WEBVTT - UnDACAmented 0:00:11.480 --> 0:00:16.840 Carlos Agilad always loved movies. Growing up in Mexico City, 0:00:17.520 --> 0:00:20.119 Carlos and his family didn't have much in terms of 0:00:20.160 --> 0:00:24.520 material wealth, but he, his mom, and his brother had 0:00:24.520 --> 0:00:28.040 a ritual of going to the theater every Wednesday when 0:00:28.040 --> 0:00:31.760 the tickets were discounted, and they would venture into distant 0:00:31.800 --> 0:00:40.280 Hollywood lands. His family couldn't afford expensive vacations. Watching films 0:00:40.320 --> 0:00:45.479 together was the closest thing Carlos had and he cherished it. 0:00:49.040 --> 0:00:52.159 His mom was one of eight siblings, and although she 0:00:52.240 --> 0:00:55.480 never finished school, she always had a curious and hungry 0:00:55.520 --> 0:00:59.560 mind for knowledge. She read everything she could get her 0:00:59.560 --> 0:01:05.840 hands on. She loved to learn and especially enjoyed watching films. 0:01:06.480 --> 0:01:10.920 She carried on that tradition with her two children. Hollywood 0:01:10.959 --> 0:01:15.160 became Carlos's escape. When he got good grades, he would 0:01:15.200 --> 0:01:19.320 get rewarded by going to the theaters. At an early age, 0:01:19.400 --> 0:01:22.000 Carlos knew he wanted to do something in the film 0:01:22.040 --> 0:01:28.080 industry one day. He hoped he would be a filmmaker. 0:01:31.240 --> 0:01:34.319 When he was a teenager, his family couldn't afford to 0:01:34.360 --> 0:01:37.120 send him to high school, so he went to live 0:01:37.160 --> 0:01:40.720 with an aunt in the US. Those Hollywood dreams were 0:01:40.720 --> 0:01:44.960 put on ice because now Carlos was undocumented, and it 0:01:45.120 --> 0:01:50.800 terrified him. By twenty twelve, he was about to finish 0:01:50.800 --> 0:01:53.960 community college and felt stuck at a fast food job. 0:01:55.680 --> 0:02:00.880 A career in film seemed unattainable, but a part of 0:02:00.960 --> 0:02:05.440 him still kept that desire alive. He remembered his mother's 0:02:05.520 --> 0:02:13.560 words of encouragement. She told him no dream was impossible. Then, 0:02:13.680 --> 0:02:17.440 right when he needed it, DOCCA was announced. 0:02:18.720 --> 0:02:21.320 I'm Patti Rodriguez and I'm Marik Glindo. 0:02:21.840 --> 0:02:25.040 This is Out of the Shadows, a podcast about America's 0:02:25.080 --> 0:02:29.240 tangled history of immigration. Last season, we tackled Ronald Reagan's 0:02:29.320 --> 0:02:32.800 nineteen eighty six Amnesty Act. This season, we're tracing the 0:02:32.840 --> 0:02:37.000 origins of DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, a 0:02:37.040 --> 0:02:41.200 contentious executive order to protect undocumented young people from being. 0:02:41.040 --> 0:02:45.120 Deported issued by former President Barack Obama in twenty twelve. 0:02:45.560 --> 0:02:48.600 DACA was meant to be a temporary stop gap on 0:02:48.720 --> 0:02:52.320 a broken immigration system. It was like putting a bucket 0:02:52.360 --> 0:02:56.160 under a leaky roof, But with multiple Supreme Court challenges 0:02:56.200 --> 0:03:00.800 and looming presidential elections, the roof feels like may collapse 0:03:00.919 --> 0:03:05.400 at any moment. Impacting the US economy and American culture 0:03:05.520 --> 0:03:09.920 as we know it. Meanwhile, the future of millions of 0:03:10.040 --> 0:03:12.239 lives hangs in the balance. 0:03:13.120 --> 0:03:18.600 Welcome to out of the shadows Dreamers. 