'We're still worried': Dreamers in South Florida remain in legal limbo after 13 years

Murilo Alves still remembers sitting in his physics class in 2017 when he learned the Trump administration was ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA.

Alves was a junior at Florida Atlantic University studying to become a doctor because he wanted to give back to the same underserved communities that served his undocumented immigrant mother, himself and his two older siblings before they qualified for DACA in 2012.

"We didn't have access to health care," Alves told WLRN. "My mom couldn't afford health insurance. So we relied on local churches and clinics that would just have physicians come in and provide their services for free. And I always looked up to them."

Today, more than 13 years later, Alves, along with his brother, remain in limbo. Immigrants like him, dubbed the Dreamers, have no pathway to legal status.

DACA was created by President Barack Obama in 2012. It grants young people without legal immigration status — who were brought into the country by their parents — two-year, renewable permits to live and work in the U.S. legally. It does not confer legal status but provides protection from deportation.

Texas and eight other Republican-leaning states filed a lawsuit several years ago in federal court claiming DACA forced them to incur hundreds of millions of dollars in health care, education and other costs, when immigrants are allowed to remain in the country illegally. The case is pending.

DACA 'changed everything'

Alves is a Brazilian national. He first arrived in the U.S. when he was three and has been living continuously in the country since he was eight. He was 15 when he received DACA.

Alves said that even though it was supposed to be a stopgap measure, the access to a work permit, deportation protections and key documents like a driver's license guaranteed under the program, changed his family's life.

"When DACA came out, everything changed," said Alves. "My brother, my sister, they were able to work legally. I got the learner's permit. I felt like I could at least be on par with my friends. That was the first time I felt like, 'Okay, things are getting better.'"

Alves graduated from high school in 2015 and was able to attend Broward College paying in-state tuition — a benefit the state has since revoked for DACA recipients like him.

Despite overcoming roadblocks in his education, Alves stayed the course. He paid tuition the first two years completely out of pocket due to a lack of federal aid.

Alves' story of constantly having to jump through hoops for an education and future employment opportunities — despite being given legal status — is one that is all too familiar to the over half a million DACA recipients currently in the U.S.

In 2017, five years after receiving his legal status, Alves said he often worried if he would be in the country long enough to at least finish his Bachelor's degree.

"It's super frustrating that your future is in the hands of these other people," said Alves. "And it's not supposed to be like that, right? Especially in this country. It's the land of opportunity. [The] majority of undocumented Dreamers, we just want to better ourselves and our communities."

Worry and anxiety

The legal battle in federal court has only increased the anxiety of Alves and hundreds of thousands of other Dreamers.

A federal judge in Texas — responding to the lawsuit from the Republican-leaning state attorneys general — ruled the program unlawful in 2021. The ruling prevented new applicants from enrolling but still allowed recipients already on the program to renew their work permits every two years.

The Trump administration outlined a proposal in September to accept and process new DACA applications. This was to comply with an appellate court ruling in January. It is pending a Texas judge's decision. Applicants approved outside of Texas would be eligible for work permits and deportation protections.

"This has been a terrible rollercoaster ride that has had its ups and downs," Gaby Pacheco, president of TheDream.US told WLRN. "But nobody has been able to get off the ride."

Pacheco knows firsthand the anxiety of Dreamers. She was among the first undocumented students admitted to Miami Dade College in 2003. As a student government leader, she pushed legislators in Tallahassee to approve in-state tuition for undocumented students.

Pacheco and some of her classmates from Miami Dade College walked from Miami to Washington D.C. in 2010 to continue advocating for legal pathways for undocumented people. That push from Dreamers is credited with the creation of DACA.

 "The beautiful thing [with DACA] is that we've seen what even a little bit of legal status does to an immigrant's life and the potential and the socioeconomic mobility that it provides to folks," Pacheco said.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website says it is not processing new DACA applications. It's only processing renewal requests.

Trump, Republicans and Dreamers

President Donald Trump has said that "we have to do something about the Dreamers." Republicans in Congress also seem open to legislation to give DACA holders a chance to legalize their status.

A bill introduced by U.S. Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, R-Miami, could give all undocumented immigrants, including those under DACA, the change to permanently stay in the country. If passed, her "Dignity Act" would offer legal status to long-term residents who meet certain requirements, such as being in the country for over five years, having no criminal record, and being employed.

READ MORE: Miami congresswoman says her bipartisan bill can fix nation's broken immigration system

Alves believes the debate around Dreamers should not be so complex.

"Everyone wants to make the immigration system more merit-based, right?" said Alves. "There's no one more merit-based than these kids that grew up, in our schools, in the communities. They know no other home."

Giving Back

Alves, now 28, is in his final year of medical school at NOVA Southeastern University, and beginning to do the work that he always dreamed of.

"It feels really good," said Alves. "When I see a patient [that's] like an undocumented, 50-year-old construction worker, I feel like I'm working on my stepdad. Or, a mom that's cleaning houses, I think I see my mom there."

He still remains weary, especially when it is time to renew his status, which is why he still has all the work permits he has received since he was 15 in his possession.

"They're sentimental to me," said Alves. "Especially my first one…it has meaning to us. Even my driver's licenses, they're super meaningful."

Alves still sees his life in two-year windows, saying that when he renewed his status last year, he was glad that it would last him past his graduation in May.

"Every time, we're still worried, because…two years flies by," said Alves.

Alves said that a significant part of his stress growing up with DACA was living with his undocumented mother, who has now worked for two decades in the U.S. as a waitress.

"It's very scary," said Alves. "You never know when you're at school, if you're gonna get a call like, 'there was a raid at your mom's restaurant.'"

He described other instances of his mom fearing taking him to the DMV to get his learner's permit or being "terrified" when his mother was pulled over by the police with him in the car.

"Obviously the cop is not ICE or anything," said Alves. "But you get scared. It's like, what if she gets arrested? Like, you don't want your mom to be deported, your family to be separated."

His mother has since been able to pursue legal residency after his sister married a U.S. citizen. Alves' sister sponsored their mom. He says it has lifted the "biggest load off my back ever."

What's Next for DACA?

Despite bipartisan support that a solution for the Dreamers has mostly enjoyed, the actual Dream Act has not managed to pass in Congress despite being first introduced in 2001.

The average age of a Dreamer now is 32. Some are over the age of 40.

 "It's ironic that the single issue on immigration that has the support of both parties, that has the support of Donald Trump, that has the support of the community, is still an issue that has not been resolved," said Pacheco.

 "It speaks volumes to how our country just does not want to solve this issue of immigration, because they have the solutions in their hands," she added. "They're just not willing to take action."

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