This land is your land. This land is my land. From the American dream, to the endless nightmares. This land wasn’t made for you and me.
For Dreamers under the Trump administration, 2020 has been one long nightmare after another– and they’re not waking up anytime soon. Over the last few years, the Trump administration has been targetting the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) by removing policies meant to protect Dreamers. Most recently, the administration has decided to reject all new DACA applications as of July 2020. They have also decreased the window for current Dreamers to renew their status from two years to one year. The decision was made after the Supreme Court rejected the administration’s plan to eliminate DACA altogether. Reducing the renewal time gives the Trump administration enough time to review the legality of the DACA program. The aim is to find a legal way to ultimately end the program, which will drastically affect the lives of more than 700,000 people. It is unfair and cruel to continue making the lives of Dreamers harder than it already is. This is the only country they have ever known. They do not know of their homeland, the customs, culture, and often times, even their own native language. The United States has always been home, yet they are treated as strangers and criminals by the law. They live in constant fear of deportation to a country they do not know, and perhaps never will. Fortunately for Dreamers, the future isn’t entirely bleak. A bill is being passed called the Dream and Promise Act that would protect Dreamers and give them a path towards permanent residency. It is not a path towards citizenship, but it is a path towards security and stability. At the moment, it waits for Senator Romney and Lee to pass it in the senate for it to go onto the next phase. Until then, Dreamers wait anxiously and in fear. Those of us that can, should work to continue to protect them especially in this political climate.
To my Dreamers: you were raised here, you were educated here, you pay taxes here, fall in love here, get married here, have your families, and raise your children here. Many of you have even served, fought, and died for this country. You are, in my opinion, as American as I am.
As far as I know, this land is my land. This land is your land. From your homeland, to the American highlands. This land was made for you and me.
https://www.woodyguthrie.org/Lyrics/This_Land.htm
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/28/daca-renewals-trump-dreamers-384504
4 Responses to Dreams Are Ceasing Again: New DACA Applications Rejected