0:03:25.080 --> 0:03:28.600 With the quick stroke of a pen, President Barack Obama 0:03:28.639 --> 0:03:34.440 created DACA, but the application process wasn't easy and it 0:03:34.480 --> 0:03:38.040 didn't include everyone. That created a lot of issues for 0:03:38.080 --> 0:03:41.640 the Dreamers, like what happened to families who had members 0:03:41.720 --> 0:03:45.280 that met the criteria but others who didn't and were 0:03:45.280 --> 0:03:53.040 some of the Dreamers parents targeted by ICE for their activism. 0:03:53.160 --> 0:03:56.280 In August twenty twelve, only about sixty one percent of 0:03:56.320 --> 0:04:00.400 people who were eligible for DACA applied. The government approved 0:04:00.400 --> 0:04:05.040 over ninety eight percent of processed applications. California had the 0:04:05.080 --> 0:04:08.440 highest number of applicants, followed by Texas, Illinois, New York, 0:04:08.480 --> 0:04:12.520 and Florida. These five states accounted for half of the 0:04:12.600 --> 0:04:16.800 DACA applications. The majority of the applicants were brought here 0:04:16.880 --> 0:04:20.760 by their parents from Mexico, El Salvador, Watemala, and Anddurras. 0:04:21.480 --> 0:04:24.680 There were a good number of Asian and Caribbean applicants too. 0:04:25.520 --> 0:04:28.960 That's the sixty one percent who applied, but that leaves 0:04:29.000 --> 0:04:31.960 thirty nine percent of Dreamers who were eligible but didn't 0:04:32.040 --> 0:04:37.280 sign up. One reason that thirty nine percent might have 0:04:37.320 --> 0:04:41.240 been hesitant to apply the idea of having to be 0:04:41.440 --> 0:04:46.000 a perfect citizen. Part of the application process required you 0:04:46.080 --> 0:04:50.159 to submit everything on your record, even a traffic stop. 0:04:51.600 --> 0:04:54.679 Here's Maria Inosa, host of Latino USA. 0:04:56.320 --> 0:05:00.240 I mean, you have to be a perfect person, are 0:05:00.279 --> 0:05:03.520 you kidding me? Adolescence again, You're an adolescent brain until 0:05:03.520 --> 0:05:07.000 you're twenty six, twenty seven. We make mistakes. That's what 0:05:07.120 --> 0:05:11.440 adolescence is known for. So having to be the perfect 0:05:11.480 --> 0:05:14.640 person it was going to divide our communities because the 0:05:14.640 --> 0:05:17.840 bigger issue is that they see all of us as 0:05:17.880 --> 0:05:20.560 a threat instead of what we are, which is, you know, 0:05:20.640 --> 0:05:23.479 bringing the best to this country. But the narrative is 0:05:23.520 --> 0:05:26.560 that we are a threat. I mean, it was heartbreaking. 0:05:27.040 --> 0:05:31.600 I understood Los babas, you know, imam us that were like, yes, 0:05:31.760 --> 0:05:33.520 you know, make this happen for my kid, that's what 0:05:33.560 --> 0:05:35.680 it's all about. At least make it happen for my kid. 0:05:36.520 --> 0:05:39.719 I get that. But those kids, all they do is 0:05:39.800 --> 0:05:43.880 worry about their parents. We haven't really dug deep into 0:05:43.880 --> 0:05:47.200 the psychological impact of families that have been divided because 0:05:47.200 --> 0:05:47.800 of immigration. 0:05:49.360 --> 0:05:52.719 Another challenge that came up for those eligible for DHAKA 0:05:53.240 --> 0:05:57.520 was money. Let's say you met every single criteria on 0:05:57.560 --> 0:06:00.920 the list, every applicant still had to pay a five 0:06:01.040 --> 0:06:02.880 hundred dollars fee to apply. 0:06:03.880 --> 0:06:05.760 The other thing I should mention is the fee itself 0:06:05.920 --> 0:06:08.559 was important because it was high enough that people didn't 0:06:08.600 --> 0:06:09.200 have the money. 