September 14, 2023 • 24 mins
On June 15th, 2012 former President Barack Obama shocked the country when he walked onto the White House lawn and announced the executive order DACA or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. But who made it happen?
On this episode of Out of the Shadows: Dreamers, Patty and Erick explore how behind the scenes a group of undocumented students turned activists pushed President Obama and his administration to pass DACA.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Luis cort Do's r metals in the eighth grade in
San Francisco, and he's excited. He's waiting for his parents
to come home so he can tell them that he's
raised enough money to go on a class trip to Europe.
When this trip first came up, his mom said they
couldn't afford it. That didn't matter to Luis. He started
slaying candy like a middle school version of Willy Wonka,
(00:33):
hustling harder than anyone until he raised enough money to
go on the trip. He's thinking, I can't wait to
see the Eiffel Tower in person. It's no longer going
to be just a picture. His parents get home and
Louise starts jumping up and down telling them all about
(00:53):
his hard work.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Their faces go.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
White because they're about to crush his dream son. His
dad says, we're undocumented, which means you can't leave the
country because they won't let you back in.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Louise is devastated.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
It's the first time he's felt a specific payg.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Of terror he could be deported.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Louise grew up afraid afraid of taking trips, afraid of
taking on the government, afraid to even dream of going
to college until one day he overcame his fears, and
thank god he did. Luis would take many trips, like
one of his first, to attend an affordable college in Idaho,
(01:44):
then law school, and even to the nation's capital, Washington,
d C. Where he would take on the government in
a big way. But before we get to that, we
have to go back to twenty twelve, pivotal year for
Louis and for the country. As President Obama urges Congress
(02:05):
to pass the Dream Act. He takes matters into his
own hands. But what did this actually mean for our
dreamers in their future? I'm Erica Lindo and I'm Patti Rodriguez.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
This is Out of the Shadows, a podcast about America's
tangled history of immigration. Last season, we tackled Ronald Reagan's
nineteen eighty six Amnesty Act. This season, we're tracing the
origins of DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, a
contentious executive order to protect undocumented young people from being deported.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
Issued by former President Barack Obama in twenty twelve. DACA
was meant to be a temporary stop gap on a
broken immigration system. It was like putting a bucket under
a leaky roof, but with multiple Supreme Court challenges and
looming presidential elections, the roof feels like it may collapse
at any moment, impacting the US economy and American culture
(03:04):
as we know it. Meanwhile, the future of millions of
lives hangs in the balance.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
Welcome to out of the shadows, dreamers.
Speaker 4 (03:20):
They are Americans in their heart, in their minds, in.
Speaker 5 (03:24):
Every single way but one on paper, It makes no
sense to expel talented young people who, for all intents
and purposes are Americans, have been raised as Americans, understand
themselves to be part of this country. Effective immediately, the
(03:45):
Department of Homeland Security is taking steps to lift the
shadow of deportation from these young people.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
On June fifteen, twenty twelve, President Barack Obama stepped out
of the White House in a dark suit and a
red tie with white pokad and walk up to electern
on the White House lawn in front of the American
flag to make a huge announcement.
Speaker 5 (04:07):
Over the next few months, eligible individuals who do not
present a risk to national security or public safety will
be able to request temporary relief from deportation proceedings.
Speaker 4 (04:20):
And apply for work authorization.
Speaker 5 (04:25):
Let's be clear, this is not amnesty, this is not immunity,
this is not a path to citizenship.
Speaker 4 (04:34):
It's not a permanent fix.
Speaker 5 (04:36):
This is a temporary, stop deep measure that lets us
focus our resources wisely while giving a degree of relief
and hope to talented, driven, patriotic young people. It is
the right thing to do, precisely because this is temporary,
Congress needs to act.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
Obama's historic announcement of DACA became one of those landmark
moments where people remembered exactly where they were when it
was announced.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Film critic Carlos Aguilar was in community college at the
time and felt like he was stuck working a fast
food job to make.
Speaker 6 (05:17):
And meet I remember clearly that they announced that guy
in June of twenty twelve. I want to say, I'm
almost one hundred person certain that the day that I
applied is the day that I was graduating from college,
which is kind of crazy. I didn't think that, you know,
working at a fast food place, I was going to
be able to put myself through like, you know, a
four year or to transfer to another school. So it
(05:37):
was kind of like pretty much at godsend, because at
that point I really didn't know what I was going
to do, because I had sort of like reached the
end of the road in terms of that community college
I was graduating from there.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Law student Luis Cortez rometto from earlier needed a miracle
in the news drop Louise was stuck in limbo with
law school.
Speaker 4 (05:59):
Before Doc Cowards announced.
Speaker 7 (06:01):
I'd called my mom and I told her that I
was going to drop out.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
Before he dropped out, he went home during the summer
to visit his mom in California to decompress. He got
wayne to Obama's announcement and watched it with his mom.
