Twelve common myths about DACA

Myth 1: If you have been in the states for about 18 years, why haven’t you applied to become a permanent resident?

The context of that question is that many of my friends are visa holders and their process towards a green card involves a long, drawn-out process consisting of complicated paper works, bureaucratic incompetencies, and unfair setups. The undertone is (sometimes) then, well, are you just lazy that you didn’t do your paperworks on time and that’s why you still haven’t gotten your green card after 18 years.

No. I wish it was being me being stupid to not apply on time. The short answer is that there was no other way to become even legal to work, and DACA was the only way.

If American legal landscape were a caste system, there are the citizens, which are obviously the highest. Then followed by permanent residents, or Green Card holders. Then there are the visa holders, H1B, student visa, investment visa etc. At least they have a visa and they entered the US legally (as in, they first came here for a legal reason). These are people that started on the right track.

Then finally, at the bottom of that chain and on the other side of the track, are the people like me who were brought into the United States illegally when they were children. Once you are the wrong track, there is no way you could end up on the right track. No amount of visa sponsorship, employment sponsorship, or anything could make you on the right track, save for marriage to an US citizen or something like DACA that help bridge the gap between the two tracks.

Here is an example why employment sponsorship won’t help. Suppose a company like Facebook sponsored me for H1B visa. So I take Facebook’s acceptance letter and go back to China, go to a Chinese consulate and get a stamp on my passport. Because I have a deportation order against me, the moment I leave the US I am barred from reentry for 10 years. So when I take the passport with Facebook’s stamp of approval on it and try to come back into the US, the deportation order kicked in before the H1B could apply.

Heck, if there is a program that would allow me to pay $1 million over the next 10 years, I  would gladly accept that position. Not being resourceful is not one of my problems.

Myth 2: You must understand the law must be upheld, and your family broke the law. 

We broke the law and we were punished greatly for it. When my parents owned a restaurant when we were living in Augusta, GA, there were multiple times when a couple masked gangsters came into the restaurant, held a gun to my mom’s forehead and demanded money. I was never the one got pointed to in the forehead so I do not know what it felt like. But my parents gave them money every single time. My dad, who was worried about our deportation, never mustered the courage to report it. (It turned out many years later did I learn that had we reported to the police, it would have been a good thing because we would be victims of criminal activity and abetted in the investigation). It was so bad that after a few times of this, we sold the restaurant and moved to another state, where we would go through many years of financial distress.

Also while I was living in Augusta, GA after I came back from the trip competing in the International Science Fair in Portland, OR, our apartment was robbed and in a state of ruin. It turned out those gangsters lived in the same apartment community as we did so they were following our steps all along.

Myth 3: You are taking welfare away from Americans. You are robbing American tax money for your illegal doing. 

Actually, it is the other way around. I am paying for many Americans’ education with my money with one exception: high school was paid for by American dollars.

I took out $120K in student debts when I went to Duke, and paid it all off, with 8% interest every year. I paid more than half a million in federal, state, and property taxes since I became a DACA recipient in 2013 more than what an average American could pay in about 30 years. I contributed to Medicaid, social security, and infrastructure works that make our cities and schools better. But I would not receive any social security or medicaid benefits from those when I retire. Now, who wouldn’t like that! And that is precisely what I am doing, let me keep paying the taxes, but also let me work legally and have a purpose in life.

Yes, I do get to use American highway system, use their libraries and hospitals, live on their soil, and I don’t want to say I live in the air, didn’t use any of the things this great country has built for me. But I am also saying I’ve contributed way more than an average American can, without many of the benefits.

Myth/Question 4: What is all the fuss? You have 1.4 years before your EAD card expires and Congress may even pass the Dream Act. 

Yes, if there is any silver lining it might be that Congress could legalize Dream Act and maybe even better, provide a path towards citizenship (which is better than what DACA provided).

As an investor myself, I am not afraid of losing; I am most afraid of uncertainty, especially the volatility of the return is too big. If I invest $100K in something, if I could make $20K a year 50% of the time or lose $5K 50% of the time, that is a way better investment than if I could lose all $100K or win another $100K, because the latter has too much variance.

In any case, by giving the ball to Congress is like asking J.R.Smith or Nick Young to shoot the the game winning shot.. from half-court. Honestly, even if it’s Stephen Curry, I wouldn’t bank my life on it.

