IMAGE: CNS photo/Tyler Orsburn
By Tyler Orsburn
WASHINGTON
(CNS) — Love has its ways. And so does Facebook.
That’s
how Sadhana Singh and My Ford Noel met last April. She’s a “Dreamer” attending Trinity Washington University. He moved to Washington from Palm Beach, Florida.
Both
received scholarships from TheDream.US, and both now face uncertain futures.
Singh
is a recipient of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA,
and her permit under the program expires this October. Noel, a Haitian, has Temporary
Protected Status that ends in July 2019.
“We
don’t want our lives to be just defined by this,” said Singh, sitting next to Noel
on their Valentine-red couch in their small apartment. “Beyond our status we’re
planning for a future. And together we can do that no matter where we are.”
With
three associate degrees and a bachelor’s in supply chain management, Noel said they
are considering a move to Canada.
“We
may talk about the future, but we tend to wait until we are very happy because
sometimes there’s a lot of (political) uncertainty,” he told Catholic News
Service. “The last thing you want to do is talk about things while you’re upset
and things are going wrong, and then you have that bad view of the future and
you’re scared.”
The
current anti-immigrant atmosphere in this country doesn’t seem to leave much
room, or time, for the pursuit of happiness.
Contributing
to this atmosphere was a comment attributed to President Donald Trump in
questioning why the U.S. would accept more immigrants from Haiti and
“(expletive) countries” during a meeting on immigration that touched on
TPS immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador and some African nations.
“This
administration sort of made America a little bit hostile at least mentally,” Singh
said, noting an increase in internet aggression directed at immigrants.
“It’s
very humiliating,” Noel added about the rhetoric online. “I knew it was there,
but it (used to be) below the surface. Now that the president has been
outspoken with his anti-immigration rhetoric, he encourages other people that
normally wouldn’t say things to come out and say very nasty things that breaks
somebody’s spirit.”
The
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Justice for Immigrants campaign says its
five principles are rooted in the Gospel and Catholic social teaching: persons
have the right to find opportunities in their homeland; persons have the right
to migrate to support themselves and their families; sovereign nations have the
right to control their borders with wealthier nations obliged to accommodate
migration flows; refugees and asylum seekers should be afforded protection; and
the human dignity and human rights of undocumented migrants should be
respected.
Singh
said her parents brought her to the United States from Guyana because of economic
hardship. She was an eighth-grader with a Creole accent living in suburban
Atlanta, and had to manage her parents’ checkbook, utilities and phone calls
because of their language barrier. She obtained DACA status seven years after
graduating from high school.
Three
years after moving to Washington to pursue a degree in communications with an
international affair minor, Catholic-run Trinity Washington University awarded her
the St. Catherine Medal for her leadership on campus, “Dreamers” activism, six
internships and 3.95 GPA.
In
September, President Trump announced that he would end DACA this March
and he also called on Congress to come up with a legislative solution to keep
the program in place. Many are urging members of Congress to pass the Development,
Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, or DREAM Act, which has long been
proposed and which gives DACA recipients the “Dreamer” name.
Noel
left Haiti an orphan. As a child, he endured the political unrest of the 1990s,
and as a teenager, he survived the 2010 earthquake that left more than 220,000
people dead. He was granted TPS in Florida that same year.
In
recent weeks, the administration has also announced it was ending TPS for
several countries, including Haiti.
Before
moving to Washington to be with Singh, he taught classes at Broward College in
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and had a small Segway business for tourists. He is
currently an inventory logistics manager with Avis Budget and in his free time designs
a new business model for online shopping.
Singh
said she is fortunate to have Noel in her life. Together they support one
another and problem-solve issues they’re familiar with. “I’ve dated Americans
before, and you tell them stuff, but it’s very much cursory. It’s very much like
‘Oh, well.’ This is my situation and then you move on to something else,” she
told CNS.
Both
say finding love is not about papers or citizenship.
“We
will triumph and continue to live as a great couple,” said Noel, looking
into Singh’s eyes. “Our love will continue to grow stronger, with or without
status.”
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