C. Oregon DACA recipients worried about uncertain future

President Donald Trump on Tuesday repealed the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program or DACA, and gave Congress a six-month window to replace the system. The impacts are being felt and the long-standing issues debated across the country, including in Central Oregon.

Redmond resident Antonia Hidalgo is one of the people who have benefited from the DACA program, but now her future is uncertain.

Hildalgo said she came here from Mexico with her parents and brother when she was an infant. Now she is 26 and a single mother of a 5-year-old, with another baby on the way.

“I graduated form Redmond High in ’09. I attended college at COCC. All my life has been here,” Hidalgo said Tuesday.

With the repeal of DACA, people like Hidalgo face an uncertain future.

More than a dozen people gathered to show their support for DACA recipients by taking to the streets in Bend Tuesday to protest the president’s decision.

Protester Julie Paige is a mother, and said she feels it’s her duty to stand up for children.

“I’m passionate about it, because I’m a mother,” Paige said. “I’m a mother, and these are our American kids, and they deserve to have the right make a life.”

Brad Porterfield, executive director of the Latino Community Association, said it’s not just about the repeal of this program but finding a long-term solution to immigration issues.

“There is a DREAM Act of 2017 that has been submitted, legislation in the Senate, that would be much better than DACA,” Porterfield said. “But at the same time, until then, you know, with the way that Congress has been behaving up to the point, who knows?”

Hidalgo said she would like to see some immigration reform that give her stability.

“To see DACA continue, and not only continue, but for us to find something more established to have something more permanent,” Hidalgo said.

Hidalgo said she is ready to keep fighting for her rights.

“It’s not an easy fight, but I don’t believe that it’s the end,” Hidalgo said, her voice thick with emotion. “And I strongly encourage you guys not to be afraid and to continue with the fight.”

Congress will have until March 5, 2018, to make a decision on DACA, when its protections are set to expire. (Later Tuesday, President Trump tweeted that he will “revisit” the DACA decision if Congress fails to act by then.)

This is also the topic of our latest KTVZ.COM Poll: Do you believe the children of undocumented immigrants should be allowed to stay in the U.S. if they are on a path toward citizenship? Find it halfway down the right side of our home page.