Regarding the 1 year time frame. Suppose today I was diagnosed with a disease that would incapacitate my ability to work. I’ve been told they are still doing more tests on me, and there might be a cure. But knowing that news is already devastating enough. Do I have to wait till the day I am actually out of work to be sad?

Myth/Question 5: It is not big deal right, since you could just go back to China and come back. A lot of your friends also need to go back to Taiwan/Singapore for military. 

The biggest difference is that I grew up here and I don’t know what China looks like anymore. I have no friend, no family member, or any contact person in China.

Also, as stated before, once I leave the US, I cannot come back for 10 years. You are asking me to start a new life somewhere.

Myth/Question 6: Why don’t you start a new life somewhere?

I will if I need to.

Myth/Question 7: I see a lot of people support it; it would be OK

I think so too. I honestly cannot convince those people who have made up their mind. And for every article like this, 9 people who are already against it are probably going to keep believing Dreamers take jobs away from them, take money from them, and should be punished according to the law. My hope is to cause change of heart in that 1 person out of 10; if I could do that, I’ve done my job.

Myth/Question 8: Do you think you take jobs away from Americans?

I graduated from one of the top 8 universities in the country; I worked in an unicorn company startup in Silicon Valley. As a software engineer, I made code changes that helped the company save millions of dollars every year on the bottom line. To some, having this kind of career success for my age group is 5 years ahead of the curve. On top of that, all the taxes I paid I don’t get the benefits from Social Security or medicaid. If I were running the US government, like, what else could I have asked for?

Myth/Question 9: Don’t you think it’s unfair for visa holders, who followed the rule to come here, yet you actually get in the front line for going backdoors?

I think so. I think it is unfair for both visa holders and dreamers. I do not like the undertone, however, as if visa holders had it easier. A lot of times the lunch conversation goes like this when my friends/coworkers discussed their frustration over the visa process and they looked at me: “Oh, you probably get bored with our complaints. You are an US citizen and you don’t have to worry about that kind of stuff.”

The comparison puts Dreamers at a disadvantage. Visa holders are usually more empowered to change their destiny. If the lottery didn’t work out,  they go back and apply again. For Dreamers, they are stuck in a limbo. This, combined with the fact there were raised up to have no control over their destiny, they have learned helplessness. Like the hapless dogs in those experiments, there is a lot of built-up emotional trauma associated with their legal status which renders them less effective in coping with the stress.

Both are suffering for sure. Dreamers in some ways are luckier than visa holders; but in other ways, I know they have suffered a lot. I have suffered a lot.

Myth/Question 10: What else is unique about your situation?

You draw a circle, that represented the top 1% of Americans in terms of wealth / earning / success. Then you draw another circle, that represented 800 something thousand (about 0.247% of the US population) dreamers, who usually go to community colleges and find normal jobs.

I am in the intersection of those two circles. That made me really, really alone. I don’t know any one else really like me. Because for the level of worldly comfort I am in, not much is going wrong; and I am better off material-wise than most of Americans. I also know it didn’t come easy.

When I got my DACA in 2013, I received my SSN for the first time at the age of 25. I immediately bought a car, not because I wanted to show off but because I could take out a car loan to build my credit. It was an outrageous 21% interest rate for 1.5 years but I had to do what I had to do to build enough credit in a short amount of time to qualify for a mortgage loan.

I then bought a house in one of the most expensive areas in the country, San Francisco, because I know only there my parents could qualify for SF Health insurance benefits regardless of their status when they retire. It didn’t make any cash flow sense, but I had determined that I must do it. I planned as meticulously as I could for my parents.

Then I was obsessed, even ruthless in building my life up financially. I worked hard in my job, invested that money wisely, and built a portfolio of my own. I am grateful for the opportunity to work, passionate about making a difference among my friends and my company, and knowing full well it is a window of opportunity that could be easily taken away from me, as it just did.

I am hard working. I donate my time and money for the friends and communities around me. I empower my coworkers and my company to be productive in what they do. I chased excellence, and success followed. I am obsessed with financial independence. I just don’t think I present any risk to our national security. I am as patriotic about American ideals as Nadal can be about tennis. My dog looks like this:

Like, which part of me is not American?

Myth/Question 11: Why don’t you marry an US Citizen?

I should, but I am too intense to have anyone like me.

Myth/Question 12: Go back to your country! You don’t belong here.

Fuck you, too.