美国国家公共电台 NPR DACA, A Student's Story: 'They Are The Types Of Immigrants You Want In Your Country'

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Recently, we heard from a young immigrant from Mexico - the country from which the vast majority of DACA recipients 2 arrived. Some 79 percent are from Mexico and most of the rest came from elsewhere in Central and South America. But among the recipients who don't come from there, most came from South Korea.

Dan Lee is one of them. He was born in Korea, and he's now a fourth-year student of political science at American University. He was nice enough to join us here at our studios in Washington, D.C. Dan Lee, thanks so much for being here.

DAN LEE: Thank you for having me.

MARTIN: First, would you just tell us a little bit about your story. How old were you when you came and why did your family come?

LEE: I was about 6 or 7-ish when we immigrated 3 to the U.S. My parents - they grew up in South Korea. And they have a crush on the American education system, which they regard as one of the highest in the world. According to them, we came here on a tourist visa or one of the visas out there.

And we wanted to stay here for educational purposes and eventually go back. But they saw how well my little brother and I were adjusting in the United States, and they decided 4, you know what? We'll apply for an immigrant visa. And we'll apply for a green card eventually.

But unfortunately, things didn't work out because my parents - they were scammed by a supposed immigration attorney. And, you know, my parents didn't speak English. They didn't know how the American system worked. They didn't know the laws here. And they just assumed that, oh, if we hire an attorney, everything will work out. Turns out, it didn't.

MARTIN: Do you remember how old you were when you realized that your legal status was precarious 5?

LEE: I always knew it in the back of my mind. But it didn't really hit me until I was looking for a part-time job in high school. And I applied 6 for a job. And I thought I aced 7 the interview and everything. And then they're like, great, we'll need your documents, you know, your Social Security number. And I asked my mom like, hey, mom, where's all my documents and stuff like this? And my mom's like, yeah, you don't have any of those.

MARTIN: Do you remember thinking then about what it would mean for your future if you didn't have those documents? Do you remember kind of recognizing the impact of that?

LEE: Well, when I realized I was undocumented around like 15, like, that's when it really hit me. And I started doing a lot of research on it - on like what it means to be undocumented. Like, why do people call us illegals and stuff like that?

And I guess it was a tumultuous time. I was very, like, afraid for my future because I realized, oh, wait, I can't get a job. I'm not a eligible 8 for any financial aid. I wanted to have a career in civil service, and I realized I couldn't do any of those things. And it was very depressing.

This was before DACA was introduced. So I thought, oh, no, like, given the historical data, like, I see that Congress has tried to tackle immigration reform so many times and they've mostly failed over and over again. And I realized there's just simply no hope.

And I was going like, what is the point of me even trying in school? What is the point of me doing anything if I'm not going to be able to have a career or be able to, I guess, be normal?

MARTIN: Did that have an effect on you? I mean, did you stop going to school or did you...

LEE: I did.

MARTIN: So how did you get back on track? You obviously did. I mean, you did wind up going to college.

LEE: My family has always been a very strong supporter. And I guess my brother also really did help a lot because he would say, like, you can't just wallow in self despair because, you know, one day, there's going to be an opportunity that's going to come by and you have to be ready to seize it.

MARTIN: What made you decide to come here today and talk with us? I mean, were glad you did. But what made you decide to come and talk with us?

LEE: You know, like, how people say don't let yourself live in fear? And you see all these, like, activists 9 out there going like, I won't let myself live in fear. And I was thinking to myself like, what are you talking about? I live in fear (laughter). Like, this is, like, I can't just say that. And, like, I haven't actually told anybody that I was a DACA recipient 1 until my girlfriend actually. And I realized it's almost liberating 10 and that feeling is incredible.

MARTIN: What's your hope for the future? What's the hope - what's your hope for your future?

LEE: What do you mean hope for my future?

MARTIN: What's your hope? What do you hope will happen? What do you want to do?

LEE: I just want to, I guess, live that normal life where this issue isn't popping up and putting us in limbo 11 because what I think is one of the worse fears or one of the worse aspects of this entire situation is - it's the waiting. It's the unknown and the uncertainty 12.

And there's a lot of, you know, back and forth 13 between the White House and Congress right now. But it's the fact that we don't know what's going to happen. I wish they could just say it to get me out of this limbo.

It's like when you're on a chair and you lean a little too back and you're just about to fall, right? And it's feeling that like perpetual falling feeling. I just want to know if I'm going to be able to keep what I built here. I want to be able to one day own a house, have a family, have a job and watch football on Sundays peacefully.

MARTIN: That's Dan Lee. He's a fourth year student of political science at American University here in Washington, D.C. He's a DACA recipient. He was kind enough to join us here at our studios in Washington, D.C. Dan Lee, thanks so much for speaking with us.

LEE: Thank you for having me.

(SOUNDBITE OF ESBE'S "FLOAT")