Speaker 7 (06:15):
I was sitting down, I had my laptop out on
the table. She was standing next to me, and we're
hearing it, and she was grabbing my shoulders and was saying,
I can't believe it. And then a little bit of
like Dedik, I told you, so, you know, a little
bit of that.
Speaker 4 (06:30):
There was a little bit of that.
Speaker 7 (06:31):
But we were both just so excited, and I think
she was just there and then we hugged, and so
there was an excitement there. I waited a little bit
just to see if this was for real.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Eric Guerta, an organizer from Boyle Heights, recalls precisely what
he was doing the day the news came out.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
He was battling Akruda.
Speaker 8 (06:51):
Not to be an asshole, but I think I may
have one of the best stocker stories out of everybody
about when where were you on the day you found out?
So at the time when DAKA hit in twenty twelve,
in June, I was part of an internship program out
of the UCLA Labor Center called Dream Summer. There's workshops
you're meeting like civil rights leaders and activists and folks
(07:12):
doing this work on the ground. We're going to be
you know, our supervisors and certain internships. So we were
doing that and the night before, you know, when the
homies get together, you know how we do. So we
party it up and like I fucking blackout drunk, just
had to get up the next day, go home and change.
(07:33):
And as I'm like waking up from the day in
a fucking corner at the bus stop at seven am,
all hungover, I'm looking at Twitter and I'm like seeing
all this shit about like President Obama signing different actions
or Dreamers and da da da da da, and it's like, oh,
shit like it's finally happening.
Speaker 4 (07:49):
We were happy, we were.
Speaker 8 (07:50):
Just being in the moment and everybody was just.
Speaker 4 (07:53):
Like finally right.
Speaker 8 (07:55):
We tried passing the Dream Act so many times, but
DAKA came from that defeat in twenty ten, where folks
are like, cool, we lost the dream like this year,
so we got to move on and think of something different.
And that's how Deferred Action was born.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
And is organizing. Peeps knew the truth. Obamama passed the Action,
but it was their efforts that made this happen. It
was time to celebrate.
Speaker 8 (08:22):
So my drunk, sober ass I had to go home,
take a shower, get dressed, and get and go to
downtown and just be out there and like showing people
that dad, this is what like, we made it happen,
not just because it was like Obama and all of
a sudden deciding, oh, should I need some brownie points?
Let me give this beaners like a couple of work permits.
It's like no, this food was pushed against the wall
(08:42):
to make this decision. So many people can't be named
that we're making this stuff happening behind the doors. But
folks like us who were in this you know, since
day one. We're out there in the streets when we
do best. The movement pushed Obama and his administration, but the.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Inbration of Obama's announcement wasn't for Obama and it didn't
magically wipe away his reputation on deportations with immigrant rights activists.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
More on that after the break.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
Former President Obama might have passed DAKA in twenty twelve,
But according to organizer Mohammed Moab the Lahy from the
last episode, he heard from close sources that the Dreamer
movement had a direct impact on Obama's order.
Speaker 9 (09:49):
Yeah, one hundred percent, only because other people who were
in those rooms told us. But I feel like I
give all of the credit for Dhako to the really
the deportation cases on what I said, which it becomes unpopular.
Speaker 3 (10:02):
Well, had been working on deportation cases for years, but
one case in May twenty twelve, a month before DHAKA
gave them the sense Obama was about.
Speaker 9 (10:12):
To act like one pivotal case for me is I mean,
a lot of little things happened, but at some point
there was a group of kids from California that were
walking to DC, the Cadwalkers for Passage of.
Speaker 8 (10:25):
The dream backed.
Speaker 9 (10:26):
As these kids were walking through Utah, we did that
case and then they got to Colorado, and this was
late May of twenty twelve, and so I don't know
what it was, but I just had this weird like
inkling that like Obama was going to do something, and
so we wanted to just.
Speaker 3 (10:43):
Speed that up, and speed it up they did.
Speaker 9 (10:48):
And so that's when we launched our occupy the Obama
Campaign Offices campaign essentially, And so those kids, the Cadwalkers,
they essentially took over Obama's campaign office in Denver, Colorado,
essentially doing a sit in until there was We called
it an executive action to stop the deportation of Dreamers,
(11:08):
and we took over the Detroit.
Speaker 8 (11:09):
Office with a few Dreamers.
Speaker 9 (11:12):
We essentially had occupied like eight of his offices within
three or four days. This was election year time, and
so we expected them to arrest us within a day
or so. Not only did they not arrest us, they
all evacuated their offices and went to work in like
substitute offices because they knew it was just like so
unpopular to directly arrest and detain the Dreamers. And so yeah,
(11:36):
I mean, we took over his San Francisco office. Obama
didn't want to do anything on DACA until closer to
the election or right after the election, and so we
sped up his timeline to do it then in June
June fifteenth.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
This is the kind of stuff that doesn't make it
into the history books. Sure Obama issued the order, but
there was so much going on behind the scenes he
could no longer ignore the pressure cooker activists. Erika and Diola,
chief advocacy officer of RAISIS and the big figure in
organizing spaces in Arizona, was on the front lines of
(12:16):
the DOCA fight and also in the room with the
Obama administration, lobbing for deferred action many times with no success.
