The White House caught some shadowy immigrants off guard, particularly the so-called “dreamers,” when in the morning of June 15 it announced that President Barack Obama would issue an executive order allowing over 800,000 qualified undocumented young immigrants to remain in the United States and obtain work permit.
John Quidilla, an undocumented 24-year-old Filipino who previously lived in New York before his family settled in Plano, Texas, was still asleep when he received a text message from a friend who told him to watch the news.
“This can’t be happening,” Quidilla recalled telling himself while hearing for the first time the breaking news.
“Na-surprised ako...it’s so surreal,” he told the Filipino Reporter in a phone interview last Tuesday.
“My mother and siblings are all excited for me. They have been supportive of me all the way...they are my strength.”
“I thank God that this has happened not only to me but to other ‘dreamers,’” he also said, referring to the pending DREAM Act, a bill granting legal papers to certain immigrant children.
“I’m so glad I will be given a chance to stay and be productive like everyone else.”
Another “dreamer,” Miguel Gulfin of Tinton Falls, N.J., said he, too, was surprised by the news.
“It happened so fast and up to now (Tuesday) I’m still processing it...it hasn’t sunk in yet,” Gulfin, 28, told the Reporter.
“I can’t believe I won’t be deported anymore,” he added.
“It’s really cool. It’s something I’ve been waiting for so long. The Lord is really taking care of us.”
Gulfin, who works at his father’s auto repair shop in West Long Branch, N.J., said he was in the shop fixing a car when a family friend called his father to break the news.
“Then other phone calls started coming in to tell us the good news,” he said.
Gulfin hailed Mr. Obama for doing something about the plight of many dreamers.
He said much is needed to be done to fix the broken immigration system, “but it’s a good thing to start off with.”
Quidilla eyes master’s degree
Born in Saudi Arabia, Quidilla was 12 when he came to the U.S. in 1999.
He finished high school here and earned his bachelor of fine arts degree in arts and technology last month at the University of Texas in Dallas.
With Mr. Obama’s latest directive, Quidilla disclosed he intends to pursue his education with a master’s degree in arts and technology this fall.
“There is no guarantee that I can find a job right away so I’d rather go back to school and be productive,” he said.
Quidilla and his entire family came to the U.S. legally through his father Nelson, an exceptional engineer who held H-1B visa.
But his immigration nightmare began when his father succumbed to sickness in 2008 before the young Quidilla could become a legal resident, voiding his father’s approved permanent residency application.
With the death of their father, the family endured financial difficulties, lost their house to foreclosure, and were forced to take odd jobs for friends and their church.
While the rest of the family eventually adjusted their status in different circumstances, Quidilla was the only one left without legal status.
On Nov. 2, 2011, he got picked up at his home and briefly detained and has since been placed in deportation proceedings.
Like Filipino journalist Jose Antonio Vargas, Quidilla is currently represented by the Filipino American Legal Defense and Education Fund (FALDEF) with attorney J.T.S. Mallonga at the helm.
He also received support from the Filipino community in Texas, which has been gathering signatures so he won’t be removed.
For now, Quidilla said he can take a rest for a while and savor the joy the new Obama directive has brought.
He said he believes the fight must go on for those who were left behind in the new immigration policy.
Gulfin looks forward to join labor force
Gulfin was only seven when he came to the U.S. with his parents in 1991.
They all overstayed.
He completed grade school and high school in New Jersey and at one point pursued a college degree in communications, where he was on the Dean’s List.
Following his and his parents’ six-month detention, he shifted to an associate degree in auto mechanics to be able to help in his father’s business.
Gulfin, as well as his parents Carmelo and Aurelia Gulfin, all faced a final removal order and were told to leave last year.
One week before their Sept. 30 departure, the U.S. Immigration — through FALDEF’s intervention and community support— granted them a reprieve: an administrative stay of removal for one year to allow the family to apply for relief for which they may be eligible.
Gulfin’s father Carmelo is the beneficiary of an approved petition filed by his American citizen brother in 1982, while Aurelia is covered in the petition as Carmelo’s spouse.
But the visas became available only 22 years later in December 2004, at which time their final order of deportation for overstaying had already been issued and had rendered them ineligible for the visas.
They also have a U.S. citizen daughter who has a pending petition for them.
The Gulfins’ extended family in the U.S. are all American citizens.
Gulfin, the youngest of three siblings, does not have any immigration relief available as no pending petition was filed on his behalf.
But there is a possibility, his mother said, that he could be covered in his father’s approved petition as a child of the principal beneficiary.
With Mr. Obama’s new stance, Gulfin can breathe a sigh of relief.
“I want to find out the opportunities or privileges I can avail of,” he told the Reporter.
“I want to know how things will go from here. I’m pretty positive.”
Gulfin admitted he’s worried about his parents’ future as their one-year reprieve is about to expire in September.
But he added that his family is confident that FALDEF and lawyer Mallonga can stave off their removal from the U.S.
The Gulfins are also actively involved in religious activities.
Gulfin is training to become a pastor at Relevant Church, a Christian mission alliance.
“Miguel is so happy about the prospects of having a bright future in America,” said his mother Aurelia.
“He has prayed hard for this.”
“He hugged me tight when he learned about the news, and told me ‘the Lord is really taking care of us,’” said Aurelia.
Twenty-eight-year-old Miguel Gulfin of Tinton Falls, N.J. is flanked by his parents Aurelia and Carmelo Gulfin.