Leydy Rangel, a young dreamer who grew up in the fields of California alongside her parents going from harvest to harvest, was one of the six recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) who met with President Biden at the White House.
“It was a very emotional meeting to ask the president that we need an immigration reform for the farmers, the dreamers and beneficiaries of TPS (Temporary Protected Status) ”, said Rangel.
“The president understood that this country is the only home that DACA beneficiaries know, but it is also needed for the farmers who are the ones who harvest the food that everyone enjoys” .
Leydy carried the voice of more than 550, 05 DACA beneficiaries and farmers, since she is the daughter of agricultural workers.
She was born in Mexicali, Mexico, But at 8 years old, her parents brought her to the Coachella Valley.
“They are farm workers. I spent several summers and winters helping them pick, prune, and pack table grapes, and harvest chili peppers. We moved to work from the Coachella Valley to the Central Valley, ”he recalls.
It was her peasant parents who encouraged her to go to university. “They wanted another life for their children. I always remember them arriving tired and exhausted after work in the fields, which is also very poorly paid. ”
This young dreamer always knew that she did not have an immigration status in him. “GIVES CA changed my life. It gave us the freedom to no longer live in the shadows and have a job, but there is always fear anyway. He never leaves and he will not leave until we have documents because even with a work permit, we never know what could happen ”.
On 2012 benefited from DACA and in 2017 graduated from California State Polytechnic University in Pomona from a journalism career. She was the first to graduate from her family.
She currently works as a communications specialist for the UFW Foundation, a non-profit organization that empowers and advocates for immigrants, workers from the countryside and Latinos at the local and national levels; and is the largest provider of legal services in rural California.
“After all the attacks and insults that undocumented people received under Trump’s presidency, this is the year to win immigration reform. We are in the best moment towards legalization and Congress must act and pass the pieces of legislation that will lead farmers, dreamers , essential workers and TPSians on a path to citizenship. ”
Rangel happily returned to California after the meeting with Biden. “It was scheduled to take place in 45 minutes, but it lasted an hour and a half . Every one of the DACA that we went, we had the opportunity to tell the president our story. He told us that he is with us, which is a sign that the White House under this administration supports us in the fight to win legalization. I am very motivated. ”
Now what is urgent, she says, is that the Senate approve the Act of Modernization of Agricultural Work to legalize farm workers. “They are more than a million peasants. The Senate has to comply with them because when they are growing the food they never think about whether it is for the Democrats or Republicans. This law was passed by Republicans and Democrats in the House of Representatives in March; and polls indicate that the vast majority of voters in the country have said that immigration reform is a priority. ”
In the group of dreamers from all over the country who met with Biden, there were besides Rangel, María Praeli, who came from Peru to the United States at age five when her sister was seeking medical treatment after a car accident.
Last week, Dreamers sat down with President Biden in the Oval Office, including the Coachella Valley’s very own, Leydy Rangel.
Thank you, Leydy, for your hard work and advocacy for Dreamers across the country! https://t.co/UVxaJknXp4
– Raul Ruiz (@RepRaulRuizMD) May 18, 2021
There was also Astou Thiane, born in Senegal and who has become an advocate for education for undocumented students. Esmeralda Tovar Mora, a nursing student, was taken by her parents from Mexico to Kansas when she had 19 months of age. Karen Reyes came to the US at age 2. She is currently a deaf education specialist and works with kindergarteners. Jirayut “New” Latthivongskorn came from Thailand to this nation at the age of 9.
After the meeting, Jen Psaki, A White House spokesman said the president believes DACA recipients are part of America’s history and the fabric of who we are as a country.
Rangel said that in an effort to sensitize and pressure legislators on the importance of immigration reform, they will continue to visit them in Washington to learn their stories.