Speaker 10 (12:25):
From the very beginning, we started having meetings with administration.
I was part of some of those meetings, and I
clearly remember getting an answer from at that time Ccilia,
Winos and a few other folks that was very clear, no,
the President.
Speaker 4 (12:41):
Can't do this.
Speaker 10 (12:42):
I remember one of the meetings at a church because
we couldn't go into the White House because we didn't
have papers right, they had us go into a church
that was right in front of the White House to
meet with Cilia Winos and a few other people in
the administration. We had some of our friends who one
of them actually literally had an incorporation. He was worrying
the Inco bracelet because he was in the iportation proceedings and.
Speaker 11 (13:04):
Then coal monitor, and we took him there, you know.
Speaker 8 (13:07):
He came with.
Speaker 10 (13:07):
Us and we had a few other folks and we
got that answer from from from the administration was that
we can't do this.
Speaker 3 (13:17):
But then they did do it. I heard the rumors.
Speaker 10 (13:21):
I started getting some text messages from some folks telling
me that there was something that was going to be announced.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
And in the most amazing way, Erica was probably dreaming.
When it happened.
Speaker 4 (13:34):
I was still sleeping.
Speaker 8 (13:35):
I was very early in the morning.
Speaker 10 (13:37):
And I got a call from a reporter basically asking
me to.
Speaker 8 (13:41):
Tell him what my reaction was.
Speaker 10 (13:43):
And I was like, my reaction is that I didn't
even know that this was happening. I was very surprised.
And when I learned this happened right and I learned
that what the actual announcement was, I was I was
very proud because I remember when we started putting together
the demands, you know, of what we wanted. We had
(14:05):
five demands.
Speaker 11 (14:06):
That and if I can remember, you know, some of
them was like the ability to drive, the ability to work,
the ability to travel, and that one, the ability to
travel outside the US was something that we're like, we're
going to add it, but we don't think we're going
to get it, but we're going to push for that.
Speaker 10 (14:24):
We're going to add it to our demands. And yeah,
I mean, this gets announced and I'm.
Speaker 4 (14:30):
Like, what's in it?
Speaker 11 (14:30):
Like what what's what's you know, what are we going
to be able to do?
Speaker 10 (14:33):
And it turns out that there was advanced role and
we were going to have the ability to travel and
it's very limited, but it's you know, it's it's something
that we can use. And it just made me feel
so proud of our movement.
Speaker 12 (14:43):
That we had an objective, we had a dream, you know,
pun intended, but we we had this aspiration to have
all these rights that were denied to us, and we
pushed for them and we want.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
So Obama Issu Daka And like my parents and Patty's
parents had to do with ERCA in the eighties, undocumented
immigrants had to.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
Apply to qualify for deferred action.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
Applications started being accepted in August, and there was a
long list of criteria including applicants had to be under
thirty one as of Daka's announcement. They had to be
in the US before sixteen years old. They had to
have continuously resided here since June fifteenth of seven.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
And this is a big one.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
No felony convictions, no big misdemeanors, and they couldn't pose.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
A threat to public safety.
Speaker 1 (15:37):
To add to all that, the government was asking applicants
for all kinds of personal information.
Speaker 8 (15:44):
I compared it to signing up to the fucking Mutant
Registration Act as the X Men in the nineties card scene,
right where the fucking government needs to know who you are,
where you live, where your grandma must say, what you
can do, when you did it, how you did it,
did you pick your nose? All these details that supposedly
didn't exist because I'm undocumented and I'm not in this country.
(16:04):
So it was a very weird space of like, I'm
willingly turning my information over to the government so they
know where I'm at. And also, since I'm not supposed
to be here, how am I supposed to prove that
I've been here all this time?
Speaker 4 (16:17):
As well?
Speaker 2 (16:19):
One of the things the government was asking for was
proof of residency, and when it came time for Wadeta
to apply, he used media coverage of his organizing as
proof of residency for his DACA application.
Speaker 8 (16:38):
And I was one of those folks at the time
who was doing the media work. So I was fielding
interviews on the ground as all the chanting and the
street closing was happening, and the cops are showing up,
and I was like, I'm kpcc LA times all these places.
And the funny thing too, is that when I actually
did sign up to apply for DACA, I use those
same use clips as proof that I was here on
(16:59):
that day.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
It was a similar story for our parents when they
applied for ERCA in eighty six. They were hesitant to
turn in their information to the very same governing body
that didn't want them here in the first place. And
just like back then, the Dreamers had to decide of
giving the government all their personal info was worth it.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
That's after the break.
Speaker 3 (17:49):
For many, the announcement of DOCA was a good thing,
but the fine print required you to turn over information
to the government that could be used against you. Film
critic Carlos thought giving up all his personal information to
the government was alarming.
