For Teachers Working Through DACA, a Bittersweet Start to the School Year
Jaime Ballesteros tried to contain his tears on Tuesday while teaching Brooklyn sixth graders about liquids, gases and solids. In between science classes at a charter school in East New York, he broke down at his desk.
The government had just canceled the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which had granted temporary protection from deportation to immigrants brought to the country at a young age. Under DACA, as the program is known, they attended college and obtained work permits, and many went back into the profession that inspired them in the first place.
“The last three years that I have been teaching was like a world of possibility for me and my students,” said Mr. Ballesteros, 25, who is from the Philippines. “Today, I just didn’t feel that same level of hope.” . . .