0:06:09.720 --> 0:06:13.160 That's UCLA professor of law, Hiroshima Tamura. 0:06:13.520 --> 0:06:16.239 And so that was a problem. People wanted to apply 0:06:16.400 --> 0:06:18.160 to get the work permit, but they hadn't been able 0:06:18.160 --> 0:06:19.479 to work, so they didn't have the money to apply 0:06:19.560 --> 0:06:20.240 to get the work permit. 0:06:22.360 --> 0:06:25.039 Organizer Eric Werta was one of those people caught in 0:06:25.120 --> 0:06:26.080 that catch twenty two. 0:06:27.560 --> 0:06:29.920 So many people struggled to come up with the payment, 0:06:29.960 --> 0:06:33.200 the initial payment for the application to get it, and 0:06:33.680 --> 0:06:36.640 to keep paying it every two years, because I mean, 0:06:36.720 --> 0:06:39.640 shit is hard. Even though sometimes you have a work permit, 0:06:40.320 --> 0:06:43.320 work isn't there. Maybe you're going to school, you're balancing life. 0:06:43.400 --> 0:06:46.880 So many things happen in our lifetimes between those two 0:06:46.920 --> 0:06:49.920 years that a couple of people lost their permits. So 0:06:49.960 --> 0:06:52.800 you always saw you know, like go fundmes and fundraisers 0:06:52.800 --> 0:06:55.919 and pakisas and stuff like that going around to support 0:06:55.960 --> 0:06:59.880 people I myself have benefited from down as supporters and 0:07:00.040 --> 0:07:02.960 folks in solidarity who are like, you know, hey, Eric, 0:07:03.000 --> 0:07:04.520 like I saw your doca's coming up. 0:07:04.600 --> 0:07:05.159 I got you. 0:07:05.200 --> 0:07:07.479 Like, here's a check, five hundred bucks. Don't even trip 0:07:07.520 --> 0:07:09.600 about it, dude, Like I know what you've done, I 0:07:09.640 --> 0:07:11.760 know how much of a struggle it is, Like I 0:07:11.800 --> 0:07:14.520 got you. And even this last application that I filled out, 0:07:14.800 --> 0:07:17.640 I was actually able to get a legal aid clinic 0:07:18.080 --> 0:07:20.880 to not only support me and renewing the application with 0:07:20.920 --> 0:07:23.560 the support of a lawyer, but they also covered the 0:07:23.600 --> 0:07:26.920 bill for the application too, So it's like five hundred 0:07:26.960 --> 0:07:29.280 dollars it didn't have to come out of my pocket. 0:07:31.320 --> 0:07:34.080 More tomorrows. Is a good amount of applicants raised money 0:07:34.120 --> 0:07:38.560 through legal clinics or religious, civic, immigrant, and educational groups 0:07:38.560 --> 0:07:40.440 that helped young folks apply for DACA. 0:07:41.880 --> 0:07:45.920 The DOCTA process is intended to be pretty straightforward, but 0:07:45.960 --> 0:07:49.600 of course that's not always true. There were clinics from 0:07:49.640 --> 0:07:52.120 the very beginning to help people apply. You know, I 0:07:52.160 --> 0:07:54.400 worked a few of these clinics, and some of the 0:07:54.400 --> 0:07:57.480 forums are mysterious and you won't sure what the process was. 0:07:57.720 --> 0:08:00.640 And I think that it really helped them to have excluding. 0:08:01.840 --> 0:08:05.680 Once we got DAKA, there was a sigh of relief. 0:08:06.480 --> 0:08:10.440 A work permit meant he could finally make some money. 0:08:10.600 --> 0:08:13.000 There was a genuine sense of like, I'm done with this, 0:08:13.120 --> 0:08:15.600 Like I'm done struggling, I'm done working all these under 0:08:15.600 --> 0:08:19.520 the table jobs, Like I don't want to do that anymore. 