This Saturday was the 12th anniversary of DACA. I have been living in the United States for 20 years and DACA for the last 12 of it.
I'd rather not bore you with explaining what DACA is. If you would like to know more, this link should explain the basics.
My only paths for a green card/citizenship are the following:
- Whoever is president remembers we exist and gives us amnesty like Reagan did, most likely as part of a package deal for immigration legislation reform.
- I find an American citizen to get married to, and obtain a K-1 visa through marriage.
- [we'll talk about this secret option at the end]
Path 1 is a write-off. It will never happen. If it was possible, it would have been done in 2009 with a Democrat supermajority under Obama. Biden will NEVER give us a pathway to citizenship. The Democrats are all asleep at the wheel for this issue. We only see politicians talking about us because it's the election cycle that coincides with a 12 year anniversary for this program. If Trump becomes president? Maybe he learned from his mistakes with Jeff Sessions and to maybe try dismantling DACA in a more competent way. Either way, at least for another 2 renewals worth of time, the best we can hope for is that "nothing will fundamentally change." Did I mention that it's about $1500 for two DACA renewals?
Path 2 is ever slightly more possible but is also rather unfeasible. I look at myself and have concluded that even if someone did find me attractive enough for a first impressions talk that eventually evolves into a serious commitment like marriage, what would that entail? No matter how much we love one another, there will always be a psychological wedge of "part of this was also for the citizenship" stuck in place. My friends reassure me with the Disney-esque platitude of the "love triumphs over all! :)" which sounds nice on paper but once the disagreements and arguments that are inevitable in all relationships start, guess what that first nagging thing in mind would default to? Anyways, this is all predicated on someone even finding me desirable at all, which is again a laughable prospect from both a physical and personable sense. Another write-off unless I marry someone for purely cynical and transactional reasons a couple more decades which I may not have down the road.
Path 3 is uncharted territory. Technically, I would be getting a green card in a more or less guaranteed way... in Canada. Cursory look at a Canadian immigration law firm website tells me that DACA recipients can quickly attain permanent residence through the Express Entry program. I meet all of the requirements no problem, apparently. It's probably a cheap and sneaky way for Canada to get access to a highly educated workforce base without having had to spend 20+ years of government investment. As I get older by the day, the prospect seem all the better.
If I decide to go to law school in America and take Path 3 as a qualified lawyer coming to Canada, I would be around my early-mid thirties, which would be the same age range as my parents when we came to America. It is a path of no return to the United States, at least for 10 years. I would not be able to see my parents or my brother unless they came to me, which would be financially improbable on their ends. I would have to start my entire life over. Deal with entirely new people who I have no idea if I can trust. Have faith in immigration lawyers who might take my money and hang me out to dry. Like father, like mother, like son. I've been around this block before, how bad can it be?