Tuesday, September 5th, Donald Trump ended the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program, essentially murdering the dreams of approximately 800,000 children legally covered under this act. DACA allowed children of undocumented immigrants to live in the United States and essentially operate in between both statuses of documented and undocumented citizenship. With DACA, the children are able to grow in the United States, obtain legal documents such as driver’s licenses, and enroll in United States colleges. As the children also secured legally protected jobs, they were also required to pay income tax. During this time, the legally protected children were also able to have relatively adequate access to healthcare (in comparison to their undocumented parent counterparts). Now, with the repeal of DACA, the children are forced to live in the shadows again.
While it is true that the end of DACA hasn’t officially begun, Trump’s decision to endanger the existence of undocumented children here is literally killing the DREAMers. To a documented citizen, a trip to a health clinic or hospital is a human right, but to DREAMers, the same visit could mean deportation. One could say that legally, the DREAMers are still allowed to make those necessary trips to the doctor’s office, but the immigrants could pay a price that’s more than monetary value.
In “The Subject and Power”, Michael Foucalt writes about how surveillance is a tool of power and those who are subjected to it are forced to abide by the desires of those keeping watch. A day in the life of a DREAMer is a great example of this. The undocumented immigrants don’t know who’s watching and they don’t know when they’re being watched. Additionally, it is difficult for the undocumented children to trust any information or any institution because with a single misstep, the children who grew up in this country will be deported to a strange new country that they know very little about. When I think about how cautious the undocumented children have to be, I think about the word “Panopticon” a common example of which is found in prisons and has been integrated into society as a method of keeping discipline. For example, in the prison system, the people subjected to the power of surveillance (the prisoners) are forced to abide by the rules because they never know when the eyes are turned on them. The only people who break the rules are not seen because they spend their entire time in the shadows, somewhere where (they think) the surveillance can’t reach. Similarly, society functions civilly thanks to early propaganda slogans such as “Big Brother is Watching”. This catchphrase was meant to be used as a deterrence to any mal-intentioned citizens. Not only did it keep the citizens at bay, but it maintains the power structure that keeps the surveyors in the place of power and the surveyed being constantly maintained and suppressed under a watchful eye. Now, DREAMers are feeling the effects of the power, or rather suppression, of the Panopticon because in order to not be kicked out from the only country they’ve ever known, they must rely on trusting only the closest people and simply can’t afford the danger that going to a hospital would bring them. In the United States, health disparities already exist and plague our public healthcare system. Now think about what would happen if DACA were actually to be rescinded. For fear of losing the lives they have here, many immigrants who were once legally protected are no longer going to be able to access the human right that is basic healthcare. Donald’s refusal to accept the intersectionality of the situations of many of these DREAMers and insist that he is doing so is because “we are a nation of laws” is simply arrogant (Romo, 2017). His irresponsibility when it comes to protecting all people of America has failed in this regard which is why I see his cancellation of DACA as a social and ethical injustice to the people of the United States that came about because he is drunk on his own power.
Articles of Reference:
http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/04/politics/daca-dreamers-immigration-program/index.html
http://americasvoice.org/tag/daca-stories/
http://americasvoice.org/blog/got-daca-wasnt-afraid-five-dreamers-share-daca-means/
http://www.npr.org/2017/09/05/546423550/trump-signals-end-to-daca-calls-on-congress-to-act
Science, Power, and Diversity 