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07-27-2023 03:32 PM |
Tina Gets Emotional About Growing Up As A DACA Kid In New York
This one hit really close to home for me. All the struggles she had prior to and after DACA, I am sure all of us experienced. Really strong on her part to reveal her status to the public for awareness. We need more stories like this for real change to happen.
Quote:
NEWS
Tina (Fka HoodCelebrityy) Gets Emotional About Growing Up As A DACA Kid In New York
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BY CLAUDINE BAUGH
JULY 27, 2023 10:47 AM
Tina (Formerly Hoodcelebrityy)
Jamaican singer Tina, formerly known as HoodCelebrityy, was moved to tears as she discussed her life growing up as a DACA kid in the Bronx, New York.
DACA, an acronym for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, is a policy that protects around 800,000 young people — known as “DREAMers” — who entered the United States unlawfully as children. Though it does not confer official legal status or a path to citizenship, it does provide the opportunity to obtain a driver’s license, a social security number, and a work permit, as per Boundless.
Speaking recently with Angela Yee on Way Up with Angela Yee, the Walking Trophy singer, who moved to the Bronx when she was 12 years old, spoke about growing up in the US where she wasn’t afforded the same privileges as her peers.
“I’m a DACA kid, so I came to America with no papers,” Tina explained.
“I didn’t know anything about my situation until I was like, maybe like 16 going on 17. When I was trying, you know like we had school trips, some of them were going away trips, and my mom was like, ‘You can’t go’. I’d try to travel with my friends, everybody will talk [about] going away, and she was like ‘yeah, you can’t do that.’ And that was when I was like ‘Oh shoot, this is different.”
The Portmore-born singer remained largely silent about her status for years, spurred by her family’s fear of deportation, a fate her own brother had suffered when he was returned to Jamaica.
“I talk about that a lot [now] before I used to be embarrassed to talk about it. I’mma be honest. More like embarrassed and scared at the same time cause my family always be like ‘Don’t tell nobody your business, ’cause they could get you deported’. So it wasn’t something I used to talk about before but I’m big on that situation,” she said of the DACA program and immigration issues.
“Talking about it makes me get emotional because I know what I’ve been through. Like, I got my brother that was deported back to Jamaica, you know,” she said before breaking down in tears...
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Link to article and video: https://www.dancehallmag.com/2023/07...-new-york.html |