Speaker 6 (18:11):
Any interaction with with Homeland Security, it's always kind of
terrifying and nerve acking. I remember going the first time
because you know, for THATCA, once they approve your application,
you have to go for biometrics. You go to a
Homeless Security USCIS office and you know, you get your
fingerprints and you know, your photograph taken. And every time
(18:33):
I've had to have done it because you know, with ACCA,
you have to renew it every two years, and I
just always got this feeling of like they make you
feel like a criminal. It does always feel like you're
there and you know, it's a very unwelcoming environment and
like you know, they treat you like they're doing you
a favor, like you's down the service. And it was
(18:55):
a very uncomfortable experience going through that process, you know,
because of course you fill out your paperwork and you
send it, but once you have to actually go to
an office and they know exactly what the purpose of
your visit is. You know that you are requesting this thing,
and even if they mistreat you, even if they look
at you, you know, if they give you a dirty look,
(19:15):
you can complain you can really raise your voice because
you know they have the upper hand. And I feel like,
to me, that was perhaps the most sort of direct
sense of imbalance of power that I felt that. I
really felt like, you know, they can treat me however
they want, They can ask me whatever they want, and
I have to comply because I am requesting this thing
(19:36):
that they can just as easily deny. And you know,
I stand to lose more than to win if I
raise my voice, And so I feel like that, to
me was the most uncomfortable experience to really have to
go to the office and face the system face to
face and the people that work in that system.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
Luis Cortes Rometo, the kid who wanted to go to
Paris from the start of the show, was also hesitant
to apply.
Speaker 7 (20:04):
There was a little bit of skepticism because there was
also a part of there was a part of us
that said, or a part of me that said, like,
wait a second, you want me to give you all
my information and then just like trust that you're not
going to do anything with it.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
Later, in its first month, they were close to one
hundred thousand applicants, and in one year that number balloon
to five hundred thousand. DOCTA had immediate effects like applying
for a driver's license. For some, like Louise, had life
(20:36):
changing effects. See, Louis didn't just go to college, he
also went to law school.
Speaker 7 (20:43):
It was my last year, it was about to be
my last year, the year before I graduated, where I
realized that I wasn't going to be able to practice law.
I don't know why I didn't think about it before,
but I realized, like, you need a social Security number,
and you need a work permit, and you're like, you
need all these things if you want to take can
pass the bar exam and practice law.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
But with DACA everything changed for Luise and for his mom,
who was watching the announcement with her son.
Speaker 7 (21:13):
And as soon as President Obama says effective immediately, we
were going to start a program that would allow young
people to have protections from deportation and a work authorization,
I had.
Speaker 4 (21:24):
My mouth open.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
Although Louis wasn't participating in organizing, his acts of resistance
were personal, like figuring out how to secure funding for
law school or selling chocolates for that trip to Europe.
Louis closely understood the fear associated with being udocumented. But
ultimately he wasn't afraid to fight for what he believed in.
(21:49):
He'll go on to become an undocumented lawyer in one
of Docca's guardian angels.
Speaker 7 (21:55):
Hi argued in hearing with Jig also that helped pave
the way for the injunction. And remember there was a
time where he asked, like, how do you know where
you know? He's always ask to how do you know
this information? We're going to find this? And when I'm
telling him about the practical sides of the case, like
you have to go in and you to take your
fingerprints and they take your photo and all that, he
asked like, how do you know that? And I told him, like,
I went through it. I'm a doctor recipient myself, and
(22:16):
I went through it. And I think it dawned on him, like, Oh,
there's somebody right in front of me who this matters to.
This isn't just an abstract legal issue or something that
is going to impact the people outside. This is going
to impact somebody who's arguing in my court right now.
Speaker 3 (22:34):
Next episode, we'll talk about the effects of DOCA on
people's lives, good and bad.
Speaker 10 (22:40):
One of the wake up calls for me or a
reminder that we weren't done. Was literally the same day
that I got the job in Congress. I came back
from my interview and talking to my former boss and
telling me that I got the job. I came back
(23:01):
to the house and that same night, we get a
knock on the door and I took my mom and
my brother. And it's still unclear whether it was any
type of retaliation or if it was something that happened
because of other reasons. Because you know, they were deporting
(23:22):
a lot of people at that time under President Obama,
so she might have been one of those folks who
was targeted.
Speaker 3 (23:29):
That's next time on Out of the Shadows. Out of
the Shadows Dreamers is a se Medal production in partnership
with Iheartmichael Dura Podcast Network. It's created, hosted, and executive
produced by me Patti Rodriguez and Eric G. Lindo. This
show was written by Sessa Hernandez an executive produced by
(23:50):
Joselle Bancis. Our supervising producer is Arlene Santana. It's produced
and edited by Brianna Flores. Our associate producer is Claudia Martigna.
