This DACA recipient and teacher wants to 'contribute to country' that gave her opportunities

Joseph Hong | Palm Springs Desert Sun

Show Caption Hide Caption Teacher is left in limbo by DACA Maria Marquez Ornelas is a teacher and DACA recipient whose life is filled with uncertainty

When she started school in the United States, Maria Marquez-Ornelas felt like an outsider. As an English learner, she was only able to communicate with her teachers through her bilingual classmates. When her classmates bullied her and made her cry, they would make up a story in English, but Marquez-Ornelas didn't have the luxury of sharing her side of the story.

Through high school and college, uncertainty was the only constant, but the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, offered her professional and financial security. When the Trump administration took steps to repeal DACA, Marquez-Ornelas knew that, this time, people would know her side of the story.

"We feel American," she said. "All we want to do is contribute to this country that gave us an education and opportunities. I don’t take anything for granted."

When DACA passed in 2012, Marquez-Ornelas was a college graduate working at a restaurant. Her parents had split up in 2009, and she had become one of the main breadwinners for the family. She was approved as a DACA recipient three months after the Obama-era policy passed. In 2015, Marquez-Ornelas went back to school to earn her teaching credential. Since 2016, she's been a math teacher at Nellie Coffman Elementary School in Cathedral City.

With the help of her teaching mentors, Demitrious Sinor and Douglas Saxton, Marquez-Ornelas produced a short film for the DIGICOM Learning film festival. DIGICOM, an organization that works with schools to teach students and teachers skills in video storytelling, screened the short film at their annual event on May 17.

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"I think the most powerful part about DIGCIOM’s work is that you teach students and teachers skills in video storytelling and then they are in turn able to teach the community about the experiences of marginalized people," said DIGICOM founder David Vogel. He said he hopes Marquez-Orenlas's film will help the community reflect on issues like immigration.

In the film, Marquez-Ornelas speaks candidly about her experiences as a DACA recipient and about the importance of protecting undocumented immigrants. While she was afraid of the reactions the film would get, she says she has received an overwhelmingly positive response from the community.

"I was kind of hesitant," Marquez-Ornelas said. "With what's going on right now, I was afraid. But I thought, 'Why should I be quiet when I can make a change?'"

Born in Jalisco Mexico, Marquez-Ornelas moved with her family to Banning when she was ten years old. Her father brought the family to Banning, hoping to make more money, but they weren't planning to move them permanently. Her father's landscaping work provided enough to establish a working-class life for the family, so they decided to stay.

Marquez-Ornelas is soft-spoken, but her eyes light up at the mention of math. While she was learning English in elementary and middle school, math felt like a native language. She went on to graduate with a degree in mathematics, specializing in abstract or "pure" mathematics, from the University of California, Riverside in 2010. She says her favorite class in college was number theory, where she learned through induction proofs how numbers are generated.

In the fall of 2017, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that DACA would be repealed. Marquez-Ornelas drove the next day to work with tears streaming down her face. But when she arrived in her classroom, she pushed her sadness and fears aside. The thought of her own teachers and the impact they've had on her kept Marquez-Ornelas going.

"It’s just about giving back," she said. "If it wasn't for my own teachers, I wouldn’t be here right now."

Teaching has always been a passion for Marquez-Ornelas. Before these attacks against DACA, she had big plans for her life and career. She wanted to get her master's degree in mathematics so she could teach at the community college level.

She had also been saving for a house, "like any other American," she said.

All of that has been put on hold.

"I’ve just been saving up money and just waiting to see what’s gonna happen," she said. "I’m kind of hopeful that things will change for the better."

As the fate of DACA is being determined in the courts and in Congress, Marquez-Ornelas hopes her short film will help address some of the stereotypes associated with undocumented immigrants. In the meantime, she says, she will continue to make sure her undocumented students feel empowered, despite the stereotypes.

"We’re not criminals. We’re not here to take anybody’s jobs," she said. "We want to make this country better."

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