Just Noticing: “Observations of a blogger”
Posted by Michelle Moquin on August 18th, 2013
Good morning!
Thanks to Obama, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program is celebrating its one year anniversary. You don’t know what DACA is? Neither did I until I found this write on the Progress Report. All I can say is that this is another feather in Obama’s cap – No doubt his hat is getting full. These are the kinds of things that make a great president. These are the kinds of things that people need to know about.
“Just noticing, again…”
Obama = Saving people’s lives. Improving people’s lives.
7 Stories of Change
One Year Out of the Shadows
Today is the one-year anniversary of the Obama administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, “a presidential initiative that grants temporary legal presence to non-criminal undocumented immigrants who were brought into the country as youths by their parents. The two-year program allows DACA recipients to apply for a social security number, to legally work in the United States, and to pay taxes. It also protects them from deportation. The program has attracted more than half a million applicants. As of August, 430,236 undocumented youths have been approved.”
ThinkProgress immigration reporter Esther Yu-Hsi Lee, herself a beneficiary of the program, rounded up the stories of seven immigrants whose lives have been changed as a result of the program.
We’ll let her take it from here:
Before DACA, these individuals were largely excluded from pursuing permanent, professional employment in the United States. But since receiving their employment authorization cards, many recipients are able to match their skills and qualifications with careers that they never could have had without legal presence. They are able to travel more freely, with many states issuing driver’s licenses, ID cards, and other fundamental privileges previously denied. And they have increasingly become contributing members of society. These are the stories of seven DACA recipients who are already changing their lives, even as they live with the fear that the change may be temporary.
C.P., 28, was nine-years-old when her parents brought her from Mexico. When she was 12 years old, her mother was detained during a raid. “The trauma of having a family member sent away stays with you,” she says. Before DACA, she was worried that she would be separated from her two-year-old son and “felt so stuck.” But after becoming a DACA beneficiary, C.P. was excited to start working as a medical genetics technician. Her temporary legal presence has given her the ability to “pay more taxes” than she did as a low-wage “overworked, underpaid” worker who worked “nights, weekends, [and] holidays.” She now pays for private health insurance coverage for her family and she has been able to buy a car– two luxuries afforded by legalization that directly boost the economy.
Rafael Lopez
Rafael Lopez, 24, was one year old when he was brought from Mexico. Until he was approved for DACA, Rafael did not have a paying job. Now he works as a paralegal at a law firm. “It just feels really good because now I have some money in my pockets…,” Rafael said. “For a short little while, I forgot how much I wanted some sort of a state ID. I just wanted to be able to drive and not worry about getting stopped.” He plans to become an immigration lawyer and looks to his boss who takes on pro-bono work, as his role model. Before DACA, “my dreams were never set in stone,” Rafael said. “It was always an ‘if’… but now I’m not afraid anymore. I feel confident. [DACA] makes me feel empowered. Things are not as bad and I have something to lean on and that’s my DACA.’”
Thelma Monarrez with her familyThelma Monarrez, 25, was brought to the United States from Mexico when she was two-years-old. She works as a legal assistant where “having my own office was a dream come true.” Her legal presence provides her with the opportunity to volunteer at a battered woman’s program, which she previously could not do because she would not have passed a background check. “I can now drive without fear… and take family vacations which I’ve always wanted,” Thelma says. “Basically, my life is a little more ‘normal’…I feel like I do belong somewhere.” DACA has also provided Thelma with a chance to rent in apartment complexes without “having to put a huge deposit down because I have no social security number.” It also gives her a kind of stability that if she lost her job “I can easily look for another [one], which was not so easy before.”
Oscar [last name withheld], 23, was brought to the United States from China at the age of 13. He works at a Detroit-area restaurant and is looking forward to applying for an internship. He dreams of becoming an engineer and being able to “use my skill to help build America, legally.” Oscar says that the most positive thing that has come out of receiving DACA is an improvement in his mental health and an ability to pay taxes. With DACA, Oscar finds that “it’s a [relief] driving my car knowing that I have my [driver's license] in my pocket.”
Blanca GamezBlanca Gamez, 24, was brought to the country from Mexico when she was seven months old. Before DACA, she was volunteering as an immigration advocate. But after DACA, Blanca was able to become a tax-paying, salaried employee at a non-profit immigration advocacy organization. She hopes to become a lawyer one day. Blanca said that prior to becoming a DACA beneficiary, she was “in limbo over nine silly numbers.” But now that she can legally drive and pay taxes, Blanca feels thrilled to be “a contributing member of society.” Although Blanca has never been pulled over, she is happy that she will no longer have to drive “in fear.”
