I am a proud undocumented medical student attending the UCLA School of Medicine — a reality that still seems like a dream. It is a reality because of the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy, or DACA. However, the DACA program and its beneficiaries remain in jeopardy as the policy could be ended by a court ruling any day now. If Congress does not pass legislation this year, nearly 700,000 DACA recipients — including teachers, parents, students and nurses — will be at risk of being forced out of the workforce and subjected to the threat of deportation.
I decided that I was going to pursue medicine during my third year in college. I hoped to become a physician whom folks like my family could identify with and rely on — even though because of my immigration status, it was clear from the beginning that I might never be able to practice as a physician in the U.S. I made the decision to pursue a medical career in spite of this, because it’s important to me that my community is represented in health care. I wasn’t deterred by the fact that I didn’t know any undocumented medical students or undocumented practicing physicians. Living in constant uncertainty for as long as I can remember, I’ve had to develop a sense of resiliency to push past roadblocks and continue pursuing my goals.
When DACA passed in 2012, I remember feeling excited and relieved, like a weight had been lifted off of me. The policy provides temporary work authorizations and protections from deportation to qualifying young undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children.