0:08:19.560 --> 0:08:22.040 Like my parents brought here here to do better than 0:08:22.040 --> 0:08:25.400 they could and to prosper and getting this work permit 0:08:25.560 --> 0:08:27.680 was going to be, you know, a stepping stone to 0:08:27.720 --> 0:08:31.200 be able to accomplish that. So for me, it was like, okay, 0:08:31.280 --> 0:08:33.199 let's go like that. Everyone wants to find me. I'm 0:08:33.200 --> 0:08:35.720 already telling them where I am, like on Sports Square, 0:08:36.040 --> 0:08:39.360 checking in like an idiot everywhere I go. So now's 0:08:39.480 --> 0:08:41.920 just make it officially, give me my papers so I 0:08:41.920 --> 0:08:43.280 can get a job and get paid. 0:08:43.280 --> 0:08:47.600 Either along with the work permit, you could apply for 0:08:47.679 --> 0:08:51.559 a Social Security card and a driver's license that opened 0:08:51.600 --> 0:08:55.839 up doors for pursuing higher education. The recipients could also 0:08:55.920 --> 0:08:57.640 open up bank accounts and travel. 0:09:02.840 --> 0:09:05.000 I'm trying to remember the exact day. 0:09:05.080 --> 0:09:07.080 I remember the envelope. 0:09:07.360 --> 0:09:11.599 That'sid Aie Munos, a DOCA applicant. She's talking about the 0:09:11.679 --> 0:09:13.480 day she got the envelope with her permit. 0:09:15.360 --> 0:09:18.040 Every time after that, every time I came in, I 0:09:18.040 --> 0:09:20.440 would be like in tiers every time, I'm God, there's 0:09:20.480 --> 0:09:24.600 that Manila envelope. It's like a little heavier envelope and 0:09:24.640 --> 0:09:28.600 you can feel the the work permit inside. And so 0:09:28.679 --> 0:09:30.840 it was a very emotional moment, of course, just to 0:09:31.000 --> 0:09:37.240 know that this this piece of paper really will change 0:09:37.240 --> 0:09:37.720 your life. 0:09:40.160 --> 0:09:43.319 For activists Erica and Diola, getting DOCA was a big 0:09:43.400 --> 0:09:45.559 level up moment for her entire family. 0:09:46.920 --> 0:09:51.560 I would say just more generally, you know, I think 0:09:51.640 --> 0:09:54.280 a lot of our families as immigrants, we were very 0:09:54.320 --> 0:09:59.400 close and we depend on each other, right because either 0:09:59.440 --> 0:10:02.360 because of our culture, because we're forced to, and you know, 0:10:02.440 --> 0:10:03.520 as people. 0:10:03.280 --> 0:10:06.040 Who come here as families. 0:10:06.120 --> 0:10:09.640 And I was able to help my family a lot, 0:10:10.040 --> 0:10:13.000 as someone who already had a Social Security number, who 0:10:13.080 --> 0:10:14.880 was able to work, you know. 0:10:15.559 --> 0:10:18.520 Things like being able to get my mama house with 0:10:18.640 --> 0:10:20.959 a loan. Uh now she has. 0:10:21.040 --> 0:10:23.560 She's been living there for seven years. And it was 0:10:23.679 --> 0:10:29.520 just an amazing feeling because we had been moving so. 0:10:29.640 --> 0:10:31.120 Much, you know, since we came here. 0:10:31.160 --> 0:10:34.200 It was like one apartment to the other getting kicked 0:10:34.240 --> 0:10:36.360 out of one place because we didn't have enough money to. 0:10:36.360 --> 0:10:38.880 Pay or whatever the case might be. 0:10:39.679 --> 0:10:43.480 To finally being able to get alone in a mortgage, 0:10:43.640 --> 0:10:47.640 you know, to give my mom, which she deserves someone 0:10:47.679 --> 0:10:49.000 who works so hard. 0:10:48.800 --> 0:10:50.280 For us, you know. 0:10:50.360 --> 0:10:54.360 Also just just having that ability to you know, travel 0:10:54.360 --> 0:10:57.200 outside the US. I was able to have more opportunities 0:10:57.240 --> 0:10:59.480 with my work, and so, you know, I can't go on. 0:10:59.559 --> 0:11:01.280 I mean, I know, oh, there's there's there's. 0:11:01.040 --> 0:11:05.760 So much more that that we need for the undocumented 0:11:05.760 --> 0:11:06.760 community in general. 