Should I Keep DREAMing? An Undocumented Vision For The Future

By Manuel Ramírez

Like many college students this summer I have an internship; others would be excited about the opportunity. I on the other hand had to be worried. I had to fly to half way around the country for my internship, and am undocumented.

I was petrified at the idea of flying and risking deportation. My Mexican passport surely looked suspicious to TSA and I knew that at any minute they could ask to see my ‘other” visa, which I do not have. Any minute I could be detained.

I’m a straight A student, I graduated third  in my high school class, and made it into one of the best universities in the country, but I had to worry about whether I would even be able to stay in this country if I were detained.

As I waited to be checked by TSA I glanced at the television to my right only to see reports about President Obama’s decision to stop deporting undocumented students. Constant text messages and Facebook notifications about the President’s political announcement half-filled me with happiness and a sense accomplishment – accomplishment because the immigrant community had finally received an opportunity for undocumented students to legalize their status. However, I have mixed emotions about the President’s decision to give administrative relief to undocumented students, an action that would immediately affect individuals that are in deportation proceedings or have ever had contact with ICE. The decision would allow undocumented students to gain a two-year work permit, but only after meeting certain requirements which include having been here since the age of 16 and not be over the age of 30; have graduated high school, have a GED, or served in the military.

While this was a courageous step by President Obama to fix a piece of our country’s broken immigration system, it is only a temporary solution. But why did he choose to use his presidential power now? With elections being held in five months, he knows he needs the Latino vote, the fastest and largest growing ethnic group in the US, to win the upcoming presidential election. Call me cynical, but to me it is clear that making a bold decision is only a political one. The same happened when Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln withheld it only for political reasons. These political chess moves that play with the lives of real people have been carried out by many of our presidents. Politicians only appeal to the common folk when reelections are on the line and later forget about us after being reelected. It reminds me of growing up in Mexico, during elections the PRI and PAN parties handed out rice and beans in exchange for votes.

I guess I should be happy to have such a “progressive” president, I mean he does support the idea of gay marriage and is now offering a temporary relief for undocumented students to legalize their status, right? But I know all of these decisions are part of the reelection show. I feel this is short-term solution to fix the broken immigration system. The President’s decision bypassed review from courts and has little chance of being implemented as proposed. For now, I am happy that this opportunity has been given to the immigrant community, but we will continue to organize until something is done permanently.

Personally, I may benefit from this decision, but the immigrant community as a whole is still struggling. I will still be heartbroken the day my parents are deported because of their immigration status. While this is a step forward to get to our end goal of legalizing the status of 11 million undocumented immigrants, our plight isn’t finished.

For sure, this decision will help some students, however, this is only a short-term solution and it is unclear that this decision will extend past the Obama administration. I know this decision will help place me in a stronger position to win broader change for the immigrant community, then piecemeal policies that still allow my parents, friends, and family to be deported and divided.  This may be a game of politics, but I for one will not simply be a pawn in this game of chess and we as a community will hold those in power accountable by rallying and pressuring until something is done permanently.

Manuel Ramírez is a student at the University of Texas at Austin and an organizer for social justice in the central Texas area.