Down Design, mixing and mastering by Jessica Cranechitch and a
special thanks to all our Dreamers. Remember to subscribe to
the podcast and share it. For more Michael Duda podcasts,
(24:13):
listen to the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
listen to your favorite shows.
Luis cort Do's r metals in the eighth grade in
San Francisco, and he's excited. He's waiting for his parents
to come home so he can tell them that he's
raised enough money to go on a class trip to Europe.
When this trip first came up, his mom said they
couldn't afford it. That didn't matter to Luis. He started
slaying candy like a middle school version of Willy Wonka,
(00:33):
hustling harder than anyone until he raised enough money to
go on the trip. He's thinking, I can't wait to
see the Eiffel Tower in person. It's no longer going
to be just a picture. His parents get home and
Louise starts jumping up and down telling them all about
(00:53):
his hard work.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Their faces go.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
White because they're about to crush his dream son. His
dad says, we're undocumented, which means you can't leave the
country because they won't let you back in.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Louise is devastated.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
It's the first time he's felt a specific payg.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Of terror he could be deported.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Louise grew up afraid afraid of taking trips, afraid of
taking on the government, afraid to even dream of going
to college until one day he overcame his fears, and
thank god he did. Luis would take many trips, like
one of his first, to attend an affordable college in Idaho,
(01:44):
then law school, and even to the nation's capital, Washington,
d C. Where he would take on the government in
a big way. But before we get to that, we
have to go back to twenty twelve, pivotal year for
Louis and for the country. As President Obama urges Congress
(02:05):
to pass the Dream Act. He takes matters into his
own hands. But what did this actually mean for our
dreamers in their future? I'm Erica Lindo and I'm Patti Rodriguez.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
This is Out of the Shadows, a podcast about America's
tangled history of immigration. Last season, we tackled Ronald Reagan's
nineteen eighty six Amnesty Act. This season, we're tracing the
origins of DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, a
contentious executive order to protect undocumented young people from being deported.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
Issued by former President Barack Obama in twenty twelve. DACA
was meant to be a temporary stop gap on a
broken immigration system. It was like putting a bucket under
a leaky roof, but with multiple Supreme Court challenges and
looming presidential elections, the roof feels like it may collapse
at any moment, impacting the US economy and American culture
(03:04):
as we know it. Meanwhile, the future of millions of
lives hangs in the balance.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
Welcome to out of the shadows, dreamers.
Speaker 4 (03:20):
They are Americans in their heart, in their minds, in.
Speaker 5 (03:24):
Every single way but one on paper, It makes no
sense to expel talented young people who, for all intents
and purposes are Americans, have been raised as Americans, understand
themselves to be part of this country. Effective immediately, the
(03:45):
Department of Homeland Security is taking steps to lift the
shadow of deportation from these young people.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
On June fifteen, twenty twelve, President Barack Obama stepped out
of the White House in a dark suit and a
red tie with white pokad and walk up to electern
on the White House lawn in front of the American
flag to make a huge announcement.
Speaker 5 (04:07):
Over the next few months, eligible individuals who do not
present a risk to national security or public safety will
be able to request temporary relief from deportation proceedings.
Speaker 4 (04:20):
And apply for work authorization.
Speaker 5 (04:25):
Let's be clear, this is not amnesty, this is not immunity,
this is not a path to citizenship.
Speaker 4 (04:34):
It's not a permanent fix.
Speaker 5 (04:36):
This is a temporary, stop deep measure that lets us
focus our resources wisely while giving a degree of relief
and hope to talented, driven, patriotic young people. It is
the right thing to do, precisely because this is temporary,
Congress needs to act.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
Obama's historic announcement of DACA became one of those landmark
moments where people remembered exactly where they were when it
was announced.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Film critic Carlos Aguilar was in community college at the
time and felt like he was stuck working a fast
food job to make.
Speaker 6 (05:17):
And meet I remember clearly that they announced that guy
in June of twenty twelve. I want to say, I'm
almost one hundred person certain that the day that I
applied is the day that I was graduating from college,
which is kind of crazy. I didn't think that, you know,
working at a fast food place, I was going to
be able to put myself through like, you know, a
four year or to transfer to another school. So it
(05:37):
was kind of like pretty much at godsend, because at
that point I really didn't know what I was going
to do, because I had sort of like reached the
end of the road in terms of that community college
I was graduating from there.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Law student Luis Cortez rometto from earlier needed a miracle
in the news drop Louise was stuck in limbo with
law school.
Speaker 4 (05:59):
Before Doc Cowards announced.
Speaker 7 (06:01):
I'd called my mom and I told her that I
was going to drop out.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
Before he dropped out, he went home during the summer
to visit his mom in California to decompress. He got
wayne to Obama's announcement and watched it with his mom.
Speaker 7 (06:15):
I was sitting down, I had my laptop out on
the table. She was standing next to me, and we're
hearing it, and she was grabbing my shoulders and was saying,
I can't believe it. And then a little bit of
like Dedik, I told you, so, you know, a little
bit of that.
