Sunday: Young Hispanics apply for deferred action program
BY GINNIE GRAHAM World Staff Writer
Saturday, August 25, 2012
8/25/12 at 3:41 PM
Miguel has never told anyone in his hometown of Sand Springs what he discovered as a teenager.
He was brought to the U.S. by his mother at age 8 without legal documents.
“I was in shock when my parents told me,” said the 19-year-old. “I thought everything would be the same here as in Mexico in terms of rights. I was kind of mad at them because they are the reason I’m here.”
The Tulsa World is withholding his name at his request due to a fear of retribution by immigration officials, resulting in deportation.
Miguel was among about 60 undocumented immigrants attending a clinic hosted Saturday by Dream Act Oklahoma at the Faith Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 2801 S. 129th East Ave.
He is in the process of applying for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which is a program created after President Barack Obama issued a directive June 15 giving relief to a specific group of undocumented youth.
Aspects of the qualifications mirror those contained in the DREAM Act, which is a decade-old measure pending in Congress. It gives a two-year reprieve from deportation and chance to get a work permit and Social Security number.
It does not give legal residency or path to citizenship, creating a type of legal limbo.
The Tulsa clinic allowed immigrants to consult with immigration attorneys Rebekah Guthrie and Eddie Irwin on their applications. In addition to the 6-page application, immigrants are required to provide a host of other supporting documents.
Miguel has since forgiven his parents, understanding why they risked the trip.
“All they wanted for me is to get an better life and education,” he said. “I want to make them proud and worth the effort they went through for me. Mexico was dangerous and violent. A lot of kids get married young and don’t finish school. And it’s easier to get into drugs and gangs. They brought me here to be safe and educated.”
Miguel crossed the border in 2001 from Mexico into Arizona with his mother and older sister to reunite with their father, who was working in Tulsa.
“I was excited because we all wanted to come here for so long and be with him,” he said. “He had been gone so long I could not remember what he looked like.”
Read more in Sunday's World.
Associated Images:
Attorney Rebekah Guthrie (left) talks with a teenage girl about her application process during a forum at Faith Cumberland Presbyterian Church in east Tulsa on Saturday. JOHN CLANTON/Tulsa World
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