Trinis ready to ‘come out the shadows’

Sabrina Arjoon, 38, formerly of Couva, and now a resident of Queen’s New York, told Newsday last evening, “We will definitely take this opportunity to register. We are excited, because it will not only keep families together, but reunite us with families back home.”

This sentiment was echoed by Ann Singh of Florida, formerly of El Socorro; Nicole Trotman of Florida, formerly of Christchurch, Barbados; and Dennis Harrison of Brooklyn, New York formerly of Kingston, Jamaica. They have all lived in the US for over ten years.

Obama yesterday signed into law the order which would allow undocumented immigrants who have lived in the US for more than five years; if they have children who are US citizens, or, legal residents; if they register and pass a criminal background check, and they are willing to pay taxes, they will be able to apply to stay in the US without fear of deportation. He urged them “to come out of the shadows”.

According to the online Journal of the Migration Policy Institute, in 2009, the US was home to some 350,000 unauthorised migrants from the Caribbean.

Arjoon, who moved to the US eleven years ago with her husband, 41, and a daughter, 15, now has two other children ages six and four years who were born in the US. Arjoon and her husband are looking forward to registering. Her 15-year-old is looking forward to benefitting next year from Obama’s 2012 policy that enabled young immigrants to qualify for “deferred action - a temporary legal status - and work authorisation if they were not older than 30 and were younger than 16 when they arrived in the US.

Arjoon, who had a career in real estate and accounting before migrating but has no job in the US, says the new policy will enable her to go back to work and apply for a driver’s licence among other benefits.

Her husband, an electrical mechanic, is not licensed to practise his trade. As such he works at two jobs - part-time in office cleaning and as an installer of motorised shades.

Trotman told Newsday, “Today is a big day for me.” Her 28-year-old son is a naturalised American on account of his American-born father. Her status is undocumented while her 17- year-old daughter has been granted deferred action based on Obama’s 2012 immigration policy.

With the new policy in place, she said, “I will not be separated from my children.”

Singh, who has been in Florida for ten years, said two her children and their father are American citizens, but she is not. Though very happy about Obama’s actions, she said, “I am not celebrating as yet. The Republicans are opposing him and they are a thorn in President Obama’s side. We have to see what comes out of the Congress next year, and his next actions. Then I will celebrate.”

On the other hand Harrison of Brooklyn said his two children and their mother are Americans, but he is not. Though not living with the children and their mother, he said, he has to work to provide for them. He has also bonded with his children and they look forward to being with him. “I get nightmares of being deported simply because I am a black man trying to make good by my children,” he said. Lee-Anne Roland, of New York and, formerly of Barataria, welcomed the move. “I was an undocumented immigrant for 16 years. I am not anymore since 2012, but I have four close family members who have been living here for more than ten years and are illegal,” she said.

“It wasn’t easy. I hadn’t been able to travel back home to Trinidad until last year. I paid taxes as a self-employed person, but could get no benefit in return. I was even afraid to get sick, because I would have had to give information that would give away my status. I could not get insurance,” she said.

Arjoon, Singh, Trotman, Harrison and Roland reported many commonalities from being insecure, underpaid and having to do menial work to get started and to live. They also spoke of being unable to reunite with loved ones at home, missing new births, marriages and saying farewell to loved ones who would have died.