Leonardo da Silva
English 1010
Professor Rachele Dalton
You may say I’m a Dreamer.
The Dreamer
On a balmy September day, Gus Santos is sitting on an old wood-cracked bench
overlooking a pond at Sugarhouse Park. He looks the part of a 20 something hipster, with his
wavy unkempt hair, black prescription frames, wearing a dark red Sriracha shirt. By looks alone
you wouldn’t be able to tell the journey he had to endure for us to be there today. He tells me “I
can’t imagine how my life would be like if I was still in Venezuela. I don’t know if I would be
dead, in jail or even successful. I’m just glad to be where I’m at, I am the American dream.”
Gus looks and acts like any other American, but he is an undocumented immigrant. Gus
and his family immigrated to the United States from Venezuela in 1989 when he was just 3 years
old in search of a better life. They came here on a temporary visitor’s VISA and once it expired
they had decided to stay. At that time they could not imagine the struggle that would occur.
We are at Sugarhouse Park, and Gus is doing a research assignment for his visual
communication class at the University of Utah. He is finishing up his last classes on his way
towards his B.A for City and Metropolitan Planning. All of this would not have been possible
without President Barack Obama’s 2012 memorandum called Deferred Action for Childhood
Arrivals, or DACA. DACA allows conditional permanent residency to immigrants who arrived
to the U.S. before their 16th birthday, have shown good moral character, and graduated from U.S
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high schools. DACA was offered as a compromise to the DREAM Act, which would have given
a pathway to citizenship for Gus and others like him. They are still widely called Dreamer’s due
to the DREAM Act.
Gus fit all the criteria for DACA and at its inception applied for the program. “DACA
saved my life,” he tells me. Not too long ago Gus was working odd jobs here and there while
saving up money to go to college. His path to get to college was a long and hard one. “Before
DACA was enacted I had to scrounge up money to pay for tuition. In the summer I had to work
12 – 16 hour days. I even had a piggy bank full of coins that helped me pay for tuition that
semester.”
The Student
In high school Gus was a C student with no aspirations of going to college. He tells me “I
went to Granger High School in West Valley, Utah. When I was at Granger if felt as if the
teacher, counselors and other administrative staff did not have any hope for their students in
furthering their education after High School.” In 2013 the graduation rate at Granger was 64%
(Education). Which is well below the statewide average of 81%.
Gus has invited me to go to the University of Utah to tailgate for the Football game. It’s
late September and after an unusually warm month, we are hit with the typical Utah September
weather. We decide to take TRAX to the game. As we make our way inside TRAX all we see is
a sea of red, grown men shirtless, face and body paint all around. One of these men is high
fiving everyone he is near. He comes to us and awkwardly gives us a high five and says “go
Utes, let’s go!” Inquisitively I ask, “Did you go to the University of Utah?” In a state of
confusion and drunkenness he states, “No, I’m just a fan.”
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Gus goes on to tell me this is the norm. He doesn’t understand how someone without any
real affiliation to the school becomes just a “fan.” “Don’t get me wrong I enjoy going to the
University of Utah, but some of these people have no idea at how the cost of going to school
burdens me.” The average tuition rate at the University of Utah is $24,996 annually (Utah).
While many of us are fans and have only a local connection with the University; Gus is there to
learn and earn a degree to help further his life.
As we get off the train, the aroma of barbecue fills the air. Gus directs me to a tent where
his friends are setting up shop. I’m introduced to Sonya, a young Latina woman with her hair in a
bun and wearing thin prescription eyeglasses. Snuggled up in a University of Utah throw blanket
she introduces herself. Sonya was born in the United States to immigrant parents from Mexico.
She helps a lot of students at the University that are in the same situation as Gus. “I met Gus a
few years ago from mutual friends. From where he came from to where he is now is night and
day. DACA has given kids with similar backgrounds that Gus has a real chance to succeed.”