Speaker 4 (06:30):
There was a little bit of that.
Speaker 7 (06:31):
But we were both just so excited, and I think
she was just there and then we hugged, and so
there was an excitement there. I waited a little bit
just to see if this was for real.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Eric Guerta, an organizer from Boyle Heights, recalls precisely what
he was doing the day the news came out.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
He was battling Akruda.
Speaker 8 (06:51):
Not to be an asshole, but I think I may
have one of the best stocker stories out of everybody
about when where were you on the day you found out?
So at the time when DAKA hit in twenty twelve,
in June, I was part of an internship program out
of the UCLA Labor Center called Dream Summer. There's workshops
you're meeting like civil rights leaders and activists and folks
(07:12):
doing this work on the ground. We're going to be
you know, our supervisors and certain internships. So we were
doing that and the night before, you know, when the
homies get together, you know how we do. So we
party it up and like I fucking blackout drunk, just
had to get up the next day, go home and change.
(07:33):
And as I'm like waking up from the day in
a fucking corner at the bus stop at seven am,
all hungover, I'm looking at Twitter and I'm like seeing
all this shit about like President Obama signing different actions
or Dreamers and da da da da da, and it's like, oh,
shit like it's finally happening.
Speaker 4 (07:49):
We were happy, we were.
Speaker 8 (07:50):
Just being in the moment and everybody was just.
Speaker 4 (07:53):
Like finally right.
Speaker 8 (07:55):
We tried passing the Dream Act so many times, but
DAKA came from that defeat in twenty ten, where folks
are like, cool, we lost the dream like this year,
so we got to move on and think of something different.
And that's how Deferred Action was born.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
And is organizing. Peeps knew the truth. Obamama passed the Action,
but it was their efforts that made this happen. It
was time to celebrate.
Speaker 8 (08:22):
So my drunk, sober ass I had to go home,
take a shower, get dressed, and get and go to
downtown and just be out there and like showing people
that dad, this is what like, we made it happen,
not just because it was like Obama and all of
a sudden deciding, oh, should I need some brownie points?
Let me give this beaners like a couple of work permits.
It's like no, this food was pushed against the wall
(08:42):
to make this decision. So many people can't be named
that we're making this stuff happening behind the doors. But
folks like us who were in this you know, since
day one. We're out there in the streets when we
do best. The movement pushed Obama and his administration, but the.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Inbration of Obama's announcement wasn't for Obama and it didn't
magically wipe away his reputation on deportations with immigrant rights activists.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
More on that after the break.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
Former President Obama might have passed DAKA in twenty twelve,
But according to organizer Mohammed Moab the Lahy from the
last episode, he heard from close sources that the Dreamer
movement had a direct impact on Obama's order.
Speaker 9 (09:49):
Yeah, one hundred percent, only because other people who were
in those rooms told us. But I feel like I
give all of the credit for Dhako to the really
the deportation cases on what I said, which it becomes unpopular.
Speaker 3 (10:02):
Well, had been working on deportation cases for years, but
one case in May twenty twelve, a month before DHAKA
gave them the sense Obama was about.
Speaker 9 (10:12):
To act like one pivotal case for me is I mean,
a lot of little things happened, but at some point
there was a group of kids from California that were
walking to DC, the Cadwalkers for Passage of.
Speaker 8 (10:25):
The dream backed.
Speaker 9 (10:26):
As these kids were walking through Utah, we did that
case and then they got to Colorado, and this was
late May of twenty twelve, and so I don't know
what it was, but I just had this weird like
inkling that like Obama was going to do something, and
so we wanted to just.
Speaker 3 (10:43):
Speed that up, and speed it up they did.
Speaker 9 (10:48):
And so that's when we launched our occupy the Obama
Campaign Offices campaign essentially, And so those kids, the Cadwalkers,
they essentially took over Obama's campaign office in Denver, Colorado,
essentially doing a sit in until there was We called
it an executive action to stop the deportation of Dreamers,
(11:08):
and we took over the Detroit.
Speaker 8 (11:09):
Office with a few Dreamers.
Speaker 9 (11:12):
We essentially had occupied like eight of his offices within
three or four days. This was election year time, and
so we expected them to arrest us within a day
or so. Not only did they not arrest us, they
all evacuated their offices and went to work in like
substitute offices because they knew it was just like so
unpopular to directly arrest and detain the Dreamers. And so yeah,
(11:36):
I mean, we took over his San Francisco office. Obama
didn't want to do anything on DACA until closer to
the election or right after the election, and so we
sped up his timeline to do it then in June
June fifteenth.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
This is the kind of stuff that doesn't make it
into the history books. Sure Obama issued the order, but
there was so much going on behind the scenes he
could no longer ignore the pressure cooker activists. Erika and Diola,
chief advocacy officer of RAISIS and the big figure in
organizing spaces in Arizona, was on the front lines of
(12:16):
the DOCA fight and also in the room with the
Obama administration, lobbing for deferred action many times with no success.
