When I hold my baby daughter in my arms, I have the same wish that any parent has. I want to watch her grow, see her get her first teeth and take her to kindergarten. But as an undocumented immigrant from Peru, my future in this country has always felt uncertain. So I’m glad Congress is preparing to vote on legislation that would make it possible for me to live and work in the United States without fear of deportation.
Although my daughter was born here and is a U.S. citizen, I’ve always worried that I could suddenly be forced to leave the country and her behind—just like my mother had to do was when I was a teenager. She was arrested for driving without a license while delivering newspapers—one of several jobs she worked to support my younger brother and me. They both returned to Peru in 2008, and I haven’t seen them since. Now Congress has introduced the Dream and Promise Act. If the bill becomes law, I’ll feel confident I’ll be able to stay here to raise and support my daughter. Thus far, I’ve been lucky to be able to work under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, which was designed for people like me who were brought to this country as children. The new legislation offers a more lasting solution that would enable to me keep working as the Long Island coordinator for Rural and Migrant Ministry and continue growing the technology company I started with three U.S. citizens in 2016. PhoRep, our Glen Cove phone and tablet repair business, currently serves three Long Island schools and contracts with about 10 different suppliers and other businesses in the area. We recently hired our first employee, who was also born here. And we are looking to expand; we’re developing cell phone protection products and plan to start manufacturing them soon. Many of my fellow immigrants are also creating new businesses and jobs. In New York State, there were 316,244 immigrant entrepreneurs in 2017, according to new research by New American Economy (NAE). These immigrant-owned firms in the state employed 825,887 people and generated more than $135 billion in sales that year. Immigrants are innovative and resourceful because we have to be. At least, that’s how it was for me. After my mother was deported, I dropped out of high school and took any job I could—cleaning, landscaping, kitchen work—to pay the bills and buy my brother a plane ticket back to Peru. Later, I got my high school equivalency diploma and enrolled in Nassau Community College, where I earned a degree in mathematics and started PhoRep at age 26 with my partners three years ago.
I believe the majority of Americans recognize the contributions that immigrants make in our communities, and I’m optimistic that we can get both Republicans and Democrats to agree on a solution. It’s not only good for families like mine; it’s also is good for the economy and for the continued advancement of this nation. NAE research finds that college-educated young immigrants are not only more likely to become entrepreneurs than the general population, we are also more likely to pursue fields in which U.S. employers are facing serious skills gaps, like technology, health care and finance. My daughter is only a few months old, and I dream of all the special milestones ahead of us: I want to coach her soccer team, take her to her first father-daughter dance and walk her down the aisle. I’m glad that the courts have so far protected DACA and are allowing us to extend our authorization for two more years. In the meantime, I’m asking our leaders in Washington to do everything they can to make sure that my family can stay together.
—Angel Reyes Rivas
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