The United States Senate is again debating competing immigration plans with less than a month remaining before the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program is set to expire. The Trump Administration has indicated it will require the president’s border wall and broader border security measures to be a part of the solution, even as a majority of Americans say they believe the so-called Dreamers here under DACA should receive legal immigration status.
It is a disquieting time for the people who are living with that uncertainty in their near future. They live in all parts of the country, including here in Milwaukee.
One local Dreamer is UW-Milwaukee student “Frida” - she asked us to change her name because of her concerns about what might happen if DACA ends with no resolution to her status.
Frida moved to Wisconsin when she was two years old, brought by her parents from Jalisco, Mexico. Her family settled in Lake Geneva, and later she moved to Milwaukee to go to college.
“After being in the United States my whole life [DACA] was the first proof that I actually had some sort of legal status. It gives you a sense of security in a way," she says.
Frida has taken up many leadership positions during her time at UWM and will be graduating with her bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Spanish with a minor in French this May. “I wanted to set the example for other undocumented students," she says. "I think it’s really important to be outspoken because then other people who are undocumented are able to see success.”
Frida says her family made a brave decision to come to the United States, and excelling in school and life is her way of giving back to her family.