Maria SotomayorMaria Sotomayor, 21, was nine-years-old when her parents brought her from Ecuador. Before she became a DACA beneficiary, Maria worked at a pizza shop. But now she works as a DACA coordinator, helping others file their DACA paperwork within the greater Philadelphia area. Like Blanca, Maria finds that DACA has opened “a lot of doors for me” and even though she had an international license before, she no longer fears “being pulled over while driving” and no longer has to explain to her friends why she used to carry around a passport in lieu of a state ID.
Yesenia Alaniz, 24, was one year old when her parents brought her from Mexico. She currently holds a bachelor’s degree in Social Studies, which inspired her passion to become a teacher. Because of DACA, she is now able to work at a retail store in the greater Las Vegas area to save up for a master’s degree in Education so that she can pursue that dream. She says that having the legal ability to drive has allowed her children to “participate in extracurricular activities,” but that being able to work has given her the freedom to “help my parents out financially.”
C.P., Oscar, Maria, and the rest of these DACA recipients have roots deeply embedded in society, and the impermanence of DACA’s two-year protected legal presence never strays far from their minds. Rafael and his family, for example, have a standing deportation order. While the Obama administration has stated that the DACA program was put into place as a way to shift its deportation focus on criminal immigrants, any one of these recipients are still at risk of deportation if the DACA program ends.
Beneficiaries can pay the $465 fee to re-apply for DACA before their employment authorization cards expire every two years, but the program is simply a stop-gap measure that provides an unsustainable long-term solution. What’s more, beneficiaries can only plan their futures in American in two-year chunks.
All of those interviewed believe a long-term, immigration reform solution is necessary, but none would accept a solution that only provides legalization for undocumented youths, such as the KIDs Act, proposed by House Republicans to grants legalization to a small subset of the undocumented population. That proposal would not provide a resolution for nine to ten million undocumented immigrants who do not qualify for the initiative.
The DACA program could very well be cut by the next president, relegating the nearly half a million undocumented immigrants back to living in a shadow economy. “I don’t want to lose the ability to work,” said Blanca. “That would be the scariest thought and one of the most horrific things that anyone can take away from me.”
BOTTOM LINE: The DACA program has changed the lives of hundreds of thousands of immigrants, but it’s only a stopgap measure and could even be rescinded by a future president. It’s time for the House of Representatives to pass immigration reform with a pathway to earned citizenship for DREAMers and the rest of the estimated 11 MILLION undocumented alike.
You can also check out this video of an event our Center for American Progress colleagues held on this topic today. They discussed the findings from an upcoming report on the progress made so far and the work that remains to be done.
****
Readers: Fantastic yes? Blog me.
Oh…I know that I request that we keep the blog contemporary by posting on the most recent day. (See Rule# 3 “Blog rules of conduct” in the left column) However, I do understand when a write is within your area and you are passionate about the piece, that commenting on the day of the posted write is important for some of you. Which is perfectly fine with me. That being said, because of that I missed quite a few comments from the other day.
Sharon: “Structural Segregation” - that is a new term to me. And yes, that is what it is.
Susan: I don’t see Readers disparage all ”white” people. Nor do I. There are “white” people that I praise. But like “white” people and “men” who already get so much praise from the media, I focus on women and OTWs so that they too can have a strong voice here. So when racism rears its ugly head as it does so often, I’m going to talk about it. And I will continue to talk about it as long as it exists. If people are sick of hearing it, they need to put themselves in the shoes of those that live with it…daily and then see how they like it. Then do something to change it.
Sonja: Nicely stated.
Lewis: How wonderful to read your comment. Men could certainly learn from you four. Not to mention, your mother being such an influence and an inspiration to you. You and your brothers will certainly make that special lady in your life proud. Thanks for seeing the other side, changing, and doing something. Sending love.
A perfect note to end on.
Happy Sunday! Soo good to be here with all of you. Sending so much Peace & Love.
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
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August 18th, 2013 at 9:50 pm
HI Mischa, actually this is for Susan.
Too much, too often about racism?
Go see ‘The Butler’ it chronicles the life of a cotton farmer slave, if the opening about his mother and father doesn’t make you ill then you’ve got no soul. Then you’ll get to see how the black panthers and Martin Luther King and several presidents inside offices worked, frankly, I don’t see how any black person could even like the nicest white person, a huge percentage of us are just racist a-holes and many think ‘ah, get over it’ and then the 5% that were in the audience, (me and I was alone) well, I can’t speak for anyone else but I’ll tell you that I was pissed by the mistreatment, how the F can another human do that to another(??, baffling and lacking in human compassion, and I’d say OTW’s have been putting up with a lot of bullshit for a very long time and much like sexism, it needs to stop, it actually it makes me ill that in 2013 we still have to discuss it, should be a non-issue.
Pathetic.
