ATLANTA—He looked sturdy and confident, wearing a pressed dress shirt and an orange tie. But Mercer University senior Raymond Partolan was taking a risk by standing up and telling his story. He is an undocumented immigrant, and so are his parents. He signed up for the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, DACA.
That was the first part of a program that a Texas judge just blocked from expanding to cover more youth and some parents. “Immigration is such an abstract issue,” he said. “People sometimes forget that behind the decisions our politicians make, there are individual lives.”
In 1994 when Partolan was 1 year old, his parents emigrated from the Philippines to America. “My father came to practice his profession of physical therapy.” He had an H1-B visa for skilled workers. “He helped Americans,” he said, with pride.
After living in Georgia for years, the family decided to become permanent residents, and Mr. Partolan senior applied for a green card. He could not get one, said his son, because he could not pass the verbal part of the Test of English as a Foreign Language, TOEFL. Georgia requires the TOEFL for skilled immigrants to get a green card.
But with roots in Georgia and an American son, “we decided to stay,” and as the visa expired the family passed from legal to undocumented immigrants.
“I found out when I was 10 that I was undocumented,” said Partolan. His mother warned him that he must tell no one, ever. At first he did not understand a lot about it. “I am an American. I don’t know anything else,” he said.
