant she had no way to communicate with teachers and students.

“I didn’t struggle as much as Mom did,” Josephine said. “Coming to this country was hard because of the language barrier but also because we were leaving family behind in Mexico. It was better here, but it came with a high price. My parents always thought they would see my grandparents at least once more,” but Josephine said her grandparents have since died.

“It was scary,” she said. “I got lost on my second day of school when I was riding the bus –- I got off at the wrong stop, and I was lost. I started walking up and down the streets. A lady picked me up, but she didn’t speak any English or Spanish. To be honest, I don’t know if she spoke Vietnamese or something else. She took me to her house and called someone who spoke English, but I didn’t speak English, so we had no way to communicate. The guy she called said ‘police,’ and I understood that. But they loaded me up, and as we were passing the streets, I recognized my street, and I pointed.”

When she got home, her mom asked, “What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be at school,” but Josephine could only cry. She didn’t want to go back.

But of course, she did go back, and she soon learned how to navigate the buses. Josephine said she only had one hour of ESL (English as a Second Language) classes daily, which wasn’t enough.

“I couldn’t ask for help –- I didn’t know how,” she said. “I tried to understand and get my classwork done, but the only thing I was good at was math. Everybody recognizes numbers.”

She said her teachers and classmates were always welcoming to her, however, and if people said anything negative at school, she couldn’t understand them, anyway.

Her parents were always working. They didn’t have time to learn the language, so they couldn’t help their daughter. However, by ninth grade, Josephine had picked up enough English that she was eventually asked to translate for two new students who spoke only Spanish.

Josephine laughs now at the idea.

“I remember sitting in English class with one in front of me and one behind me, and we were supposed to read Shakespeare. Imagine that! And I said, ‘I don’t know what we’re doing, but we’re supposed to be reading, so let’s pretend to read.’”

Her senior year, Josephine’s mother was diagnosed with parasites in her brain and would need surgery. She spent 17 days in the hospital, and Josephine had to translate for her mother. She missed enough school that she fell behind, but not so much that she couldn’t graduate.

After high school, she worked restaurant jobs to help her parents pay the bills.

DACA and Dreamers

“When I was 18, I was able to apply for DACA, and that is permission to work and be here legally. You have to renew every two years, but you get a Social Security number and a work perm [work permit], and you can get your driver’s license,” she said. “Until now, I never feared as much as I’m fearing right now.”

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is a U.S. immigration policy that, for some undocumented individuals who came to this country as children – sometimes referred to as “Dreamers” – allows them to continue to live and work in the U.S. while the program remains in effect. It does not provide permanent legal status or a pathway to citizenship, but it grants a two-year period of deferred action from deportation. Current DACA recipients can continue to renew their protections and work authorization, while new DACA applications are still blocked due to ongoing court challenges.

After she received DACA status, she went to work at LifePlus, then she met Alex at one of the Hispanic church congregations in town. The two married and now have a family of their own.

Josephine said she had wanted to work in an ESL program because her own ESL teacher was so kind and put so much effort into helping the students that Josephine wanted to be just like her.

Through a friend at church, Josephine learned of a job opening where she would directly work with families in the Hispanic community. She already knew some of the other employees there and was excited about the possibility of helping families.

Alex’s path to the U.S.

Alex’s story is somewhat different, although his path wasn’t easy, either.

One of seven kids in his family, Alex had to drop out of school in ninth grade because his family couldn’t afford the tuition.

“In his country, you have to pay to go to school,” Josephine explained.

His mother went from door to door seeking odd jobs like doing laundry (by hand); sometimes, she begged neighbors for food. Once, she received some expired food but that was all she had to feed her children.

To make matters worse, Alex couldn’t find a job in his hometown, and his dad kicked him out.

So, Alex set out by himself to come to the United States just before he turned 18. He got caught two or three times in his attempts to cross before he was successful. He, too, struggled to learn the language but learned enough to get by.

But getting by isn’t enough anymore.

Josephine said she has lived here for more than 20 years now and fears that she could be sent back to Mexico.

“When the president took office, it started a lot of rumors about people getting deported. Then we had the raids. To be honest, that was something I was not expecting, for the kids to find out that way,” she said. “I have always talked to the kids and let them know that we’re not from here. I point out our cultures, and I tell them that one day, we’ll hopefully go visit and come back. But when we had the raid here, everything went downhill, and everybody was scared.”

Last month, more than 200 people were arrested who came to the U.S. illegally in a joint operation between federal and state agencies, and this is just a fraction of the immigrants who have been arrested around Arkansas.

Josephine wonders every day if she or someone she knows will be next.

“My husband and I have a plan, and we have talked to the kids, especially nowadays.”

She said they have plans in place if Alex is deported, or if they both are, and who will take the kids and what steps they will take next.

Mommy, should I be scared?

Josephine said she knows most kids are worrying about making their sports team and fighting over who has to load the dishwasher and things like that. She said the possibility of one or both parents being forced out of a country they’ve called home for 20 years is an adult worry that no child should have to face.

She said one of her children came home recently and said a classmate was crying at school, afraid that when he got home from school that day, his parents wouldn’t be there to greet him.