(and oh, white boys will deserve the ass kicking they’ve got coming…)
& you’ve just got to love it when other whites (our resident racist and there are many like him esp in the South) call whites who just want everyone to live same same ‘N—– lovers’ uh, no, we are human(ity) lovers, thank you very much.
MM blog BABES,
I’m just going to throw this down, how do you feel about minimizing alcohol, coffee and esp sugar/bad carbs (rice/pasta/bread)? I know, it’s a lot to ask but if you can segue into a holistic mode with yourself, you’ll feel the difference in your energy very quickly and your bod will start shedding whatever it does not need (extra pounds) fast also. How about we start with segueing into one cup of caffeinated something a day, green tea or coffee, your call. Alcohol, hmm, can you have 1-2 glasses of vino on weekends only (or 1-2 mixed drinks)?
Think about it….
1/2 hour walk a day everyday this week, preferably during sun index hours, we want vitey D from the sun, the combo of the 2 does more than just provide exercise and D, I’ll give you the scoop when I can figure out how to give you the holistic scoop without being too lengthy.
Start your day with the ‘I love you – name-’ exercise and then I want you to think of 3 things you totally dig about yourself, 2 things your grateful for and give yourself permission to enjoy life (maybe you need to forgive yourself or another before you can do this?)-just a thought, and remember this, when you forgive others you really are saving yourself…they’ll get theirs somewhere else and you need not concern yourself with that outcome…
Luv, Zen Lill
August 19th, 2013 at 7:14 am
Michelle, If only a few more whites could see your point, this would be a whole lot better country.
August 19th, 2013 at 7:20 am
Two comments. Zen Lill thanks for the exercises. You have me watching my english again so I can understand you better.
Michelle, your advice to Susan in America who be just as apropos here in France.
August 19th, 2013 at 7:25 am
Michelle, thanks for acknowledging my boys (Lewis Says:
August 16th, 2013 at 2:18 pm).
They have been much improved by reading your column. Too bad the father can’t learn something. I have been putting up with this male chauvinist for 31 years.
Now that the children are gone, I am leaving this insensitive cretan. My family and Catholic roots kept me in this marriage. I long ago gave up hoping he would change.
My boys encouraged me to seek a more tranquil environment a year ago. Today I do it.
August 19th, 2013 at 7:27 am
Ditto Zen Lill. We are “humanity lovers.”
August 19th, 2013 at 7:32 am
The President is a man with a heart.
August 19th, 2013 at 7:33 am
This is the reason we need diversity in this country. As long as we ONLY white men as presidents we couldn’t get the country to see the plight of anyone but whites.
This man has done more for this country towards equality than all the other 43 have combined.
August 19th, 2013 at 7:35 am
Thank you Mr. President you have allowed me to come out of the closet and to be on my way towards being who I have been since my mother brought be to my country when I was 4 years old, an American.
August 19th, 2013 at 7:37 am
One can not explain what happens to you when you discover that the country that you have considered your own is not 19 years later.
I pray for Obama every day. He has the heart to understand what we are going through. If a white man was president this would have a whole nother ending.
August 19th, 2013 at 7:39 am
Too many people hate in this country. They hate Obama for being not white. He is half white and more of an American than any of them. He is the president of ALL the people, even those of us who from no fault of our own are not citizens of our own country.
Thank you Mr. President
August 19th, 2013 at 7:42 am
Thank you for this article Michelle, and for articles like the one you published yesterday. More light should be shown on the evil that some white in this country do out of pure racism and hatred.
Anyone who reads your blog regularly would know that it is a bastion of ideas and that there are plenty of good decent white people here like Zen Lill who stand for what is right as opposed to what color that right comes from.
August 19th, 2013 at 7:43 am
President Obama is one for the books. History will be his salvation. Right now he is ours.
August 19th, 2013 at 7:46 am
NO one can know the terror of finding out you are considered an illegal by your country. I have lived here since I was two, I am 18. This is so terrifying.
And to have racist whites in my face telling me to go home. THIS IS MY HOME.
What would we do without the compassion of President Obama. He is truly the President of ALL the peoples of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
A lot of white America hate him for that.
August 19th, 2013 at 7:50 am
Drink THIS First Thing in the Morning:
This daily trick can help you detoxify, improve your digestion and boost your metabolism & energy levels
by Mike Geary – Certified Nutrition Specialist
Author of the best seller: The Top 101 Foods that FIGHT Aging
You’re bombarded with toxins in today’s modern world… everywhere from the polluted air you breathe, the water you drink, the shampoos and other cosmetics that lather your body with chemicals, and of course, all of the chemical additives, pesticides, hormones, antibiotics and other harmful compounds in the food that you eat.
All of these TOXINS can have harmful effects on your body, harming your metabolism and hormones, impairing your digestive system, and zapping your energy levels.
