Undocumented: One Lincoln Student’s Story

It was the comeback of a lifetime: a former alcoholic turned loving family man. When Mr. R’s (whose name is changed at their request for fear of endangering his family,) first daughter was born, he was given the push he needed to finally make some significant life changes, and after years of struggling with his addiction, he became a new man.

Second chances come too rarely, and unlike many others before him, Mr. R didn’t squander this opportunity to become the father he had always wanted to be. Perhaps it is this fact that makes his case so heart-wrenching.

Like some 180,000 like him in Santa Clara County, Mr. R was undocumented. This of course meant that he was not in the country legally, and worse—that he was at constant risk of deportation.

Since Trump’s election, many undocumented immigrants have become increasingly fearful about the possibility of deportation. Additionally, DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), which has protected many young undocumented people from deportation, is also being avoided by many who might’ve benefited from its protection due to the fear that information provided in the application will be used to track down and deport the undocumented.

For years, Mr. R and many of his close family members had lived with this knowledge in their minds, but when his time came, the shock was still felt as strongly as ever. Now, his niece—a senior at Lincoln—recounts the events surrounding his untimely departure from the country.

“I knew as soon as I was 5, going into kindergarten that my parents were undocumented. We were all pretty open about it,” said K, Mr. R’s niece.

While she and many of her cousins are legal citizens, a number of their parents do not hold the same status. On the day in question, K and two of her aunts—one of whom had been visiting from Mexico—had left to pick up a few groceries, oblivious to the events which would unfold in those coming hours.

“I went to Costco and I was with my aunt and she got a call from another aunt who said to be really careful because on Santa Clara Street they were checking cars [and] my uncle had just been checked as well. They took him out of the car and they started asking him questions. It wasn’t just any police—it was the ICE and she said to just be really careful,” said K.

“They hadn’t done anything to him because he had that little red card*. She was just telling us to avoid that street. Once we got home, we told my mom what happened and there was just a lot of tension and she was just like ‘call all the males in the family.’ It became more obvious once we saw all the cars on my street. There was a lot of turmoil, definitely a lot of worry…it was Valentine’s Day.”

Now, over two months after the events which occurred on Valentine’s Day, Mr. R has resettled in Mexico. He leaves behind a daughter, son, and girlfriend in America. However, prior to Mr. R’s official deportation from the country, questions were raised about the legitimacy of the whole operation.

“When we went to go visit him by Sacramento…they called him by a different last name and they called him by a different first name as well so we’re like, ‘they got the wrong guy?’ But they don’t care since he’s still undocumented so he’ll leave anyways. But they called him by a different name,” said K.

In this area, people are taking precautions to ensure that another case like Mr. R’s can be prevented. During this time, support from pro-immigrant rights activists have been vital in ensuring that families are kept intact and that those detained have access to legal counsel.

“I actually have a cousin who goes here and that’s his dad so he’s not going to be able to see him graduate…and he’s back to drinking and this summer we went to go see him and it’s worse than ever and he’s in a house all alone,” Ms. K said, ” and the deportation really ruined his life and the little girl too because she’ll never experience [knowing] her dad.”

*red cards list rights held by undocumented immigrants and are used in the case that they are stopped by an officer