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Dozens in Charlotte protest President Trump's decision to end DACA

By Joe Bruno, wsoctv.com
By Joe Bruno, wsoctv.com

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The fate of nearly 800,000 immigrants is up in the air.

President Trump said he is ending DACA, a federal program that provides protection to children of undocumented immigrants.

The decision was met with nationwide protests.

In Charlotte, dozens of protesters showed up to Marshall Park, including several affected by the decision.

Channel 9 reporter Joe Bruno spoke to some who have been in America since they were infants.

They say America is the only country they know and they have no clue what they will do if they are forced to leave.

DACA supporters and participants packed Marshall Park to say they want to stay.

(VIDEO: Dozens in Charlotte protest end of DACA)

Maria Parra Perez is studying computer engineering at Johnson C. Smith University and has been in the United States since she was 3 years old.

She's nervous for her future but plans to keep speaking up until everything is resolved.

“It would be as insane as sending you back to Ecuador,” Perez said. “I know the national anthem. I don't know the Ecuadorian national anthem. I love it here."

Former President Barack Obama created DACA in 2012.

In five years, it has shielded from deportation 800,000 young undocumented people who came to the U.S. as minors.

President Trump is rescinding the program and calling on Congress to come up with a replacement.

Juan Diego, who goes to Queens University on a Golden Door Scholarship designed for DACA students, was brought to the U.S. by his parents when he was 5 months old.

He said he hopes that now, as a young adult, he doesn't have to leave.

“We're just people who came here innocently without knowing what are the consequences,” Diego said. “This is my home. This is the place I grew up in."

Many people ask why they don't just become citizens.

They said the process is complicated, time-consuming and too expensive.

Channel 9 also spoke with a Charlotte resident who immigrated to the U.S. legally with her parents 20 years ago from Costa Rica.

Maria Abarca's parents have since become U.S. citizens, but she is still waiting to get her residency.

Abarca has a work permit through DACA, but now, her future is even more uncertain.

“So this is my home, but I can’t really call it home, and I can't call Costa Rica home because I haven’t been there in 20 years,” Abarca said. “A big fear is feeling stranded and no place to call home.”

She said as a child she was filled with fear because of her situation.

If Congress does not make any moves on DACA, it puts thousands of children in an even more devastating situation.

“You know, I told my dad on the phone today, like I’m holding my breath for the next six months,” Abarca said. “I feel like I'm in a glass cage screaming and no one can hear me.”

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