Thousands of applications for DACA are at a standstill. One of them is Victor Vazquez's
Download mp3 (9.96 MB)On the July 27 episode of The Show, we heard from Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient and activist Karina Ruiz, who has been living here under the program since its inception a decade ago. She’s also one of the plaintiffs in a case that’s awaiting an appeals court decision right now and that will determine the future of hundreds of thousands of DACA recipients like her.
As that case plays out, new applicants to the program are on hold. And that brings us to 22-year-old Victor Vazquez.
Vazquez is a 'Dreamer' who’s been in the United States for two-thirds of his life but has never been able to qualify for DACA. Now, his application sits waiting at the Department of Homeland Security.
Vazquez’s parents brought him here when he was just 7 years old, and he said he remembers the experience, but he was just a kid. As a kid new to the U.S., he had a hard time in school; he was bullied.
When he originally applied for DACA, he couldn’t come up with the documents to prove he was in the United States on June 15, 2012 — one of Homeland Security’s requirements. So when he graduated high school with no legal status, he didn’t know what to do next. Without DACA, he couldn’t get a job. College didn’t seem like an option because he would have to pay out-of-state tuition that he couldn't afford.
The Show spoke with him about his experience, and he said it was a trying time for him.