0:11:06.840 --> 0:11:09.040 But I would say that there was a lot, a 0:11:09.080 --> 0:11:10.839 lot that was done that. 0:11:10.920 --> 0:11:15.160 Has helped not just individuals who have DAKA, but their families. 0:11:15.200 --> 0:11:16.960 I can assure you that it has helped. 0:11:18.360 --> 0:11:22.760 But the fighting never stopped. She kept fighting for people 0:11:22.800 --> 0:11:26.120 like her, serving as a Press Secretary of Latino Outreach 0:11:26.160 --> 0:11:29.600 for the Bernie Sanders campaign, and even working on Capitol 0:11:29.640 --> 0:11:31.000 Hill for members of Congress. 0:11:32.600 --> 0:11:36.400 One of the wake up calls for me, or a 0:11:36.480 --> 0:11:40.920 reminder that we weren't done, was literally the same day 0:11:41.240 --> 0:11:45.360 that I got the job in Congress. I came back 0:11:45.440 --> 0:11:51.960 from my interview and you know, talking to my former 0:11:52.000 --> 0:11:54.200 boss and telling me that I got the job. 0:11:54.320 --> 0:11:57.720 I came back to the House and that same night. 0:11:58.360 --> 0:12:00.880 We get a knock on the door and I took 0:12:01.000 --> 0:12:08.520 my mom and my brother. It's still unclear whether it 0:12:08.559 --> 0:12:11.360 was any type of retaliation or if it was something 0:12:11.400 --> 0:12:13.800 that happened because of other reasons. 0:12:13.840 --> 0:12:15.559 Because you know, they were. 0:12:17.000 --> 0:12:19.960 Departing a lot of people at that time under President Obama, 0:12:20.000 --> 0:12:21.680 so she might have been one of those folks who 0:12:22.040 --> 0:12:22.920 was targeted. 0:12:25.240 --> 0:12:28.400 Was she targeted or was this just another random deportation 0:12:28.520 --> 0:12:35.319 by the Obama administration. Ultimately it didn't really matter. Erica 0:12:35.400 --> 0:12:39.920 knew she had to fight to save her mom. More 0:12:39.960 --> 0:13:10.800 on that after the break Erica and your LA's mom, 0:13:11.000 --> 0:13:17.080 Lupita recalls the night immigration knocked on her door. It's 0:13:17.120 --> 0:13:21.280 a moment in her life she will never forget. 0:13:20.920 --> 0:13:28.600 And aner Milresa Yo policy. 0:13:29.960 --> 0:13:34.360 It was a night in January of twenty thirteen. Erica 0:13:34.400 --> 0:13:40.360 was home and answered the door. Everything happened so fast. 0:13:41.080 --> 0:13:44.080 Before Lupita knew it, her and her son were being 0:13:44.160 --> 0:13:52.480 taken away. Erica had learned a lot from fighting for 0:13:52.559 --> 0:13:56.400 her own status, so when her mom got arrested and 0:13:56.600 --> 0:14:00.000 was on the verge of being deported, she knew exactly 0:14:00.120 --> 0:14:01.280 lead what to do. 0:14:04.000 --> 0:14:07.960 I was able to use the skills and the knowledge 0:14:08.040 --> 0:14:13.880 that I acquired through stopping deportations of dreamers. To stop 0:14:13.920 --> 0:14:17.000 my mom's deportation, I mean I did, like, I literally 0:14:17.120 --> 0:14:20.200 went into sort of auto pilot. 