Dubai Telegraph - Undocumented immigrants in US 'terrified' as Trump returns

EUR -
AED 3.826681
AFN 70.961758
ALL 98.138602
AMD 405.652886
ANG 1.877182
AOA 951.190259
ARS 1045.720247
AUD 1.602814
AWG 1.877897
AZN 1.775245
BAM 1.955573
BBD 2.102956
BDT 124.465544
BGN 1.955294
BHD 0.392554
BIF 3076.642669
BMD 1.041829
BND 1.403837
BOB 7.197164
BRL 6.043693
BSD 1.041579
BTN 87.914489
BWP 14.229347
BYN 3.408604
BYR 20419.848375
BZD 2.099456
CAD 1.456529
CDF 2991.091432
CHF 0.930957
CLF 0.036923
CLP 1018.83097
CNY 7.54601
CNH 7.562783
COP 4573.368835
CRC 530.538382
CUC 1.041829
CUP 27.608468
CVE 110.252195
CZK 25.343745
DJF 185.478458
DKK 7.457729
DOP 62.772709
DZD 139.835759
EGP 51.726992
ERN 15.627435
ETB 127.508391
FJD 2.371151
FKP 0.822333
GBP 0.831435
GEL 2.855018
GGP 0.822333
GHS 16.456089
GIP 0.822333
GMD 73.970229
GNF 8977.957272
GTQ 8.040066
GYD 217.904692
HKD 8.110066
HNL 26.320943
HRK 7.431636
HTG 136.72412
HUF 411.522823
IDR 16610.452733
ILS 3.856892
IMP 0.822333
INR 87.968134
IQD 1364.44153
IRR 43834.955489
ISK 145.523076
JEP 0.822333
JMD 165.930728
JOD 0.738765
JPY 161.244275
KES 134.884334
KGS 90.122166
KHR 4193.512952
KMF 492.268155
KPW 937.645704
KRW 1463.259646
KWD 0.320727
KYD 0.867999
KZT 520.059599
LAK 22878.342838
LBP 93271.167197
LKR 303.144792
LRD 187.998165
LSL 18.795317
LTL 3.076251
LVL 0.630192
LYD 5.086409
MAD 10.478083
MDL 18.997794
MGA 4861.435378
MKD 61.522855
MMK 3383.819949
MNT 3540.134882
MOP 8.35093
MRU 41.443187
MUR 48.810083
MVR 16.10707
MWK 1806.090235
MXN 21.283008
MYR 4.654932
MZN 66.583684
NAD 18.795317
NGN 1767.675143
NIO 38.325549
NOK 11.53576
NPR 140.663663
NZD 1.785942
OMR 0.400943
PAB 1.041579
PEN 3.949541
PGK 4.193513
PHP 61.404399
PKR 289.239507
PLN 4.337676
PYG 8131.055634
QAR 3.798559
RON 4.978071
RSD 116.991412
RUB 108.671879
RWF 1421.834864
SAR 3.911473
SBD 8.734231
SCR 14.272055
SDG 626.663972
SEK 11.497837
SGD 1.402931
SHP 0.822333
SLE 23.68116
SLL 21846.638123
SOS 595.230868
SRD 36.978718
STD 21563.75683
SVC 9.113941
SYP 2617.626467
SZL 18.788818
THB 35.922648
TJS 11.092512
TMT 3.646401
TND 3.309016
TOP 2.440072
TRY 35.9978
TTD 7.074178
TWD 33.946439
TZS 2770.578216
UAH 43.089995
UGX 3848.553017
USD 1.041829
UYU 44.294855
UZS 13362.448044
VES 48.506662
VND 26482.251319
VUV 123.688032
WST 2.90836
XAF 655.880824
XAG 0.033274
XAU 0.000384
XCD 2.815595
XDR 0.792308
XOF 655.880824
XPF 119.331742
YER 260.379151
ZAR 18.915093
ZMK 9377.71492
ZMW 28.772658
ZWL 335.468513
  • RIO

