JOHN WALLACE: For many, the dream is over

How would you like it if, right now, there is a knock on the door and rapid fire shouts to open the door are sounded and then the door is shattered and the room is filled with gunmen who order your family on the floor and then they step over them and handcuff you and drag you out of the door.

You ask what is going on and are told you told, “You are going home, amigo.”

“What are you talking about, home is the place you just dragged me out of. The place I bought with the money I made working at the factory.”

You say to the local cop accompanying the ICE men, “Bobby, what is going on? We went to school together, we were on the same team in Little League, we were in the Boy Scouts together. For crying out loud, I’m married to your sister. What is happening?”

“Sorry (insert your name). According to this paperwork, this was never your home.”

Now, I am sure most of them know they are illegal. They must have heard the stories from their parents. How they traveled here from some god forsaken place across the desert, carrying you, with no food or money, doing whatever they had to do to get here. And they did it for you, their bebe, their hijo. Like any parent, they wanted what was best for you. So you could have a better life. Better than they had.

They got here, got a job and raised your brothers and sisters, who were born here, and they made a life for themselves. They worked for below minimum wages, in intolerable conditions but they stayed off the skyline, under the radar, in the shadows. They did what they had to do for you. This is the only life you have ever known.

What if that happened to you? Unless you are a Native American, your ancestors once landed on these shores and carved out a life for themselves. In America, the land of opportunity. And before you even say it, Immigration was not restricted until 1924, so that’s why your relatives did not enter this country illegally.

Now that dream of a better life is under attack. The United States attorney general has announced that DACA is being rescinded. In order to save America and preserve the Constitution. “There is nothing compassionate about the failure to enforce immigration laws.”

If that was true that would be hard to argue with. Yes, illegal aliens have committed acts of crime and violence, but that’s not who we are talking about with DACA. You have to pay a $495 fee to apply for a two-year renewable permit that allows them to remain, if they qualify.

In order to qualify, you must submit a form with your personal information. Your records are then scrutinized to assure that you have lived here prior to 2007, you are either attending school or graduated high school, or have an honorable discharge from the military. Have never been convicted of a felony or serious misdemeanor or any three misdemeanors. That doesn’t seem unreasonable.

President Trump has been conflicted on this. He made a promise to get rid of it, now he is not sure. So he sends the AG out to make the announcement. But gives Congress six months to make it a law.

So what is really going on?

President Trump promised he would get rid of DACA and he wants to be seen as a man who can be trusted. So now he passes the ball to Congress and they can either catch it or drop it. It’s called passing the buck.

Is this payback? For Mexico refusing to pay for the wall. Or is this a bargaining chip to get the funding for the wall. I understand politics but, these are not people who just snuck in here. These are people we grew up with, that we know, like and trust. We gave them something and now we snatched it back. We went back on our word. That’s not who we are. That’s not a square deal.

Or, is this just doing away with everything President Obama accomplished? This is no way to run a country. We need to move forward, not backward. It’s called progress. Is this how we “Make America Great Again”? By throwing law abiding, tax paying people out of the country? At least they pay taxes.

Hopefully Congress will do the right thing.

John Wallace is a resident of Lee County.