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Children and youth who came with undocumented parents to this country are anxious about their fate under a Trump administration if President Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program is reversed, Suman Guha Mozumder reports
Chirayu Patel, a resident of Chicago, has renewed his temporary work permit a few times since 2012 when the Ahmedabad-born living in the U.S. as an undocumented immigrant got authorization to work under President Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA program.
Patel, who arrived with his parents in Chicago when he was 11, became illegal soon after their arrival due to what he described was a visa screw-up by the immigration attorney. Since then, Patel has lived in the city all these years, finishing high school and college as undocumented, and since 2012, been working for an accounting firm thanks to DACA.
Narrating almost a similar tale is Moses Peris of New Jersey who came from Bangladesh with his parents, seeking asylum that was never granted. Like Patel of Chicago, Moses managed to finish high school in Jersey City and got an undergraduate degree in business administration from St. Peters University some two years ago. After receiving DACA, he is working while studying for a master's degree.
When the DACA temporary work permit came, both of them thought the measure was a huge step forward because it allowed them to utilize their education, to be able to work and most importantly, took away the threat of deportation. "All these years in college, I never disclosed my status to my peers, never took part in any college events. I have been so traumatized throughout college because of my status! It was for the first time after I got DACA in 2012 that I breathed a sigh of relief that I was not going to be deported to Bangladesh from where we wanted to escape," Peris said.
But that sense of safety gave way to anxiety and uncertainty after Donald Trump, who vowed to crack down on 'illegal' immigrants, was elected president last month.
Although Trump has not indicated so far that he will revoke President Obama's executive orders (which include the one on DACA) a sense of fear and anxiety has gripped DACA beneficiaries.
"While we...