Speaker 10 (12:25):
From the very beginning, we started having meetings with administration.
I was part of some of those meetings, and I
clearly remember getting an answer from at that time Ccilia,
Winos and a few other folks that was very clear, no,
the President.
Speaker 4 (12:41):
Can't do this.
Speaker 10 (12:42):
I remember one of the meetings at a church because
we couldn't go into the White House because we didn't
have papers right, they had us go into a church
that was right in front of the White House to
meet with Cilia Winos and a few other people in
the administration. We had some of our friends who one
of them actually literally had an incorporation. He was worrying
the Inco bracelet because he was in the iportation proceedings and.
Speaker 11 (13:04):
Then coal monitor, and we took him there, you know.
Speaker 8 (13:07):
He came with.
Speaker 10 (13:07):
Us and we had a few other folks and we
got that answer from from from the administration was that
we can't do this.
Speaker 3 (13:17):
But then they did do it. I heard the rumors.
Speaker 10 (13:21):
I started getting some text messages from some folks telling
me that there was something that was going to be announced.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
And in the most amazing way, Erica was probably dreaming.
When it happened.
Speaker 4 (13:34):
I was still sleeping.
Speaker 8 (13:35):
I was very early in the morning.
Speaker 10 (13:37):
And I got a call from a reporter basically asking
me to.
Speaker 8 (13:41):
Tell him what my reaction was.
Speaker 10 (13:43):
And I was like, my reaction is that I didn't
even know that this was happening. I was very surprised.
And when I learned this happened right and I learned
that what the actual announcement was, I was I was
very proud because I remember when we started putting together
the demands, you know, of what we wanted. We had
(14:05):
five demands.
Speaker 11 (14:06):
That and if I can remember, you know, some of
them was like the ability to drive, the ability to work,
the ability to travel, and that one, the ability to
travel outside the US was something that we're like, we're
going to add it, but we don't think we're going
to get it, but we're going to push for that.
Speaker 10 (14:24):
We're going to add it to our demands. And yeah,
I mean, this gets announced and I'm.
Speaker 4 (14:30):
Like, what's in it?
Speaker 11 (14:30):
Like what what's what's you know, what are we going
to be able to do?
Speaker 10 (14:33):
And it turns out that there was advanced role and
we were going to have the ability to travel and
it's very limited, but it's you know, it's it's something
that we can use. And it just made me feel
so proud of our movement.
Speaker 12 (14:43):
That we had an objective, we had a dream, you know,
pun intended, but we we had this aspiration to have
all these rights that were denied to us, and we
pushed for them and we want.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
So Obama Issu Daka And like my parents and Patty's
parents had to do with ERCA in the eighties, undocumented
immigrants had to.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
Apply to qualify for deferred action.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
Applications started being accepted in August, and there was a
long list of criteria including applicants had to be under
thirty one as of Daka's announcement. They had to be
in the US before sixteen years old. They had to
have continuously resided here since June fifteenth of seven.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
And this is a big one.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
No felony convictions, no big misdemeanors, and they couldn't pose.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
A threat to public safety.
Speaker 1 (15:37):
To add to all that, the government was asking applicants
for all kinds of personal information.
Speaker 8 (15:44):
I compared it to signing up to the fucking Mutant
Registration Act as the X Men in the nineties card scene,
right where the fucking government needs to know who you are,
where you live, where your grandma must say, what you
can do, when you did it, how you did it,
did you pick your nose? All these details that supposedly
didn't exist because I'm undocumented and I'm not in this country.
(16:04):
So it was a very weird space of like, I'm
willingly turning my information over to the government so they
know where I'm at. And also, since I'm not supposed
to be here, how am I supposed to prove that
I've been here all this time?
Speaker 4 (16:17):
As well?
Speaker 2 (16:19):
One of the things the government was asking for was
proof of residency, and when it came time for Wadeta
to apply, he used media coverage of his organizing as
proof of residency for his DACA application.
Speaker 8 (16:38):
And I was one of those folks at the time
who was doing the media work. So I was fielding
interviews on the ground as all the chanting and the
street closing was happening, and the cops are showing up,
and I was like, I'm kpcc LA times all these places.
And the funny thing too, is that when I actually
did sign up to apply for DACA, I use those
same use clips as proof that I was here on
(16:59):
that day.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
It was a similar story for our parents when they
applied for ERCA in eighty six. They were hesitant to
turn in their information to the very same governing body
that didn't want them here in the first place. And
just like back then, the Dreamers had to decide of
giving the government all their personal info was worth it.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
That's after the break.
Speaker 3 (17:49):
For many, the announcement of DOCA was a good thing,
but the fine print required you to turn over information
to the government that could be used against you. Film
critic Carlos thought giving up all his personal information to
the government was alarming.
