Written by: Gabriel Perez Jordan, Cisneros Class of 2023
On November 8th at 11:00 A.M., I joined my peers in the Home is Here Walkout to Capitol Hill to protest against the termination of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. There, we joined students from many other schools, colleges, and universities as we called out our country’s injustices. We were all there for various reasons, but we all had one purpose: for our voices to be heard by decision makers in Washington, DC.
It wasn’t until a friend from El Salvador revealed to me a few years back that she was a DACA recipient that I learned just how much the two-year temporary permit for individuals who were brought to the States as children really meant. Her father had been a police officer in El Salvador and their family had to flee the country because he was being targeted by a violent gang. DACA was the only thing protecting her from being sent back to that level of violence and it gave her access to education, a driver’s license, and valid work permit in the U.S.
Listening to her story shook me to my core. As a Puerto Rican, I could understand navigating cultural differences, but I could not even begin to imagine what it must have been like to live in fear every day due to your immigration status. I had taken for granted the fact that I have American citizenship, but learning about my friend’s story taught me to see now what a privilege it truly is.
So, when I heard that the Supreme Court was going to review the DACA case to determine whether it was constitutional for the Trump administration to rescind the program, I knew I had to be there. The Home is Here Walkout was an opportunity to activate my privilege to stand up against injustice and advocate for the members of my community that stood to lose everything. And where better to do so than on the steps of the Supreme Court?
Unfortunately, the decision on DACA is far from resolved. There are still months before a decision is potentially handed down. I hope to encourage those of you who can to use your privilege as citizens to help support, protect, and lift up those affected. My peers with DACA work twice and even three times as hard just to access the basic necessities that many of us take for granted. To me, it is only just that we make the most of our privilege by exercising our freedom of speech to help those around us and by calling out injustices when we see them. This is what it means to make sure the march lasts longer than just one day and to embody the chant: “This is what Democracy looks like!”
Gabriela Perez Jordan is a first-year Cisneros Scholar in the GW Columbian College of Arts & Sciences. She is originally from Puerto Rico, but now calls New Orleans home. Gabriela’s views are her own and not necessarily reflective of the Cisneros Institute.