If I could tell you ONE thing that you could do each morning right as you wake up to help your body eliminate some of these toxins, improve your digestion, stimulate your metabolism, and BOOST your energy, would you do it?
Of course you would… and it takes less than 1 minute!
Here’s the trick…
Immediately upon waking each day, squeeze about 1/2 to 1 full lemon (depending on size of the lemon) into an 8 oz glass of warm or room temperature purified water. This is gentler on your body first thing in the morning compared to ice cold water. I’ve found that slicing the lemon into quarters before squeezing by hand is easier than squeezing halves.
Drink this at least 10 minutes before eating any food for the day.
Make sure to use fresh organic lemons to make this drink, and not bottled lemon juice. You want to use organic lemons to avoid the pesticides that can accumulate.
3 Major benefits of this morning drink to your body, health, and energy:
According to a leading health publication, TheAlternativeDaily.com:
“The health promoting benefits of lemons are powerful. For centuries, it has been known that lemons contain powerful antibacterial, antiviral and immune boosting components. We know that lemons are a great digestive aid and liver cleanser. Lemons contain citric acid, magnesium, bioflavonoids, vitamin C, pectin, calcium and limonene, which supercharge our immunity so that the body can fight infection.
Lemons are considered one of the most alkalizing foods you can eat. This may seem untrue as they are acidic on their own. However, in the body, lemons are alkaline; the citric acid does not create acidity once it has been metabolized.
The minerals in lemons are actually what helps to alkalize the blood. Most people are too acidic (from eating too much sugar and grains), and drinking warm lemon water helps reduce overall acidity, drawing uric acid from the joints. This reduces the pain and inflammation which many people feel. And the American Cancer Society recommends warm lemon water to encourage regular bowel movements.”
Benefits that you can enjoy:
1. Improves your digestion:
Lemon juice helps your body improve digestion and stimulates bile production. Lemon juice can even be an aid for heartburn and indigestion.
2. Boosts your energy for the day:
Even just the scent of lemon juice has been shown to improve your mood and energy levels, and reduce anxiety. Plus the detoxifying effect and alkalizing effect of fresh organic lemon juice can improve your energy through the removal of toxins from your body.
3. Helps you to lose fat:
Since lemon juice helps to improve your digestive system, aids in removal of toxins, and increases your energy levels, this all combines together to help you to lose body fat as well through improving your hormonal balance… Yet another reason to add warm lemon water to your daily morning routine!
August 19th, 2013 at 7:54 am
Hafa adai Michelle. You advice is always good, but your comments to Susan were especially poignant for me.
I Guam the same way.
August 19th, 2013 at 12:52 pm
AARP Helping You Understand the ACA
As we continue our work to ensure the smooth implementation of the Affordable Care Act, there is much to be done to educate our nation about the health care law and how these benefits will affect Americans and their families.
AARP recently announced new public resources that provide clear information to help Americans better understand what the law means for them and how to access available benefits. One of these resources includes a new online tool called Health Law Answers.
By answering just seven simple questions about where you live, your gender, family size, income and insurance status, a report is generated with benefits that may be available to you and your family and where to find more information. To learn more about specific components of the Affordable Care Act, you can also visit HealthLawFacts.org.
With this landmark law in place, we are holding insurers accountable and putting money back in the pockets of America’s patients. We are reducing costs and strengthening the economic security of families. House Democrats will work diligently over the next few months to ensure that all Americans will benefit from better patient protection, expanded choices, and more affordable health care.
Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi joins with House Democrats for the hearing
‘A Conversation on Race and Justice in America’.
Traveling Abroad?
Recent travel alerts and temporary closures of United States Embassies abroad remind us of the importance of protecting yourself when U.S. citizens travel abroad. You might consider taking advantage of resources like the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program to register your upcoming trip so the State Department can better assist you in an emergency and subscribe to receive updates on Travel Warnings, Travel Alerts and other information for a particular country.
If you’re tired of getting stuck at long Customs lines, consider applying for Global Entry, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) program that allows expedited clearance for pre-approved, low-risk travelers upon arrival in the United States. By signing up for Global Entry, you will be able to breeze through customs when returning to the United States. You can also utilize Global Entry when travelling domestically for TSA Pre Check when you purchase your ticket, which allows approved flyers to receive expedited screening benefits. Global Entry costs $100 for a non-refundable application fee and if approved you are covered for five years.
We must continue our work in Congress to ensure that our planes are secure, our passengers are safe, and U.S. aviation remains among the safest ways to travel. To learn more about how my office can assist with your travels, please visit my website.
Please feel free to forward this information to your family and friends. To learn more about these efforts, to express your views, or to sign up for email updates, please visit my website. I am also on Twitter at http://twitter.com/NancyPelosi.
best regards,