I want to teach in NC schools. Why does Trump want to deport me?

Two and a half years ago, as a student at Meredith College, I wrote a column in these pages urging lawmakers to pass legislation protecting the country’s more than 700,000 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients like myself, and give all Dreamers a secure future here in America.

Since then, I’ve graduated with a double major in psychology and education, gained my teacher’s license, and won a prestigious Newman’s Own fellowship. I’ve spent the last year working for the SeriousFun Children’s Network, a charity that runs free summer camps for children diagnosed with serious illnesses. Last year alone, we helped more than 154,000 young people fight illnesses ranging from cancer to Crohn’s disease.

Unfortunately, Congress hasn’t been so productive. Two years after President Trump revoked DACA, they’ve passed no legislation to protect Dreamers. Now the Supreme Court seems ready to end the program once and for all and allow the White House to deport young people like me.

That terrifies me. I’ve lived in America since I was 7, when my parents brought me here from Guatemala. I grew up feeling completely American, and proudly reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in school alongside my U.S.-born friends. But I also grew up knowing that I was undocumented, and seeing how scared that fact made my parents.

As I was finishing high school, I began to see even more clearly the challenges I would face as an undocumented immigrant. I didn’t qualify for financial aid or in-state tuition, but thanks to DACA I was able to get a legal job. I worked overtime in a supermarket and as a medical interpreter to pay tuition at community college, sometimes sleeping in my car in order to get from work to my classes on time.

After two years, I won a Golden Door scholarship and transferred to Meredith College — a life-changing experience. I found I loved teaching, started volunteering at a student-run preschool for children with autism and then spent my final semester teaching fourth grade at Southwest Elementary School in Durham.

Teaching gave me a deep sense of purpose, and now that I’ve graduated, I’m determined to spend my life helping others. I’ve spent this year visiting camps and medical facilities across the country to make SeriousFun accessible to people of all backgrounds — both immigrant and American families who have never been able to afford summer camp for their kids.

When I complete my fellowship, I want to return to North Carolina and teach in local schools, helping to alleviate our state’s chronic teacher shortage. That might not be easy: while I have a valid teacher’s license, I’ll have to renew my DACA status this spring, right around the time the Supreme Court is due to issue its ruling. That means I could wind up without legal status as soon as this spring, or — if I’m able to renew before the ruling — that I might be left able to work legally for just two more years until my status expires.

Either way, few principals are going to want to hire me knowing that I might not be able to stay long-term. I’m a fully qualified teacher, but without a permanent solution for DACA, few schools are going to want to take that chance.

The bottom line is that if the court rules against Dreamers, it will hurt American children. I’m not the only DACA recipient who longs to teach: an estimated 9,000 teachers nationwide will be removed from classrooms if DACA is revoked, along with another 11,000 assistant and trainee teachers.

If the Supreme Court allows Trump to cancel DACA, my dream of teaching and helping others will disappear along with my legal status. If that happens, my parents — who can’t bear the idea of sending me to a country that I hardly remember — want me to stay, and help out with my father’s construction business.

I’m grateful for their support, but I don’t want to live in the shadows. My dream — my very American dream — is to spend my life in the classroom, empowering children to realize their potential. But we’re running out of time for Congress to take a stand for Dreamers. The Supreme Court decision is coming; please don’t let us down.*

This story was originally published January 2, 2020 at 12:00 AM.