Photo credit // Molly Adams, Creative Commons
Carmen was brought to the USA with the assistance of a coyote when she was almost two years old. Her father had already been living in the US for a few years when her parents decided it was time that she and her mother joined him in Ohio. Carmen doesn’t remember the trip but she says her mother describes being terrified when they were told that upon crossing the border of Tijuana, that she and her mother would be separated. They were reunited at a gas station in Ohio and then waited for her father to meet them. They all lived in Cleveland together for the next 15 years. During that time, her parents made a living doing odd jobs, her father did landscaping and sometimes her parents would work together as housekeepers.
In February 2018, Carmen’s father was deported to Mexico. Her mother stayed one more year and then decided to take Carmen’s other siblings (who are USC’s by birth) back to Mexico. She was terrified if she were deported her children would be stranded without parents in the USA. Because she only had one year left before graduating from high school, the Carmen decided to stay in the USA and live with an aunt and uncle. Since her family left, Carmen has graduated high school, and taken one semester of classes at Tri-C. She hopes to finish her college education and become a nurse or art therapist for children. Since the COVID pandemic, she had to leave school and has been working at a restaurant to support herself. If her DACA application is approved, she will be able to find more stable employment and return to school.
Funds raised in the $46 and Change Campaign will be used to pay for the filing fees for DACA recipients which were recently increased dramatically by the Trump Administration to inhibit applications. The fee is $495/person.
Suggested Donation Amounts are $46.00, $92.00, $138.00 or $495.00, which pays the full amount of a DACA renewal application. Our goal is to raise at least $4,950 by April 30. Through this campaign our priority is to assist 10 immigrant teens and/or young adults like Carmen.