I’ve called Utah home for the last 19 years. In that time, I have seen our immigrant community grow and thrive, but I have also seen the ways harmful legislation has prayed on us because of our immigration status. From seeing families in our communities be torn apart by our unjust and broken immigration system to fighting to get a dear friend and community member back after being deported, I witnessed the pain inflicted against families, including my own.
The Dream and Promise Act and the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, two bills that the House voted to pass recently, could begin to repair the decades worth of harm inflicted against immigrant communities by providing a much-needed pathway to citizenship to over 4 million immigrant young people, TPS holders and farm workers.
As a DACA recipient, I have felt in limbo waiting for the courts to decide my fate. Any day now, a judge in Texas is set to rule on DACA and could decide to rescind the program, leaving me and roughly 650,000 other immigrant young people at risk of deportation. The Dream and Promise Act and the Farm Workforce Modernization Act would change everything. If made into law, the Dream and Promise Act would allow me to visit my dad who I haven’t seen for 3 years, continue building my career and continue giving back to our community in Utah. Most of all, this bill would give me some peace of mind over my safety and my family’s future.
Congress and the White House have a moral and political obligation to pass these two bills, which the overwhelming majority of Americans support, including those right here in Utah. Bold and inclusive immigration reform is needed now. Passage of these two bills is a great beginning.
Angelica Guzman, Salt Lake City
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