DACA recipients can legally live and work in the United States.
ADRIAN FLORIDO, HOST:
More than 500,000 undocumented immigrants who arrived in the United States as children are protected from deportation as DACA recipients. It does not provide a path to citizenship, but beneficiaries can temporarily stay and work in the United States. But as the November election approaches, many are starting to worry. Aspen Public Radio’s Halle Zander reports.
HAL ZANDER, BYLINE: Luz Galavez is waiting to board a flight to Mexico City at the Salt Lake City airport.
LUZ GALAVIZ: This is your home. But at the same time, it feels like a foreign country to you.
ZANDE: Galaviz, an elementary school teacher in Level City, Colorado, hasn’t been to Mexico, the country of her birth, since first leaving 25 years ago. She was 5 years old that year.
Galaviz: I was imagining the landing there, looking at the buildings and the architecture and the people, like we talked about. I really wanted to learn more about the culture.
ZANDER: DACA recipients are not allowed to travel abroad. But Galávez applied for and received permission to attend a meeting of Mexican leaders. She can do this through a special license called advance parole. That means the agency that issues green cards and other visas allows her to travel internationally for a period of time. This allowed Galaviz to continue to seek a safe identity in the United States upon his return.
Galaviz: I’ve met with attorneys in the past just to understand where I am in the process, but I don’t know. This is a very tricky situation. It may be another type of work visa.
ZANDER: DACA does not provide a path to citizenship. However, trips like this can actually help DACA recipients like her get the next best thing. When immigrants cross the border without Customs and Border Patrol, they have no record of their legal entry, which is required for most green card and visa applications. However, in the case of early departure, passengers need to pass through the airport, and when returning, they will be questioned by customs and check the box. For many, this is a step in the right direction, but come November, it may no longer be considered.
Julia Gellart: I think if President Trump is re-elected, he will try again to end the DACA program.
ZANDE: That’s Julia Glatt from the Migration Policy Institute. She said that in 2017, former President Trump tried to repeal DACA, and his application for early parole was not approved. But legal challenges protected the plan. Glatt said Trump may be more successful next time because he may have learned from previous mistakes.
GELLAT: Part of the reason his move to end DACA was blocked by the courts is that he did it through a fast-track process rather than going through a full regulatory process. I expect that a future Trump administration may try to end the program in a more permanent way.
ZANDE: If Trump takes office again, Gellart said, many DACA holders may try to make emergency early parole applications in the coming months. But early parole does not guarantee someone’s return. It is issued by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. But the agency that checks travelers at the border is customs, who ultimately decide who can or cannot enter the country.
Gellart: So I can imagine, in the early days of the Trump administration, it would have been pretty scary if someone was traveling abroad on early parole through DACA and not knowing what changes were coming.
ZANDER: Even people who are on advance parole now experience a lot of anxiety because their return is not guaranteed. Galaviz experienced a wide range of emotions during the trip.
Galaviz: Seeing people, it made me think about all the reasons people leave, like why my parents left.
ZANDER: She passed customs last month and returned to the United States safely. Galaviz laughs easily, but becomes deeply melancholy when looking ahead and talking about the upcoming election.
Galaviz: I was petrified.
ZANDE: But Galaviz is used to waiting for election results like this while living his life. For NPR News, I’m Halle Zander.
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