WE ARE AMERICAN’: WE STAN JESUS CASTRO ANDDACA

‘WE ARE AMERICAN’

We Stan Jesus Castro and DACA

by Arianna Balderamma

“W e grew up with you. We grew up with your kids. We’re your neighbors. You're working with us. We are American. It's really important for us to stay here because this is what we know; it’s our home.” Since the Trump administration took office, a large target has been the immigrant community. Trump has made countless efforts to stop DACA and other services that benefit immigrants. Earlier this year, Trump defied the Supreme Court by rolling back the program and not accepting new applicants. DACA, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, began under the Obama administration. It allows for temporary protections from deportation for people who migrated into the U.S. at a young age. It provides a green card for those children, and the program has helped over 700,000 total. Applying for the program costs about $500, and in order to renew an application, one must apply five or six months before the expiration. The process seems straightforward and simple. However, under the United States’ current administration, the fight to keep DACA is something of a struggle. The July 2020 Memorandum rolled out by the new administration changed the original format of DACA. According to the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, the program is now only allowing for people who have had DACA to be granted the protections, and new applications are being denied. Recipients are also being denied advanced parole, which is a permit that allows for people to travel internationally. Instead of the protections expiring every two years, it has now been changed to one year. With such high expenses related to applying for and renewing DACA, in addition to legal fees, it has become even more costly. “We have been fighting for the DREAM Act for around 20 years. The DREAM Act would give citizenship to children that came from other countries when they were really young and would provide a green card and eventually citizenship. But, what DACA did was to provide temporary protection for two years. You will be protected from getting deported, and you will get a work permit. But, the goal of DACA was to have temporary protection, and the next step is the DREAM Act, but we have not seen that yet. And I don't think we're gonna see it anytime soon, to be honest,” Jesus Castro expresses. Castro moved to the United States from Sinaloa, Mexico when he was 13 years old. He now works as a community organizer in Conservation Colorado as well as volunteering with multiple nonprofit organizations. The reason for his decision to move to another country lies within his safety and comfort, as is the case for a lot of migrants. Castro stated because of his sexuality, he felt safer in the U.S. than in Mexico. However, he didn’t come out to his family until he was 24. “I always knew that I was different. I always think back to the way that I express myself, the way I walk, the way I talk. Everything. By the time I was 24, I was like, ‘I can't hide it anymore. I'm so sick of not being able to be myself.’ I was too afraid that after I told my parents, that they would look at me differently.” Coming out is difficult as it is. However, among the Latinx community, machismo culture is prevalent and can amplify negative feelings toward the LGBTQ community. Machismo culture is “aggressive, masculine pride” that suppresses femininity among men. In other words, it is similar to toxic masculinity. The concept of a strong man ruling all is present throughout many cultures, creating unsafe environments and ideas surrounding the queer community and women. “Some people act differently because of who you are, and that makes me sad. But that doesn't stop me from doing my job because my priority is still to support my community.” DACA has opened up a multitude of opportunities for Castro. He received DACA when he was in his early 20s. Before that, Castro couldn’t drive or attain a decent job. On top of

that, he had to pay for out-of-state tuition. DACA is truly one of the few resources available to the immigrant community. In addition to the 700,000 people benefitting from DACA, another 1,000 to 1,000,000 people were either too young or too old to apply for the program when it closed. Trump's attacks on immigrants continue: There have been restrictions to asylum seekers and pregnant women, banning people from countries with a predominant Muslim community from entering the states, reducing admissions of refugees, attempting to end the Diversity Visa Program, implementing a wealth test on for immigrants, pushing deportation, attempting to strip the citizenship of children of immigrants who were born in the U.S., and more. One of the countless claims made by people against immigrants is that the community is taking jobs away from non-immigrants. This has proven to be untrue. This statement is called the lump of labor fallacy. In economics, this explains the false idea that there is a limit to jobs available. The Journal of Public Economics found that DACA increased the participation in the labor force and pulled many families from the bottom of the income distribution. DACA raised demand and production for U.S. products and services where recipients of the program reside. “I have been hurt a lot with everything that's going on with immigration, and when they keep join with above, but I can't just be sad and not do anything. So I, no matter what, I always keep going, even at the hardest moments. Being a part of the Latino and LGBTQ community, people throw so many things at us every single day just for existing, and all we can do to get up, and brace, and keep working. I think that's the reason I'm strong. I'm aware of others because of my identities because I see so much and have suffered so much that I just keep working and get up in the morning.” Castro works for multiple nonprofit organizations in Northern Colorado. His advice for people is to look into organizations that assist immigrants in their community. There are also organizations that assist people financially when applying for DACA. Another simple way people can support the community is through educating themselves on these issues. One cannot always rely on members of a certain community to keep informing you and eliminating your ignorance to issues. Take initiative yourselves, as well. Google is free. “As much as I love talking about this, it gets really tiring to tell people why DACA is important every single day of my life. I love talking about it, but it's not my job to explain to every, single person around me. People should go online and get educated because that's really important.” Castro is also working on Fuerza Latina, which will help DACA individuals financially and through information. The organization will also provide legal help. “I would like to say that I am really proud of my different identities. I am proud to be a gay, Latino man, and I am proud to be a Dreamer.”