    -0.2200

    62.35

    -0.35%

  • BTI

    0.4000

    37.38

    +1.07%

  • CMSC

    0.0320

    24.672

    +0.13%

  • SCS

    0.2300

    13.27

    +1.73%

  • GSK

    0.2600

    33.96

    +0.77%

  • BP

    0.2000

    29.72

    +0.67%

  • BCE

    0.0900

    26.77

    +0.34%

  • NGG

    1.0296

    63.11

    +1.63%

  • AZN

    1.3700

    65.63

    +2.09%

  • BCC

    3.4200

    143.78

    +2.38%

  • CMSD

    0.0150

    24.46

    +0.06%

  • RELX

    0.9900

    46.75

    +2.12%

  • JRI

    -0.0200

    13.21

    -0.15%

  • RBGPF

    59.2400

    59.24

    +100%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0100

    6.79

    -0.15%

  • VOD

    0.1323

    8.73

    +1.52%

Undocumented immigrants in US 'terrified' as Trump returns
Undocumented immigrants in US 'terrified' as Trump returns / Photo: Olivier Touron - AFP

Undocumented immigrants in US 'terrified' as Trump returns

Since learning that Donald Trump will return to the White House, undocumented immigrant Angel Palazuelos has struggled to sleep.

Text size:

The 22-year-old, a graduate student in biomedical engineering who lives in Phoenix, Arizona, is haunted by the incoming president's promises of mass deportations.

"I was terrified," said Palazuelos, reflecting on the moment he heard the news.

"I am in fear of being deported, of losing everything that I've worked so hard for, and, most importantly, being separated from my family."

Born in Mexico, he has lived in the United States since he was four years old. He is one of the country's so-called "Dreamers," a term for migrants who were brought into the country as children and never obtained US citizenship.

Throughout the election campaign, Palazuelos heard Trump repeatedly rail against illegal immigrants, employing violent rhetoric about those who "poison the blood" of the United States.

Trump has never specified how he intends to go about his plan for mass deportation, which experts warn would be extremely complicated and expensive.

"What do mass deportations mean? Who does that include?" Palazuelos asked.

"Does it include people like me, Dreamers, people that came here from a very young age, that had no say?"

- 'Suspected' -

Compounding the stress, the southwestern state of Arizona has just approved by referendum a law allowing state police to arrest illegal immigrants. That power was previously reserved for federal border police.

If the proposition is deemed constitutional by courts, Palazuelos fears becoming the target of heightened racial profiling.

"What makes someone a suspect of being here illegally, whether they don't speak English?" he asked.

"My grandma, she's a United States citizen, however, she doesn't speak English very well. Meanwhile, I speak English, but is it because of the color of my skin that I would possibly be suspected or detained?"

Jose Patino, 35, also feels a sense of "dread" and "sadness." His situation feels more fragile than ever.

Born in Mexico and brought to the United States aged six, he now works for Aliento, a community organization helping undocumented immigrants.

He personally benefited from the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) immigrant policy brought in by Barack Obama, offering protections and work permits for those in his situation.

But for Patino, those safeguards will expire next year, and Trump has promised to end the DACA program.

Indeed, Trump already tried to dismantle it during his previous term, but his decree was scuppered by a US Supreme Court decision, largely on procedural grounds.

Faced with this uncertainty, Patino is considering moving to a state that would refuse to report him to federal authorities, such as Colorado or California.

- 'Frustrating and hurtful' -

He remembers well the struggle of being undocumented in his twenties -- a time when he could not obtain a basic job like flipping burgers in McDonald's, and could not apply for a driver's license or travel for fear of being deported.

"I don't personally want to go back to that kind of life," Patino said.

For him, Trump's electoral win is not just scary, but an insult.

"We're contributing to this country. So that's the hard part: me following the rules, working, paying my taxes, helping this country grow, that's not enough," he said.

"So it's frustrating, and it's hurtful."

Patino understands why so many Hispanic voters, often faced with economic difficulties, ended up voting for Trump.

Those who are here legally "believe that they're not going to be targeted," he said.

"A lot of Latinos associate wealth and success with whiteness, and they want to be part of that group and to be included, rather than be outside of it and be marginalized and be considered 'the other,'" he said.

Still, he is angry with his own uncles and cousins who, having once been undocumented themselves, voted for Trump.

"We cannot have a conversation together, because it's going to get into argument and probably into a fight," he said.

I.Uddin--DT