Rep. Denham, young immigrant agree on this path to legal status at Modesto event
Tomas Evangelista could not join the U.S. Navy or go to college because he had come from Mexico illegally when he was 2.
Life got better when the federal government eased the rules for certain young people in 2012, Evangelista told a Modesto audience Tuesday. He was able to attend California State University, Stanislaus, and now is a taxpaying employee of the Latino Leadership Council.
Evangelista, 27, joined with Rep. Jeff Denham, R-Turlock, to urge a longterm extension of the program. Democratic President Barack Obama created it with an executive order. Backers hope it will be part of immigration reform in the Republican-controlled Congress and White House.
"At the age of 15 or 16, you shouldn't be thinking, 'Well, am I going to be deported?' " Evangelista said.
About 40 people turned out for a discussion of the issue at the Princeton Event Center, just off North Ninth Street. It was put on by FWD.us, a bipartisan group based in San Francisco that works on immigration and criminal justice reform.
The program at issue is Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA. The eligible immigrants — advocates call them Dreamers — include an estimated 8,000 people in Stanislaus County, 6,000 in Merced and 11,000 in San Joaquin.
The program allows undocumented young people to get work permits, enroll in college, get drivers licenses, open bank accounts and otherwise take part in American society.
Denham supports extending the program as part of an immigration overhaul that also includes border security, temporary workers on farms and elsewhere, and a path to citizenship.
"What do you do when somebody was brought here through no fault of their own?" he said. "... This is the only country that they know."
Evangelista studied kinesiology — the science of human movement — at Stan State and was on the track and field team. He works with homeless people through the Auburn-based council.
"I'm glad to pay taxes," he said. "I feel very fortunate to be able to do that."
This story was originally published August 29, 2017 at 6:00 PM with the headline "Rep. Denham, young immigrant agree on this path to legal status at Modesto event."