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I know some of these “Dreamers”

dreamers

A map of Mexico as it was in 1794 is displayed as young immigrants and their supporters rally in support of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) in Los Angeles, California on September 1, 2017. A decision is expected in coming days on whether US President Trump will end the program by his predecessor, former President Obama, on DACA which has protected some 800,000 undocumented immigrants, also known as Dreamers, since 2012. / AFP PHOTO / FREDERIC J. BROWN (Photo credit should read FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images)

A New Zealand-born priest working in Brownsville, on the border between Texas and Mexico says, “I know some of these dreamers who are going to be phased out” because President Trump has rescinded the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)

Father Tony O’Connor relates the story of one the Dreamers he knows. She is Mexican but came to Brownsville with her mother Rosita, and older sister when she was a small child:

Like the Central American kids who pass through the Valley Carmen is full of life and promise.

As a volunteer in the parish, she has participated in Summer Youth Programmes as a leader, has been a catechist’s assistant and as well has worked with her mother in the parish food kitchen and food bank.

When she turned 18 she applied for DACA and answered convincingly the many and difficult questions presented to her.

With her E.A.D (Employment Authorization Document) she began working long hours at a restaurant while she was finishing high school.

She now works at a bank and will be starting College soon. She wants to get some sort of law diploma so as to work for the government But she won’t be able to do that because she isn’t a US citizen. What a girl!

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Image: Catholic Herald/Getty Images

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