SO sometime this week current admin will decide on whether to continue with DACA, and certain folks already fear that it may end. While some thinkers advocate for keeping it, may be there needs to be a comparison between DACA and other families in similar situations. The latter is what I shall try to do
Lets talk about her. She was a good kid, she never knew her parents were here illegally, she went to school, did her home work, helped around the house, and life was good until the day she announced that she wants a drivers permit, which is probably when her parents told her she can’t have one. Her universe collapsed but was saved by Mr Obama in 2012.
As everyone knows DACA applies to children who were brought in to the US as kids / minors. Many of them are grown up, have had education and old enough to work. Obama admin devised DACA which essentially is a 9 mostly renewable) 2 year work permit. DACA recipients get a EAD which is sufficient to apply for and get work authorization. The standard I-9 forms is satisfied and provided you meet your employers other job requirements, you are free to work. Not only this, you are also eligible to get a SSN .
Something that has been forgotten is the decision/way/means by which these minors entered to US was illegal and unconstitutional. I will admit that I have no data to support the following, but I believe their parents may not have contributed their fair share to economic development of the country. I say this as their parents would have worked without an work authorization, without SSN, and hence not paid any taxes. While they would have contributed to economy by being a customer, I laud them for the challenges they faced of raising a family in US without appropriate ‘papers’.
Now let’s compare this to her friend, she was a good kid, she went to school, did her home work, helped around the house, and life was good until the day she announced that she wants a drivers permit. That she did get but now it was time to apply for college. Wait, she is on H4 – as a child of a parent in US on H1. That means, no matter how long she lived in any state, most states would see her as an international student, she won’t be eligible for any state/federal aid and won’t be able to work after all as she is considered a ‘dependent’ of primary H1 visa holder. While her other parent could/would be able to work but only in certain conditions [ this case is ending in court as of now] she can not as she is not a spouse. She is a kid, was brought as a kid into US. Her parents entered into US legally, with papers, did not break any law in doing so. In fact they went to school, probably got a degree, applied for a job, beat few other people to get one, then a case was put up to Department of Labor / USCIS who approved it, passed the strict US screening, were interviewed and deemed not dangerous and then and only then was she allowed to be in US. She is the daughter of these parents. Assuming one of per parents had a job, they got W-4s, paid taxes.
But she does NOT get a work authorization, why ? Is this fair ?
H1B VISA 