“I had to talk to my kids and remind them we have a plan, and then we go over the plan. My older one wanted to cry, and I had to say, ‘It’s not happening, but we are preparing for the worst.’

“My little one doesn’t really understand, but she knows her friends are scared. She asked me if she should be scared or not. I told her not to be scared, that whatever happens, we’re going to be OK. Even if they come and take us, it’s not like we’re never going to see each other again. We’ll just be apart for a little bit -– then we’ll be reunited. We’re a family, and we’re always going to be a family.”

The families Josephine works with often look to her for guidance.

“I’ll be honest –- I feel helpless. I feel helpless because I’m in the same position as them. In the beginning, I wanted to help others, especially the Hispanic community, especially the non-English speaking ones. Now, I feel my hands tied -– the only advice I can give them right now is to talk to a lawyer, to ask questions – as many as they can, but lawyers cost money. …

“I don’t have the words to cheer them up and tell them everything will be fine because I don’t know if it’s going to be fine or not. I think, at this point, we’re all in the same boat. Even some of my friends who were born in the United States are feeling scared that their families could be broken apart, or they don’t know if their parents are going to be here for much longer. It’s very sad and very hard for everybody.

“It’s not fair for kids to have to go through this trauma. … There are always two sides to every story, and many people only see one.”

Possibility of a U visa

Not long after the birth of Alex and Josephine’s first child, someone tried to break into their house while they were in bed.

Josephine locked herself and the baby in the bathroom, pulling the shower curtain rod down in case she needed to defend themselves against the would-be intruder while Alex watched the door. The person knocked on doors and windows all around the house, then made another pass in an attempt to get in, this time using some of Alex’s tools to try to force his way in.

“We called 911. It took forever for them to get there, and the guy was gone when they arrived. We couldn’t even open the door to let the police in because the guy had pushed it so hard,” Josephine said.

“We filed a report, but due to that, we were able to apply for a U visa, which you can do if a crime is committed against you,” she said.

Congress created the U visa as part of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 with the intent to encourage immigrants to report crimes to law enforcement.

The U visa is a status set aside for victims of certain crimes, but it can take years to get.

“So we are in the process of getting that,” Josephine said. “We didn’t know until three years ago that we could apply for this. I also have my work perm, or work permission.

“Even with all of that, there’s no guarantee that I won’t be pulled over and ICE can take me, even though I haven’t committed any crimes.”

Undocumented immigrants aren’t usually eligible for federal benefits like SNAP, Medicaid, Medicare, federal student aid, and TANF (welfare).

“We pay our taxes, Alex and I pay Social Security, even though we won’t be able to get it,” Josephine said. “We file our taxes every year. We don’t get the Child Tax Credit or the Homestead Credit even though we own a home. I pay for childcare, and I pay for my kids’ lunches because we don’t qualify for free or reduced because of our status.”

Now, Josephine and Alex are faced with a new regulation from the Department of Homeland Security, in which everyone living in the U.S. illegally will have to register with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The registry will be mandatory for everyone 14 and older who doesn’t have legal status and provide their fingerprints and address.

“It feels a little like during the (Nazi period),” Josephine said. “It’s funny how we can have compassion for other countries and other people, but not our country and the people here.”

While she knows the Holocaust mass killings are not the same as deportation, she said the sentiment behind the policy decisions feels the same.

“This is how it began.”

Discrimination

Nationwide, she feels the discriminatory remarks and public policies directed toward Latinos.

“When they say illegals, they aren’t talking about illegals from Europe or Asia or Africa – they’re talking about illegals from Central America, Mexico, those south of the border,” Josephine said.

“I want people to know we are not criminals. We don’t even remember how it is where we used to live. I want people to know we’re hard workers. We try to help our neighbors, no matter their race or color. If we see our neighbors having trouble mowing their yard, Alex will go and mow it at no charge.”

Josephine said she recalls one time she was at the laundromat with her family, cracking jokes with her parents and minding their own business, when a white woman walked by and sneered, “You’re in America -– you need to speak English!”

“I knew enough English to know what she said,” Josephine said.

“This country is beautiful because of its diversity. We have all races here. Everybody is learning from others. That was the only time I felt discriminated against. I cried; my parents didn’t know why I was crying, and I didn’t tell them because I didn’t want to hurt my parents.”

Now, Josephine tells her children, if they hear comments like that, to let them roll off their backs.

“It’s OK,” she reassures them. “We’re all the same in God’s eyes. You don’t have to look like me, and I don’t have to look like you. We’re unique. I tell them not to be afraid to speak Spanish because speaking two languages is a gift, that not everybody has a chance to learn that.

“My kids are now doing the same thing I was doing back in junior high and high school – translating for others. I am very proud of them. … I have always told them, ‘If you see someone struggling, help them out, because once that was your mom and that was your dad, struggling with the language.”

“They are very blessed to be born in this country, but at the same time, they have to take a look back at what their grandparents had to do,” Josephine said.

“This is a place we don’t belong, but we’ve lived here for so long it’s home,” Josephine said.