Speaker 6 (18:11):
Any interaction with with Homeland Security, it's always kind of
terrifying and nerve acking. I remember going the first time
because you know, for THATCA, once they approve your application,
you have to go for biometrics. You go to a
Homeless Security USCIS office and you know, you get your
fingerprints and you know, your photograph taken. And every time
(18:33):
I've had to have done it because you know, with ACCA,
you have to renew it every two years, and I
just always got this feeling of like they make you
feel like a criminal. It does always feel like you're
there and you know, it's a very unwelcoming environment and
like you know, they treat you like they're doing you
a favor, like you's down the service. And it was
(18:55):
a very uncomfortable experience going through that process, you know,
because of course you fill out your paperwork and you
send it, but once you have to actually go to
an office and they know exactly what the purpose of
your visit is. You know that you are requesting this thing,
and even if they mistreat you, even if they look
at you, you know, if they give you a dirty look,
(19:15):
you can complain you can really raise your voice because
you know they have the upper hand. And I feel like,
to me, that was perhaps the most sort of direct
sense of imbalance of power that I felt that. I
really felt like, you know, they can treat me however
they want, They can ask me whatever they want, and
I have to comply because I am requesting this thing
(19:36):
that they can just as easily deny. And you know,
I stand to lose more than to win if I
raise my voice, And so I feel like that, to
me was the most uncomfortable experience to really have to
go to the office and face the system face to
face and the people that work in that system.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
Luis Cortes Rometo, the kid who wanted to go to
Paris from the start of the show, was also hesitant
to apply.
Speaker 7 (20:04):
There was a little bit of skepticism because there was
also a part of there was a part of us
that said, or a part of me that said, like,
wait a second, you want me to give you all
my information and then just like trust that you're not
going to do anything with it.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
Later, in its first month, they were close to one
hundred thousand applicants, and in one year that number balloon
to five hundred thousand. DOCTA had immediate effects like applying
for a driver's license. For some, like Louise, had life
(20:36):
changing effects. See, Louis didn't just go to college, he
also went to law school.
Speaker 7 (20:43):
It was my last year, it was about to be
my last year, the year before I graduated, where I
realized that I wasn't going to be able to practice law.
I don't know why I didn't think about it before,
but I realized, like, you need a social Security number,
and you need a work permit, and you're like, you
need all these things if you want to take can
pass the bar exam and practice law.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
But with DACA everything changed for Luise and for his mom,
who was watching the announcement with her son.
Speaker 7 (21:13):
And as soon as President Obama says effective immediately, we
were going to start a program that would allow young
people to have protections from deportation and a work authorization,
I had.
Speaker 4 (21:24):
My mouth open.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
Although Louis wasn't participating in organizing, his acts of resistance
were personal, like figuring out how to secure funding for
law school or selling chocolates for that trip to Europe.
Louis closely understood the fear associated with being udocumented. But
ultimately he wasn't afraid to fight for what he believed in.
(21:49):
He'll go on to become an undocumented lawyer in one
of Docca's guardian angels.
Speaker 7 (21:55):
Hi argued in hearing with Jig also that helped pave
the way for the injunction. And remember there was a
time where he asked, like, how do you know where
you know? He's always ask to how do you know
this information? We're going to find this? And when I'm
telling him about the practical sides of the case, like
you have to go in and you to take your
fingerprints and they take your photo and all that, he
asked like, how do you know that? And I told him, like,
I went through it. I'm a doctor recipient myself, and
(22:16):
I went through it. And I think it dawned on him, like, Oh,
there's somebody right in front of me who this matters to.
This isn't just an abstract legal issue or something that
is going to impact the people outside. This is going
to impact somebody who's arguing in my court right now.
Speaker 3 (22:34):
Next episode, we'll talk about the effects of DOCA on
people's lives, good and bad.
Speaker 10 (22:40):
One of the wake up calls for me or a
reminder that we weren't done. Was literally the same day
that I got the job in Congress. I came back
from my interview and talking to my former boss and
telling me that I got the job. I came back
(23:01):
to the house and that same night, we get a
knock on the door and I took my mom and
my brother. And it's still unclear whether it was any
type of retaliation or if it was something that happened
because of other reasons. Because you know, they were deporting
(23:22):
a lot of people at that time under President Obama,
so she might have been one of those folks who
was targeted.
Speaker 3 (23:29):
That's next time on Out of the Shadows. Out of
the Shadows Dreamers is a se Medal production in partnership
with Iheartmichael Dura Podcast Network. It's created, hosted, and executive
produced by me Patti Rodriguez and Eric G. Lindo. This
show was written by Sessa Hernandez an executive produced by
(23:50):
Joselle Bancis. Our supervising producer is Arlene Santana. It's produced
and edited by Brianna Flores. Our associate producer is Claudia Martigna.
Down Design, mixing and mastering by Jessica Cranechitch and a
special thanks to all our Dreamers. Remember to subscribe to
the podcast and share it. For more Michael Duda podcasts,
(24:13):
listen to the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
listen to your favorite shows.
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