Dear Editor,
A couple dozens of Indo-Guyanese and Indo-Trinis, joined by a few nationals of other countries, rallied mid-afternoon on Saturday, September 16, in Richmond Hill in support of DACA (Deferred Action on Child Arrivals) which was terminated by President Trump on Sept 6. Meanwhile, four Indo-Guyanese lawyers in Richmond Hill held a legal clinic, or session, to assist DACA people.
DACA is a limited federal programme that was designed to protect immigrants who came to the US illegally as children (known as Dreamers) with their parents. There are some 800,000 such child immigrants. Some 1266 Guyanese and 3600 Trinis applied for DACA up until last year. Tens of thousands of Caribbean nationals applied for DACA. There are 42,000 DACA recipients in New York.
Most DACA applicants are from California and are nationals of Spanish-speaking countries. They were brought into the US as children without any fault of their own. They have virtually no experience in, or knowledge of, the countries or societies where they were born. They have studied and worked in the US.
Former President Barack Obama issued the executive order in 2012 to prevent these children from being deported. It has given them temporary status — to be renewed annually — to live, go to school, and work without fear of deportation. The programme will be phased out in six months, unless Congress passes legislation to address it with an alternative plan.
The rally attendees, led by Ms Aminta Kilawan Narine, want to help DACA people to become legal residents, and to live normal lives just like everyone else. The attendees at the rally called for a repeal of DACA termination, as announced by the President, and an amnesty for DACA folks, so they can become legalised.
Those at the rally said they came to support DACA recipients, and to stand with the organizers of the rally. The attendees held a banner, walked a bit, and chanted a few lines chastising the president and his administration for ending DACA. They said they wanted restoration of DACA and legalisation for the undocumented.
Speakers at the rally urged President Trump to rescind his decision, and for Congress to implement legislation granting permanent protection for DACA recipients. It was noted that DACA helped to restore some dignity and respect for these undocumented children. The organisers noted that the Indo-Caribbean community has to join the fight for all undocumented communities.
But it has been difficult to get Guyanese to attend a rally on any issue, except when it affects their bread and butter issues, like collecting rent on illegal apartments. Thus it was not surprising that the turnout at the rally was small, as opposed to, say, a rally on illegal apartments, which attracted thousands. I attended dozens of pro-immigrant rallies over the last couple decades. There was sparse Guyanese representation. As Chuck Mohan would attest, it has been almost impossible to get Guyanese to attend immigration rallies, although Guyanese are beneficiaries of those rallies. Even the struggle for restoration of democracy in Guyana, during the 1970s thru 1992, involved only a handful of us. Sarcastic comments were made about the sparse turnout by Guyanese in support of their country folks on immigration.
The DACA rally took place in front of Sybil’s take away restaurant at 133 Street on Liberty Ave. The restaurant was packed with Guyanese shoppers, with virtually none of them showing any interest in the rally just feet away from them. They did not even bother to query what the rally was about. They just went about their business, showing no concern about the issue.
One of the recipients of DACA, not of Guyanese origin, spoke at the rally. She has an American-born child. If she were to be arrested and deported, it would lead to breakup of her family.
Speakers at the rally urged Caribbean nationals to write their Members of Congress to take up this issue.
Meanwhile, Trump has cut a deal with Democrats that could extend DACA when it expires in six months.
Yours truly,
Vishnu Bisram
