OVERLAND PARK, Kan. -- Yahir Vanvollenhoven, 18, said he has more important things to worry about than the Trump administration overturning the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program.
“I’m working and trying to stay focused on school,” Vanvollenhoven said.
His parents brought him to the U.S. as a 1-year-old and raised him in the American dream.
At least 4,000 other young adults in the Kansas City metro alone are also DACA recipients.
Vanvollenhoven just started college at KU, the first in his family to go. He wants to be an accountant. It’s a source of great pride for his family, though he said it’s a lot of pressure.
He catches the 6 a.m. bus every day from Overland Park, goes to class, then takes the bus back home to work at his dad’s landscaping business.
“I get home around like 9:30 or 10, and I stay up until one doing my homework, then I need to wake up at 5:30 again,” Vanvollenhoven laughed.
He’s also the oldest son of the family the community rallied around when floods struck Kansas City in late August. Video captured the family of seven trapped on their roof and captured the family’s struggle to get back on their feet. Their landscaping equipment and their home are ruined.
Tuesday brought a new worry for the 18-year-old.
He asked nervously, “Will I get deported? You don’t know?”
The reality is that no one has an answer yet.
DACA, enacted by President Barack Obama through executive action, gave protections for nearly 800,000 young adults like Vanvollenhoven to work and go to school.
President Donald Trump is leaving Congress with six months to come up with a plan to make DACA into law. If not, those work permits will start expiring, and those in the program would be subject to deportation.
“No new applications if you’re not already in the program. If you have a card that expires on or before March 5 [2018], you need to reapply right away before October 5, so that’s very urgent,” Immigration Attorney Jessica Piedra said.
She said her phone is ringing nonstop with clients wondering what to do.
“If you have a card that expires after March 5 [2018], you just do nothing right now. We’ll wait to see what happens,” Piedra said.
Any current pending applications will be sent back along with a refund for the application, which is usually $575.
Vanvollenhoven said he hopes those in charge take a look at people like him.
“I would just think they deport the criminals, but I don’t know if they deport people like me. I don’t think I’m doing anything bad,” Vanvollenhoven said. “I’m a hard working kid that, during the summer, I worked 72-plus hours. I’m trying to get my education and be someone that can be a successful person like everyone else wants to be.”
Vanvollenhoven said he just renewed his two-year permit last month.
DACA applicants received permits to work or study if they met the following requirements:
- Pass a criminal background check
- Came to the U.S. under age 16
- Lived continuously in the U.S. since June 15, 2007
- Was under 31 years old as of June 15, 2012
- In school or the military
Ten states, including Kansas, threatened a lawsuit if Trump didn’t rescind DACA, claiming it was an overreach by Obama because Congress wasn’t involved.
Many Republican lawmakers stand behind keeping the program, but say it should be done with Congress.
