‘They Have Your Biometrics’ ~ Ongoing ‘DACA Drama’ Forces Some to Avoid Renewing Status

[dropcap size=big]T[/dropcap]he federal program that protects hundreds of thousands of young adults in the United States from deportation has become the most frustrating political football in the country. A wide majority of American voters want these kids protected from deportation, but Republicans in Congress and the White House continue stalling on legalizing them.

The turmoil that has gripped the program known as DACA is now pushing some of its recipients to avoid renewing their status while the Trump administration approaches another deadline on how to proceed with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.

The L.A. Times reports that nearly 9,000 people have lost their DACA status for failing to renew since the White House threatened last year to end the program. An estimated 694,000 people who were brought to the United States as children are currently protected under DACA. Of those, approximately 230,000 are here in California.

For many, fatigue and stress over how the government will handle their future has given way to a sense of resignation. With a volatile president, anything could happen to the program — even though a whopping 70 percent of Americans currently agree that DACA recipients should be given permanent legal status in the country.

Yosimar Reyes, a poet, DACA recipient, and artist-in-residence at Define America, told L.A. Taco on Monday that while his own renewal is still one year away, he understands the feelings among some of the DACA folks who just feel like “giving up.”

“They have your biometrics, so if they wanted to find me, they know where I’m at,” Reyes said. “So a lot of people are scared of that. And also the application is 500 dollars — so basically you pay the government 500 dollars every two years so that they don’t deport you.”

But, he added, “the advantages is, one, you have a working Social [Security Number], so a bitch can work.”

“There are a lot of people who are just … over it,” Reyes continued. “Right now, it's a fucking mess. It's like a DACA drama.”

Still, despite the uncertainty, thousands of new applications for DACA have come in during the first quarter of the year. Read more here.

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