Some Brief Thoughts On DACA
From the moment the first settlers of Jamestown decided they'd move from what would become the UK to what would eventually become the United States of America, being an American has been synonymous with being a risk taker. At so many points in our nation's history being an American in the best and boldest sense of the word has meant being a risk-taker. So how can we deny that DREAMers are Americans?
When DREAMers were presented with an opportunity to lead a better life they took it accepting and embracing the huge risks that came with it. Nearly 800,000 undocumented immigrants who had spent many years in this country boldly made a choice to stop living in the shadows and in order to do so they took a huge risk. They gave up valuable information about themselves and in exchange they received chances to improve their quality of life and it all began with a risky decision. How is that not American? How is it that we continue to deny what is so plainly true about DREAMers? Each DREAMer is an American. They have gone to our schools, served in our military, and worked our jobs. They made a choice and they decided to chose us. Now it's time that we make a choice and choose them. Being an American often means rejecting the status quo for the sake of moving up and few people have embodied that choice more than DREAMers have.
In less than an hour our President is going to go and make an announcement. I hope that he'll make the right choice. I hope he'll choose to take a risk and potentially upset some of the lesser members of his base and instead actually decide to truly unite Americans, independent of their citizenship and/or their immigration status. If President Trump wants to be the sort of American who improves our country and chooses to become the leader we deserve needs he will start by bravely rejecting the xenophobia of some of his base and by showcasing that this is a nation of opportunity where we value talent and where we value those who are determined to make a better life for themselves even if it means taking bold risks.
DREAMers are Americans in the best way possible. And we as a nation need to show them and the world that "American" is an earned title and that actions can make someone deserving of that. By defending DACA we do just that. By defending the DREAMers who boldly chose us we do that. By allowing those who work in our stores, by allowing those that attend our schools, and by celebrating those who defend our nation we do that.
As a defender of DACA I am boldly standing by my fellow Americans. As a defender of DACA I am protecting those who took risks I never had to. As a defender of DACA I am standing in support of individual self-determination and accepting that Americans are not all the same and that some Americans lack citizenship and lack documented and legal immigrant status but that they are no lesser American than I am. I am unapologetically standing with some of the finest members of my nation and some of the bravest people I've ever known when I defend DACA including soldiers and individuals who dream of becoming soldiers for our great nation but would be denied that chance by a draft-dodger who now thinks he can decide who is fit to serve and who isn't. And I will never stop defending DACA because it and the DREAMers it benefits are remarkable individuals who've earned the right to consider themselves Americans.