Annapolis family sits at heart of DACA debate; Luis Portillo: ‘I know there are more people like me, too’
A 42-year-old El Salvadoran immigrant who said he and his family have been in Annapolis legally since 2001 with temporary protected status, he regularly retreats into a response of "Everything will be OK."
But he admits it's somewhat of a defense mechanism, one he uses to keep up appearances with his two children, both of whom are attending college in different states.
"I try to stay positive ... for them," he said.
Listening to Portillo, their family's situation seemingly manages to hit every single aspect of the current immigration debate happening not an hour away from where they live.
Portillo said he and his family fled
However, as the name implies, it does not offer permanent relief. The status is typically offered for a six- to 18-month period, and it's up to presidents to renew the status or let it expire.
For
In 2012, Obama announced the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, also known as DACA, immigration policy, which gave certain immigrants who arrived in the country under the age of 16 and had lived in the country since 2007 the opportunity to obtain work permits for two-year periods.
Portillo said his two children - a 19-year-old daughter and a 20-year-old son who came into the country when they were 3 and 4 years old, respectively - obtained permits under the policy.
President
Trump also canceled DACA, and it is set to expire on
The president has put the onus on
Portillo, who has worked at the
He said he hopes his story will bring light to the weight behind Trump's decision. He said he only expected to be in the country for five years, but ultimately set up roots after his kids began to excel at school.
"All these years are thrown in the trash," he said. "Seventeen years in one place is a life."
His home is a modest, two-story house with a 9-year-old yellow Labrador who yelps behind a small gate in the kitchen as Portillo talks about how his daughter made the dean's list and his son plays basketball at college.
He emphasizes he works twice as hard to put them through college, splitting time between an auto body shop and the hotel.
But it comes at a time when the microscope on immigration has focused on crimes perpetrated by immigrants, with the gang MS-13, a transnational gang with bases in
A report by the
The report's author, Executive Director
"For example, one MS-13 clique leader in
But Portillo said he, too, fears the gang and the resurgence they've had in this country, and he hopes those examples don't paint a broader picture that doesn't include the stories of his two children.
As the conversation moved to his children, he said they're his only concern. He said they cried over the phone when they were discussing the end of the temporary protected status with him, but he promised he would make it work.
He said he hopes something can be reached so he can see his two children graduate from college.
"For me, I just needed more time," he said. "I know there are more people like me, too."
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