New America Media
Chando Kem, 21, is in a good place, now that he applied and received acceptance from the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a program that grants certain undocumented youth temporary relief from deportation, a social security number, and a permit to work.
A confirmation of petition acceptance for his application to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) employment authorization renewal . (Photo: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Since it was launched by President Obama in 2012, DACA has benefitted the lives of over 680,000 people like Kem so far, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services data.
As a former server, Kem was robbed of overtime pay, since he was undocumented. Today, he works as an ambassador for Long Beach Community College, a job that hits closer to home for him because he can help guide other students like himself.
Free from deportation, and with a better job, Kem now has thing most people take for granted: a driver’s license instead of the AB 60 license, which states “Federal Limits Apply,” may lead to profiling.
Only 21 percent of eligible Asians have applied for DACA, compared to 77 percent of Latinos, according to a report by the Migration Policy Institute that looks at immigrants from the top four counties in Asia and the top 12 countries in Latin America.
“We’re culturally more reserved and more timid to talk about undocumented status,” Kem explained. “Culturally, it’s [seen as] a shameful thing to come here illegally.”
The Migration Policy Institute estimates there are 152,000 Asian immigrants who are eligible for DACA, the largest concentration of them in California.
Kem was a Dream Summer intern this past season, where he worked to educate people in API communities about DACA.
For all its privileges, DACA does have its limits. It costs $465 to apply and also to renew, and beneficiaries can apply to travel outside the country only for humanitarian, educational, or job-related reasons.
http://newamericamedia.org/2015/10/does-daca-make-you-more-dateable.php
