Zuriel Godinez remembers a day in 2004 when his parents sent him to play in his village in Mexico. Usually he had chores to do, but they insisted he play with his cousins ​​and friends instead.

He hadn’t realized it would be the last time. He was 8 years old.

Godinez, along with his siblings, were brought undocumented to the United States the same week. His family eventually settled in Gallatin.

While he was old enough to remember life in Mexico, the United States also became his home. He was the only Latino in his elementary school class and had to learn English quickly.

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“I remember my sophomore teacher didn’t speak Spanish either, but she had a Spanish-English dictionary,” Godinez said, quick with a smile and an easygoing laugh. “That’s how we communicated for the first two months.”

Another day in his memory happened 10 years ago: June 15, 2012. On that day, then-President Barack Obama announced a program to protect young undocumented immigrants like him. .

Suddenly, Godinez felt less alone.

“I learned that I was not the only person who had this story,” he said.

Over the next decade, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program opened doors for Godinez in her life and career. Although he is deeply grateful, he is also exhausted from multiple attempts to upend the schedule. Nor was it designed to allow him to become an American citizen.

The back and forth of it all sometimes leaves Godinez feeling detached and at odds. He struggles with guilt because of the opportunities he has been given. But he is also tired of seeing immigrants like him used as political bargaining chips.

“We’ve been in limbo for a very long time,” Godinez said. “I did everything right, but there’s no way for me to ever be a citizen.”

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A way forward

Godinez was 16 that day in June 2012, still in his pads after high school football practice. When he checked his phone, he was enlightened by text messages from his family about the program, known as DACA. It provides social security numbers, renewable work permits, and deportation protection for people brought to the United States illegally as children.

Godinez applied right away. He was licensed the same year and renewed his DACA license every two years. He is currently one of approximately 645,000 DACA recipients – with an average age of 27 – in the United States.

About 1.9 million immigrant children are considered “dreamers,” another name for those brought into the country as minors based on failed congressional proposals called the DREAM Act. Not all Dreamers are eligible for DACA.

The program allowed Godinez to get his driver’s license and work legally. It also allowed him to obtain bachelor’s and master’s degrees, as well as financial aid from the non-profit organization Equal Chance for Education.

Last year, he landed a job as an analyst for an international automaker.

“It’s so much fun,” said Godinez, who is now 25. “I love that.”

Now, a Texas federal case threatens to upend DACA again.

DACA faces multiple challenges

Obama established DACA by executive order as a temporary measure in hopes that Congress would pave the way for citizenship. DACA, meanwhile, has been beleaguered for years amid fierce political debate and legal challenges.

Former President Donald Trump spent years trying to bring down DACA. The battle reached the United States Supreme Court, which upheld the program in a June 2020 decision.

On his first day in office, President Joe Biden signed an executive order strengthening DACA.

“The dreamers are Americans – and I want them to know they have an advocate and an ally with me in the White House,” Biden said in January 2021.

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As the Texas case continued, new applications to the program were halted last summer — a move that directly affected one of Godinez’s family members who had hoped to apply.

While there are benefits to DACA, Godinez said just applying is a leap of faith. This requires sharing sensitive information such as when and where someone crossed the border and details of undocumented family members. The reality that a legal challenge or a president could overthrow DACA also constantly cropped up.

Godinez said he was keeping his options open, with a backup plan in case DACA disbands. He compared the situation to a game of Jenga.

“I’m just waiting for the blocks to fall,” he said. “I’m grateful for the program…but it could go down anytime. Anything could knock it down.”

Businesses and leaders are pushing for a permanent solution

Earlier this month, on the program’s 10th anniversary, IBM, Uber, Apple, Microsoft and 43 other companies and trade associations sent a letter to Congress, asking lawmakers to agree on a permanent, bipartisan solution. .

The letter said in part:

As employers and professional associations committed to a strong American economy, we highly value the contributions of Dreamers within our workforces and communities and reiterate the urgent need to provide them with long-term certainty and stability in the only countries they know as their “home”.

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A separate group of business leaders, also with offices of U.S. senators, pushed for favorable legislation this month, said Dan Gordon, vice president of the National Immigration Forum, an immigrant advocacy group based in Washington, DC.

“The business community has been very strong in supporting DACA recipients and Dreamers,” Gordon said. “Companies realize that they rely on these workers and how much they contribute.”

A 2019 study by the New American Economy, a research fund, showed that the DACA-eligible population earned $23.4 billion in 2017, up from nearly $19.9 billion in 2015. Another analysis in 2020 by the Center for American Progress, a nonpartisan political institute, showed that DACA recipients and their households pay $5.6 billion in federal taxes and $3.1 billion in state and local taxes each year.

While Godinez acknowledges that the ups and downs have tested him over the past 10 years, he also feels compelled to share his story in hopes of inspiring others like him.

“You are not alone,” he said. “We are all in the same boat.”

USA Today contributed to this story.

Find journalist Rachel Wegner at [email protected] or on Twitter @rachelannwegner.