Dreamstime
UNHEARD
Poem Composed by David Aguilar, Chantel Barcenas, and Daniela García
No soy de aqui, ni de alla.
My life has brought me to a middle zone,
fluent in two cultures, but neither is my home.
Feeling American in July
yet feeling Mexican in September.
But I’m never enough of either.
I’m expected to like spicy
and to be spicy
but can’t handle the heat.
And when did our customs become a parade
yet silenced in our time of need?
When I was a child, I was deaf to the English tongue,
brought here without a choice, without a voice,
muted by anti-immigrant rhetoric,
separated from my sibling.
Today I am blinded by uncertainty -
Will I ever see my family again?
Will I go to college?
Will I be here next year?
I’m tired of always living in fear, that one day I will have to flee.
Wasn’t this supposed to be the land of the free?
I never want to see my family through fences you’ve built.
Migration is survival not a crime.
I was 1,
11,
5,
when I crossed the border,
before I knew what a border meant.
Now we face the boundary of injustice.
I want to be heard.
I want tuition equality.
I want to be heard.
I want workers’ dignity.
I WANT TO BE HEARD!
I want no fear.
NO PAPERS NO FEAR!
I want to see my family.
I want the American dream.
I want to succeed.
Yet no one has asked me what I want.
In the fall of 2016, David Aguilar, Chantel Barcenas, and Daniela Garcia, three Dreamers who had never met before, wrote the poem “Unheard,” the first three stanzas of which are featured on this page, in collaboration with Crosstown Storybooth and Latino Memphis. Twelve months ago, we were getting out of the summer heat and entering the most heated presidential campaign in recent history. Twelve months ago, most people had never heard of DACA and didn’t know what being a Dreamer meant. Twelve months ago, David, Chantel, Daniela, and approximately 10,000 other Tennesseans, their families, friends, and employers still felt that their dreams would come true.
But on this year’s September 5th, the Memphis Latino community awoke to a nightmare. That was the day that President Donald Trump announced that he would revoke, in six months’ time, former President Barack Obama’s 2012 Executive Order re. Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals — known as the Dream Act — a policy that shielded from deportation some 800,000 young adults brought to the United States by their parents illegally. Unless the Republican-controlled Congress enacts legislation before March 5th, DACA will expire, and the Dreamers will celebrate the New Year by becoming illegal aliens.
DACA was an attempt by President Obama to provide a temporary fix for this particular piece of our outdated immigration system, one that impacted young people brought as children to the United States. Its restrictions were many, but the policy provided an opportunity for unintentional immigrants to continue contributing to American society. DACA recipients had to meet many requirements, going through lengthy processes that included registration, background checks, being fingerprinted and paying fees, to name but a few.
Contrary to what Attorney General Jeff Sessions seems to think, DACA is not amnesty for illegals; it provides clarity for innocents. In no way was the Dream Act proposed by President Obama any kind of “open border” proposal. Unfortunately, those Americans who seem to struggle with the reality of undocumented immigrants also seem to struggle with each and every attempt to document them.
Yes, our Congress has kept kicking the can down the road, first under President Obama and (now) under President Trump. Whatever anyone thinks about the politics involved in his September 5th decision, Congress now must make some kind of final judgment on the Dream Act before next spring.
America deserves a commonsense immigration process, one that includes a roadmap for New Americans who aspire to be citizens, and the Dream Act is a very good first step, one that reflects our values and addresses our needs. We will all be better off when these innocent immigrants can be set up to succeed, when they can work, go to school, start businesses, and start on the road to full citizenship. Nearly a million strong, the Dreamers are essential to a reinvigorated economy, as they become confident, educated consumers, contributing diverse viewpoints and cultures to our country. Eliminating the program altogether is not an option; the alternative is too awful to contemplate.
The only supremacy that we should be talking about these days is “the supremacy of the people through their elected representatives,” as recognized in Article I of our Constitution. All Memphians have an opportunity, and a duty, to impress upon our Senators and Representatives the urgency and relevance of this issue. Passage of the Dream Act is essential, not only for David, Chantel, and Daniela, but for the colleges they attend, for the businesses where they work and shop, for the houses they are renting and buying, and for all of us in this city and region. Fairness is fundamental to our human character and to us as American citizens.
Mauricio Calvo has been executive director of Latino Memphis since 2008. Born in Mexico City, he came to Memphis in 1993 and is a graduate of Christian Brothers University.
