Editorial

When we are children, we follow our parent’s footsteps and have little control over most aspects of our lives. We don’t get to choose what we will have for dinner, what our days will look like, and most importantly, we do not get to choose where we live. This concept does not differ among children. As noted by social learning theorist, Bandura, we learn through modeling, imitation and observation of the people around us, mostly being our parents or guardians (McLeod, 2016). Just as the children born in America have done, children who have immigrated here have simply followed their parent’s footsteps.

Imagine this: you are three years old and you are brought to a foreign place without your consent. You lived there for almost your entire life, you have great friendships, go to school every day, and now it is time for you, along with all of your friends, to apply to college. When applying, you need to answer the question “are you a legal U.S citizen?” You are confused and in fact may have never even heard of your parent’s journey to the United States. This is when you find out that in fact, you are an illegal immigrant. You are told that this is no longer your home, you do not have the same rights as your friends to go to college, and ultimately you need to get out of this country.

Before the year of 2012, over 800,000 children were brought into the United States by their parents who were undocumented immigrants (Bush,2017). These parents brought their children into America in hopes of having a safer and more secure lifestyle for their children. However, coming to the United States illegally prevented both children and parents from being able to live their most successful lives within in the United States (Bush, 2017). In 2012, President Barack Obama, recognized that it was unjust for these children to not have the same benefits as others, because it simply was not their fault. That is when he made a statement informing these children that they would now be able to have the same rights as their fellow classmates and were now protected under a program called the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, also known as DACA (CNN Politics, 2017). With these children now protected from living in fear of deportation, it also allowed them to live freely within America, apply to college and seek better job opportunities (Bush, 2017). At this time people were extremely happy and we could all live “with liberty and justice for all.”

In recent news, the new Trump administration is trying to put a stop to DACA which would affect the lives of the formally protected children who immigrated to the United States. How is it, that as a developed nation, we can make a promise to young children regarding their future and then decide one day to take it all away? We must put a stop to this and ensure that these children receive their promise. As future social workers we believe it is our duty to ensure the equal rights of DACA children and their families. We will follow our obligations written in our code of ethics to ensure that we are aware and accepting of all diversity. We will continue to understand culture and its function in human behavior and society, recognize the strengths that exist in all cultures, and we will continue to fight for and strive for each and every person’s right to live their best life (NASW,2008). We stand with DACA, and you should too.