Fernando Baires dreams of going to college, working as a building contractor and becoming an entrepreneur.
“I want to have my own business and be my own boss. I think that’s the dream of a lot of people,” said Baires, a junior at Dorman High School.
The 17-year-old is another kind of dreamer, too — a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program recipient, someone who is often referred to as a Dreamer.
Baires said his parents brought him to the United States from El Salvador, by way of Guatemala and Mexico, when he was 5 years old.
“I have the American dream everyone else has had. And the people I know have come with that desire to work, to live a better life, to bring their families along forward,” he said. “Without DACA, I wouldn’t be able to become what I want to become.”
President Barack Obama created the DACA program in 2012 as a temporary measure while legislators worked on a longer-term immigration solution. The program grants renewable work permits and temporary legal status to immigrants who entered the United States illegally as children and who are attending school, working or serving in the military and have no criminal record.
In September, President Donald Trump signed a policy to withdraw the DACA program within six months. Pending a long-term legislative solution, close to 800,000 Dreamers could become subject to deportation starting next month.
More than 7,000 Dreamers live in South Carolina, including many DACA students like Baires who currently call the Upstate home.
On Wednesday, Baires will be part of a group of people from Spartanburg that’s joining others from across the state for a pro-DACA lobbying day in Columbia.
The group will be advocating for a recent bill — the S.C. Dreamers Act — introduced by S.C. Rep. Neal Collins, R-Pickens, that would allow DACA recipients in South Carolina to apply for state-sponsored scholarships, pay in-state tuition at public universities and obtain professional licenses.
Dreamers currently pay higher out-of-state tuition at South Carolina colleges and universities. And Dreamers in South Carolina aren’t eligible for certain jobs that require state licenses.
S.C. Rep. Josiah Magnuson, R-Campobello, said he doesn’t plan to support the S.C. Dreamers Act, despite it being well-intentioned.
“I believe that President Trump got it right when he said Americans are dreamers, too,” Magnuson said. “I really think we need to put our priorities in the right place, which are people who are already citizens of this country. When we start opening the flood gates for people who are illegal, then naturally we take away from the folks who are legal citizens of this country.”
Federal lawmakers are still divided over how to extend expiring protections under the DACA program.
Opponents argue the program was a constitutional overreach, putting a wide-ranging policy in place without Congressional approval.
DACA program supporters argue the program allows for children brought to the United States illegally to contribute by working and studying here.
Baires said being a DACA recipient has allowed him to further his education. He said he’s been able to take duel-enrollment classes at Dorman that count toward college credits.
Without the DACA program, Baires said pursuing higher education would be challenging, and he also wouldn’t be able to keep his part-time job.
“Without a job and being able to work somewhere, after I graduate I wouldn’t be able to go to college as easily as everyone else because I would have to pay out-of-state tuition,” he said. “That builds up money-wise.”
In recent months, efforts that call for extending the DACA program and permanent legal status for Dreamers have gained traction in Spartanburg.
Spartanburg City Council in November unanimously passed a resolution supporting the DACA program and Dreamers. The resolution came after several Spartanburg residents addressed the council about the importance of allowing Dreamers to continue working and contributing in Spartanburg.
“When you only look at this from politics, we can often lose sight of the human face of this issue. This is a people issue,” said Meghan Blanton Smith, a Spartanburg resident and DACA advocate who is helping organize the group that’s going to Columbia on Wednesday. “This is also a workforce issue, and we need to retain the talent that is capable and educated. But if they don’t have access to those professional licenses, then we’re just training up people to move elsewhere.”
Christina Jeffrey, a longtime professor and conservative activist, said she thinks there’s a silent majority that doesn’t favor the DACA program.
“My personal concern is that Spartanburg has adopted a resolution that basically calls on ignoring the law and virtually makes us a sanctuary city,” she said. “I’m a college teacher and love young people and I have no personal animus, but I feel strongly if we don’t have laws and we don’t obey them, then life and civilization as we know it cannot tolerate that.”
In December, the Spartanburg Area Chamber of Commerce issued a statement urging protection of DACA recipients. Allen Smith, chamber president and CEO, called on state legislators to ratify a policy lifting restrictions that prohibit DACA recipients from obtaining professional licenses.
College students like Fredy Madrid Jr., who attends Wofford College, also have voiced support for Dreamers. Madrid, who has several classmates who are Dreamers, sponsored a resolution that was passed in November by the college’s Campus Union Assembly supporting DACA recipients as valued members of the Wofford community.
“The resolution was an effort to tell the DACA students that the student body supports them no matter what happens,” said Madrid, who plans to take part in the upcoming state lobbying day. “We support DACA, and we will fight for DACA.”
During a recent trip to Washington with other students to lobby for the DACA program and other issues, Madrid said he handed out copies of the resolution to elected officials representing various states, including South Carolina.
“When you see it on the local level like we have here with our City Council, on college campuses and in the business community and faith community, I think that sends a very clear message that people in every sector of our society support this group of people,” said Blanton Smith. “It also speaks to the America that we want to be. We want to be a place that is welcoming, accommodating and makes it easy for our best and brightest to stay and to thrive.”