Dreamers, or young undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children, continue to face an uncertain future after Congress approved a budget compromise deal Friday but offered no legislative solution for the rescinded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy, or DACA.
Among those could be facing deportation after nearly a lifetime in the U.S. is Mo, who originally hails from Mexico and identifies as LGBTQ. In the Human Rights Campaign video above, Mo said he is “terrified” of having the future he planned reversed at any moment.
“The United States is my home. I live here; my entire life is here. I have a future planned out in my head,” the University of Chicago student said in the clip. “I don’t know anyone in Mexico. Going back would really mean just me arriving without any kind of plan. So it’s terrifying.”
When President Donald Trump ended DACA in September, he gave Congress until March 5 to extend protections for the nearly 800,000 Dreamers residing in the U.S. The president and others lawmakers continue to use March 5 as a target deadline ― with no resolution in sight.
HRC’s Director of Outreach and Engagement Alejandro Avilés told HuffPost his organization aims to “change hearts and minds of anyone willing to listen” with the release of the Feb. 6 video.
“As a gay man and the son of immigrants, I understand how difficult it can be to listen to public servants dehumanizing the type of people who raised me. This is unacceptable,” he said. “Their stories compel voters and elected officials to recognize their humanity and acknowledge they are just as American as I am.”
HRC, Avilés added, is currently mobilizing its network of “equality voters” to “continue to demand passage of a common sense, bipartisan Dream Act” to protect DACA recipients like Mo.
