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DACA recipients Blanca Margarita Molina, Jose Luis Saldana Cortes and Emilia Janeth Almanza Quistian gather for a photo Saturday, Jun 20, 2020, at a mural in downtown Laredo.
Photo: Danny Zaragoza/Laredo Morning TimesDACA recipients Blanca Margarita Molina, Jose Luis Saldana Cortes and Emilia Janeth Almanza Quistian gather for a photo Saturday, Jun 20, 2020, at a mural in downtown Laredo.
DACA recipients Blanca Margarita Molina, Jose Luis Saldana Cortes and Emilia Janeth Almanza Quistian gather for a photo Saturday, Jun 20, 2020, at a mural in downtown Laredo.
DACA recipients Blanca Margarita Molina, Jose Luis Saldana Cortes and Emilia Janeth Almanza Quistian gather for a photo Saturday, Jun 20, 2020, at a mural in downtown Laredo.
They can be your neighbors, friends and even your teachers. Recipient of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) are spread throughout the community.
Although there are no clear numbers of how many DACA recipients reside in Laredo and Webb County, the state of Texas reportedly has more than 100,000 of the 700,000-plus DACA recipients in the country, according to figures presented by Congressman Henry Cuellar (TX-28). Two of these individuals are Emilia Almanza, who likes to be called Janeth, and Jose Luis Saldaña Cortes, who likes to be called Joe. As young women, DACA has helped them tremendously.
“DACA means that I’m able to provide for my son and my family in a way I couldn’t before. It means an opportunity to fulfill my dreams and it keeps me safe in a way,” said Almanza, who is a teacher. “It has helped tremendously because it allows me to work and it protects me from deportation.”
Almanza points out that she anxiously waited to know what decision the Supreme Court would make this past week as she knew that her entire way of life was on the line.
“Before the decision I was extremely vulnerable and sentimental,” Almanza said. “The day of the decision I was in a training for summer school at that time, and I love my language, so as the Supreme Court was making the decision I was told I was going to be teaching in Spanish and I felt a lot of happiness in my heart. After the training, I checked my phone and I saw that the decision was ruled in favor and I started crying of happiness, because I felt saved and as if I could breathe again.”
READ MORE: Cuellar and DACA recipients share views
Her sister felt a similar sigh of relief when she heard the news. However, Cortes hopes this temporary fix does not make lawmakers stop looking for a permanent solution as she knows that another struggle is bound to happen.
“I could go on forever as to what my hopes for DACA are,” Cortes said. “Just like our parents or guardians that brought us into this country might have never seen the end to their sacrifices, I will not see the end of my hopes for DACA to continue opening doors not only for equality but also equity that is well deserved for us. I hope DACA one day does become permanent but with more freedoms and rights given to us. I hope one day our parents will get some type of justice relief for themselves as well not only for their children. Just as Dreamers have experienced a sense of protection under this roller coaster government, I hope our parents will too.”
According to Almanza, going to college was hard due to her having to do so in the shadows. She paid much of the tuition and fees that universities charge because she counted as a foreign student and she could not apply for financial aid.
Nevertheless, DACA provided her with a chance to capitalize on what she learned throughout her college career with a job here in Laredo while also supporting her son that was born while she was still a student.
“I’m currently an elementary teacher, and I started college when I was still in the shadows and I decided to apply and get into college because I found out I was pregnant my senior year in high school,” Almanza said. “So even though I was illegal, I wanted to get my education because in my eyes everything can be taken away except your education.
“I knew that if one day I was not able to work here in the United States, I could always go back to Mexico and work over there, so school has always been very important to me. When President (Barack) Obama signed the DACA back in 2012, I was in my last semester to graduate with my associates degree. DACA was my green light to get a job legally and further my education as well as to provide for my son.”
Almanza shared her story on how she was brought into the country at a young age. She does not remember anything that happened before coming to the United Sates since she was brought into the country before turning 2 years old.
READ MORE: Laredo confirms 20 coronavirus cases, ending record week of positives
Cortes also offered an in-depth look into her story about how she came into the country and into the hands of people she did not know. However, she said it was hard finding out in high school that she was undocumented as it limited her aspirations and opportunities.
“I was brought to the United States at the age of four without me knowing I would be waking up to complete strangers in a complete unknown home,” Cortes said. “My mother, who I didn't know much of, came for me later that day. I didn't know much about her since my grandmother raised me since birth. After giving birth to me, my mother left to work in the United States to provide for her parents and, of course, her own child. She did so because of financial problems.
“I didn't know English at all and had to learn it as I went through my educational journey. By fifth grade, I spoke perfect English. I graduated from elementary, middle school and high school with many achievements on my belt along the way. I didn't know I was undocumented until the ninth grade. After knowing that I knew that many doors would eventually close but kept on with my studies anyway.”
However, both believe they have made their mother proud. Cortes believes she shares major similarities with what her mother went through as DACA allowed her some sense of security in working and being in the country. But it is only temporary and could be taken away, whichs President Donald J. Trump expressed a desire to do in the past.
“I was raised by a single mother, and now that I’m a single mother myself I can see what she went through trying to raise not one but two children on her own in a country that it’s not hers,” Almanza said. “My mother did everything she could as best as she could so my sister and I were able to succeed, and she’s more than happy with what we have become. However, it makes me feel guilty in a way because I have privileges that she does not. It breaks my heart that she has to work so much and so hard for so little.”
As for the future, both Almanza and Cortes hope that a solution for DACA recipients is found. They hope they are allowed to find a pathway to permanent residency along with a solution for people that do not qualify for DACA such as their mother and others that could not apply for or attend college at the time in efforts to finally feel completely safe and not just for the time being.
For their futures, Almanza hopes she can continue progressing as a teacher and provide an education for her child that continues to excel in every single way in school like she once did. As for her sister, Cortes hopes she can follow in the footsteps of her sister who was the first in the family to graduate from college, and she also wants to get a career like hers.
“We love this country. We have lived here for so long,” Almanza said. “We have proved that all we want to do is work. However, we still have a long way to go and we will be resilient.”
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