Home » News » One brother got DACA, the other didn’t, and that completely changed their lives

One brother got DACA, the other didn’t, and that completely changed their lives

Jack Miralrio and his younger brother, Owen Miralrio, were born in Mexico and illegally brought to the United States by their mother when they were very young. During their childhood and adolescence, they used to enjoy video games, soccer, and building toy cars. Both excelled at school.

Today, Jack Miralrio, 20, is on his way to becoming a mechanical engineer. Owen Miralrio, 17, is resigned to becoming a mechanic.

His paths differ because Jack Miralrio is a beneficiary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which allowed him to obtain a work permit, a driver’s license and financial aid to attend school. college. Owen Miralrio was preparing the paperwork to submit his application in September 2017 when the Trump administration suspended the program, just days before his 15th birthday, the age he needed to be to be eligible.

“I had to give up my dream career and settle for being a mechanic,” said Owen Miralrio, who lives in Milwaukee with his parents, older brother, and two sisters born in the United States.

Owen is among the 66,000 potentially eligible young people who have been excluded from DACA since the program was suspended nearly three years ago, according to estimates by the Institute for Migration Policy, a research center with no partisan affiliation. Those who had already been accepted, like his brother, have been able to renew every two years, but no new applications have been accepted.

In June, the Supreme Court rekindled the hopes of those hoping to be able to file an application when it ruled that the Trump administration’s termination of the program was insufficiently justified. Although it did not issue an opinion on the legality of the program, the court decided to preserve it at least temporarily for the current 650,000 beneficiaries.

However, the decision left the fate of young people living in the country without legal permission, such as Owen Miralrio, who are waiting to obtain authorization to apply for DACA protection, hanging by a thread.

President Barack Obama created DACA in 2012 to offer temporary legal status to immigrants who came to the United States illegally as children. The program suspended deportation and offered work permits to these young immigrants, who are often called “dreamers,” as long as they met some requirements, including studying or serving in the military, maintaining a record without a criminal record, and having resided. in the United States for several consecutive years.

At its highest point, DACA had 800,000 registered people.

In September 2017, the Trump government announced that it would suspend the program as illegal. Lawsuits filed by defenders and immigrants resulted in court orders that forced the government to continue to accept renewals, but not the new requests that would have allowed young immigrants like Owen Miralrio to enter the program.

Chad Wolf, acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, has said that following the Supreme Court decision the government will continue to process the renewals. However, everything regarding new applications is still in the air. Upon learning of the court’s verdict, President Donald Trump promised on Twitter that he would try again to rescind the entire program, a move that the government could initiate at any time.

Research has shown that DACA has had a transformative effect on recipients by offering them access to higher education, jobs, and temporary protection from deportation. Without DACA, all of that would be unattainable for them.

A 2017 survey by Tom Wong at the University of California, San Diego revealed that 69 percent of DACA beneficiaries got a job with a better salary and 54 percent got one more in line with their education after entering the program. . Many have bought houses and cars and opened new companies.

“The evidence could not be clearer,” said Wong, director of the university’s Center for Migration Policy. “DACA helps create a more prepared and competitive workforce by allowing young people to continue their education, develop their skills, and build the careers they had in mind.”

Those goals are not within the reach of those young people, like Owen Miralrio, who face similar life circumstances, but who do not have access to the guarantees of the program.

The Miralrio brothers’ mother, Miriam Inez, who moved to Milwaukee with her children from Mexico when they were 5 and 2 years old, remembers hearing about DACA for the first time on a Spanish-language television channel. She and her husband, who are living in the country without legal authorization, saved in order to afford the $ 495 fee for Jack Miralrio’s application in 2014.

Once he obtained his work permit and a social security number, Jack was able to get a part-time job with benefits instead of an unstable job to have cash. He also obtained his driver’s license. But most importantly, he was able to plan his college entrance.

“The program is beautiful,” said Inez. “Jack was able to aim as high as he wanted.”

Three years later, Inez helped Owen Miralrio collect the documents to enter his application. Owen had been a brilliant student who even skipped a grade in college. I was motivated to succeed.

“He was suspended just as he became eligible,” Inez said in a broken voice. “As parents, it has been very difficult. We want Owen to have the same opportunities as Jack. “

Owen Miralrio said he felt like he had run into a wall.

“I was going to get a driver’s license,” he said. “I was going to be able to work whatever I wanted. I was going to be able to start studying at the university. ”

Owen abandoned the college readiness route in high school after deciding that it made more sense to prepare as a mechanic.

“College would be too expensive and then I couldn’t have used my degree,” said Owen Miralrio, who graduated from high school in June.

“I know people who own workshops and employ mechanics without papers,” he said in a defeated tone.

His older brother is aware that the differences in their lives today are a coincidence of moments and policies, nothing created by themselves.

“I see a clear picture of my future,” said Jack Miralrio. “After graduating, I will join the workforce as a professional,” while his brother will continue to be disadvantaged, condemned to “live in uncertainty.”

Following the recent Supreme Court ruling on DACA, Jack Miralrio celebrated. But for his brother, that decision will not change anything, unless the government decides to authorize new requests.

“I don’t see any reason to get excited,” said Owen Miralrio.

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