DACA recipient Erika Castro yearns for a time where her parents would not have to bother about deportation and separation from their kids. It would take a US president finally introducing the promised law that would offer a way of achieving citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants in the United States of America.
As for Castro, that time would offer indescribable joy. In a recent rally, Castro urged White House members and Nevada’s congressional delegation to take action on US immigration reform. In the recent rally around the Foley Federal Building and US Courthouse, Castro said that it would make the lives of the immigrants considerably better.
The demonstrators urged Nevada legislators, particularly Senator Catherine Marie Cortez Masto, to put forward legislation addressing the relief. That rally happened on the day in which President Biden demanded action, with both parties’ support, for a way of achieving citizenship in a recent naturalization ceremony.
As per Biden’s remarks, his legislative proposal would cover people who were illegally brought to this nation as children, undocumented individuals with TPS grants and farm employees. Nevertheless, the president’s comments only came close to the proposal he has endorsed, with a broader option of applying for legal immigrant status and seeking citizenship for almost every immigrant.
Earlier this year, the president and congressional Democratic Party members proposed an immigration overhaul with an 8-year-long pathway to US citizens for those millions of undocumented immigrants. Republican legislators not only stopped the effort but also criticized the Biden government for the increase in people trying to go across the US-Mexico Border with no visa.
Castro stated that the Biden government made many promises, like earlier presidents, and that people like her exist to remind it that it cannot forget about them. The undocumented groups of people, which include essential workers, put their lives at stake to keep this nation going. When making the earlier statement, Castro noted that they did not get federal COVID-19 relief despite risking their own lives to achieve that.
No Democratic administration or Republican government did anything for the immigrants, said the DACA recipient while expressing cautious optimism on the Joe Biden government. Castro highlighted the need for immigration reform, albeit the Biden government does not attack the immigrants like the earlier administration.
Castro was just a 3-year-old as her parents left the capital of Mexico for the US in search of a better quality of life for her here. Castro said that her parents went through jobs in which they were exploited due to their immigrant status.
With a legal immigrant status, they could get better opportunities in life, as well as shed the fear of police pulling them over or leading a paycheck to paycheck lifestyle.
Nine years ago, the US granted Castro deferred action as per DACA, a policy made through President Barack Obama’s executive order. Back then, Castro no longer feared expressing her opinions frankly and openly. Still, what Castro has is a federal permit to reside and work in the US on a biannual basis.
While the Donald Trump government tried to make it stop, it has undergone court challenges.
The immigration status of the family did not let them visit Mexico when Castro’s grandfather became ill two years ago. So, an emotional Castro told the other demonstrators that it was up to her to inform her mother of the old man’s death. She asked the small gathering whether such heartache is imaginable for them.
As for Castro, the United States of America is her home, the place where she grew up, graduated, fell in love and experienced a broken heart. Castro also told them that she expects to see her country of birth and family again at some point in the future.
The US does not allow DACA recipients to visit their countries of birth. Karla Ramirez, too, told the gathering about her inability to see her grandfather in Mexico before he died.
A Make the Road Nevada organizer and an ex-DACA recipient, Ramirez was just a one-year-old child as she came to the US with her parents. She has not returned since, so she had to see the funeral of her grandfather through video calling technology.
Ramirez got permanent residency only in the recent past, but she still belongs to a family of people with different immigration statuses. That is why she said that she is still fighting for the immigration-related cause as well as forcing Congress to grant citizenship for everyone.