The game is about to start and as is customary with these athletic events we wait intently
for the National Anthem. Gus looks up towards the American flag, he is mouthing the words to
the anthem word for word. He wasn’t born in this country, but I could see that he loves it, as if he
was born here.
The Utes eventually lose the game in heart breaking fashion. Gus does not seem to be too
emotionally invested in the game. It feels as if we were there for the social aspect of college and
a college football game. He could care less if the Utes won or lost the game. “The football game
was good, but it was just a football game. My education is important to me and I don’t get too
caught up in the emotions of a game.”
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The Son
Gus has invited me to his parents’ house for dinner. They live in a typical American
neighborhood. Kids out in the streets playing, parents yelling at them to get off the roads. That
nosey neighbor that everyone seems to have walks up to me as I exit my vehicle. “So who are
you here to see?” she pryingly asks. I inform her that I’m there to have dinner with the Santos
family. “Nice family” she exclaims.
At the front door Gus’s mom greets me. She is an older lady, short, and chubby with curly
brown hair. I make my way inside, she asks me to take a seat and ask if I want something to
drink. I have a seat, I notice their family pictures sitting on a coffee table with several other
photo albums. “The food is almost ready, I hope you like barbecue” she says with her mild
accent.
From my perception this is a normal American family and household. As we are joined for
dinner with his parents and brother, they bow their heads and bless the food in Spanish. I ask
Gus’s mom about his perseverance and what he has accomplished and she gushes about
everything that he has done. With tears in her eyes she tells me “We came to the U.S. for a better
life for my kids. I never thought that they would have to endure a great struggle like this. I am so
proud of Gus, he never complains or asks ‘why me?’” I am left speechless about the stories and
the hardships they had to endure to be where they are at today.
There are concerns that if and when a Republican president takes office that the DACA act
would be repealed. What will Gus and other that are in his position do if they are not able to
work legally? DACA is a temporary fix. Immigration is a complex issue; it won’t be fixed
overnight. “I don’t try to reflect on the negatives or the ‘what if’s’ of what could happen to me
and my family. All I can do is live and keep pushing forward.”
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The DMV
DACA is based on a two-year renewal program. Gus has just renewed his temporary
residency for the next two years. He has to pay the $465 fee that comes with the application, and
now must renew everything that comes along with it. Including his driver license and informing
his job that he can still be employed there.
For most of us, we have a love-hate relationship with the DMV. We love that it gives us
the opportunity to drive. We hate the long lines. Trying to get an understanding of how things are
different from his world and mine, Gus invites me to the DMV. He must go through the
horrendous process of renewing his license every two years. I accompany him to the West Valley
City DMV. We have waited for his number to be called for two hours, and now it’s his turn. A
Caucasian middle-aged woman receives him and looks at the paperwork that he has with him.
The first thing she says to him is “Do you speak English?” Gus has lived in the U.S since the age
of three and does not have a hint of an accent. Unaffected, Gus states “I’m just trying to renew
my license, are you going to help me or not?”
After 30 minutes of speaking with the woman, and her supervisor. They tell him there is
something wrong with his paperwork and that his DACA was not approved. They advise him to
call immigration to resolve his issues. As we leave the DMV, Gus obviously upset as to what
transpired tells me “Ignorance and prejudice will not stop me from anything. This is just a small
road block and I will just keep doing what I have to do. If I like it or not.”
We are a nation of immigrants. It is the very foundation that this country was built and
grew upon. Fast forward 200 plus years later, have we forgotten that? Whatever side of the fence
you are on the issue of immigration, remember one thing. Gus Santos is on righteous path and
his dreams won’t be easily detoured by those who wish for him to fail.
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References
Education, Utah State Office of. Utah State Office of Education. 2013.
<http://www.schools.utah.gov/data/Educational-Data/Graduation-Dropout-Rates/6Graduation-Report-2013.aspx>.
Utah, University of. University of Utah. 2014. <admissions.utah.edu/cost/>.
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