Dreamers leaving the US may lose DACA coverage.
Photo: SANDY HUFFAKER / AFP / Getty Images
By Ana Milena Varón
LOS ANGELES, California – Two “dreamers” traveled to Mexico to regularize their immigration status, but were met with refusal and a 10-year banishment. Efforts to bring them back to the US have been unsuccessful and activists are now urging these immigrants to make “well-informed decisions” before leaving the country.
“When it comes to immigration processes, you have to consult with at least three specialized lawyers, and learn about the risks of the process,” Karina Ruiz, director of the Arizona Dream Act Coalition, told EFE.
He adds that immigrants, even if they are protected by protection programs, must make “well-informed decisions” when they are trying to regularize their status or “they may end up living a nightmare far from home.”
The warning comes after the two recent cases of the young Karumi Durán and Ana Rafael Cruz, protected by the Deferred Action program (DACA) and that They went to Mexico to regularize their status because they were married to US citizens, but their requests were rejected by the State Department authorities.
What’s more Mexican women were punished for 10 years, time in which they will not be able to return to the United States due to having previously entered the country undocumented.
A separation that becomes eternal
Added to the migratory journey these young women are experiencing is the fact that efforts to return them have not borne fruit.
Not even the intervention of congressmen has served to make that they be granted a humanitarian permit to enter the country.
Massachusetts Senators Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren and Representative Lori Trahan have fought to bring back Rafael Cruz, who came to the country at the hand of his mother when he was 7 years old.
In the case of Durán, Congressmen for Texas Pete Sessions and Silvia García have made requests to the Government of the President, Joe Biden, to allow the young woman to return to the country and be reunited with her nine-month-old baby and her husband, who is they stayed in the country.
USCIS denies humanitarian permission
Jéssica Domínguez, Durán’s current lawyer, explained that recently Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) denied a humanitarian emergency permit (“parole”) so that the young Mexican could return to the country.
“They do not consider that the separation suffered by this family is an emergency,” criticized the lawyer.
From Mexico City, Durán told Efe that these have been the most painful days of his life as he had to be separated from his family and explains that at the moment he cannot take his little girl to Mexico because he does not have the resources to guarantee their well-being in there.
“These are very sad times, this is a nightmare,” Duran emphasized.
Rafael Cruz is experiencing a similar situation, who was stuck in Mexico this May when the United States consulate in Ciudad Juárez denied him his application for permanent residence because he was married to a United States citizen.
They recommend seeking a second opinion before returning to your country of origin to apply for your visa
“I’m not going to lie, but sometimes I feel desperate, scared and alone,” said the “dreamer” in a message on her Facebook page, where she asks DACA recipients like her to seek a second opinion if recommended. return to your country of origin to apply for your visa.
In this sense, Ruiz recommends that “dreamers” should ask the lawyers for the “percentage of success” in similar cases.
Roberto Reyes, Durán’s husband and who made the request for his wife because he is a US citizen, acknowledged to Efe that they only consulted an immigration lawyer, but assured that the lawyer never told them that they could face a scenario with no exits like the one they are experiencing .
Ruiz added that all the cases of those protected by DACA are different and that in the “details” are the options to regularize the status, especially when they have deportation orders that were suspended for the benefit, or when young people applied for immigration protection. being minors, among others.
Having lose DACA protection
Durán and Rafael Cruz’s list of concerns also includes the fact that they may lose DACA protection.
But that is a problem that will be resolved later because the “most important thing today is to return them to the place that they consider their home and where their families await them,” Domínguez said.
The lawyer again called on the Biden government and the Secretary of National Security (DHS), Alejandro Mayorkas, to allow these young women to return to the country.