0:14:20.040 --> 0:14:23.480 From like case after case that I had been working 0:14:23.520 --> 0:14:23.760 on with. 0:14:24.240 --> 0:14:28.400 Youth to create a whole campaign in less than twenty 0:14:28.480 --> 0:14:33.480 four hours to stop my mom's reportation. And they raided 0:14:33.480 --> 0:14:36.880 my house like at nine maybe like nine pm. 0:14:37.360 --> 0:14:40.119 By the next day, like around nine am. 0:14:40.360 --> 0:14:43.120 Because of all that work, they turned the bus around 0:14:43.160 --> 0:14:46.920 that were already reaching the border with my mom on board, 0:14:47.600 --> 0:14:50.840 and because of the pressure, somebody called the bus driver. 0:14:50.920 --> 0:14:52.920 I mean she recalls this because she was in there. 0:14:53.720 --> 0:14:56.280 He answered the phone and as someone as hung up, 0:14:56.320 --> 0:14:58.880 he turned the bus around and they dropped her off 0:14:58.960 --> 0:15:03.600 at a detention center. They returned her to Phoenix that 0:15:03.720 --> 0:15:05.400 same day. 0:15:06.240 --> 0:15:10.520 It's been over ten years, but Lupita still gets emotional 0:15:10.560 --> 0:15:14.320 when she recalls the moment they told her Erica had 0:15:14.400 --> 0:15:18.440 moved heaven and Earth to keep her from being deported. 0:15:28.720 --> 0:15:29.560 Is that movie in The. 0:15:49.480 --> 0:15:54.000 Fight just never stops. 0:15:56.320 --> 0:16:00.800 But Daca did offer some relief for film stand Carlos Aguila. 0:16:01.000 --> 0:16:03.600 From the start of the show, Doca came right when 0:16:03.600 --> 0:16:04.200 he needed it. 0:16:04.880 --> 0:16:08.560 After I got doc at the work permit and whatnot, 0:16:08.960 --> 0:16:11.800 I was able to quit my job at the fast 0:16:11.800 --> 0:16:13.560 food place. I think I stayed there for a couple 0:16:13.600 --> 0:16:16.720 more months, but I was able to get a film 0:16:16.760 --> 0:16:19.480 related internship because now I had the work permit and 0:16:19.520 --> 0:16:22.480 I could apply for that and it paid. And so 0:16:23.040 --> 0:16:25.880 once that happened, I decided to quit that job and 0:16:26.080 --> 0:16:29.480 finally sort of like start trying to transition into something 0:16:29.520 --> 0:16:31.520 that I was interested in, you know, which is writing 0:16:31.560 --> 0:16:35.280 about movies or being involved in the film world. And 0:16:35.360 --> 0:16:39.920 so that was the most immediate clear thing that I 0:16:39.960 --> 0:16:45.160 could now the possibilities of having a job that I 0:16:45.320 --> 0:16:47.880 enjoy more that aligned more with what I wanted to 0:16:47.920 --> 0:16:48.640 do with my life. 0:16:49.840 --> 0:16:52.600 There were simple things that DOCA granted, like being able 0:16:52.640 --> 0:16:56.520 to go out without carrying a passport. Carlos just wanted 0:16:56.560 --> 0:16:57.520 to hit the club. 0:16:58.880 --> 0:17:02.120 For example, having a California ID, you know, which is 0:17:02.640 --> 0:17:04.560 is something that people don't think about, but like when 0:17:04.600 --> 0:17:07.600 you're on documented and you know, when I was younger, 0:17:07.600 --> 0:17:09.359 in my twenties, I wanted to go club and I 0:17:09.359 --> 0:17:10.720 wanted to go to a bar, and I had to 0:17:10.800 --> 0:17:14.760 carry around my Mexican passport or Matricola CONSULARI. You know, 0:17:14.960 --> 0:17:16.800 some places didn't accept it, so then you had to 0:17:16.800 --> 0:17:19.040 get a passport. And like, especially when I started going 0:17:19.080 --> 0:17:22.000 to college and met you know, white Americans or who 0:17:22.040 --> 0:17:25.480 were you know, just we just didn't understand the experience 0:17:25.960 --> 0:17:30.240 and the shame and the sort of like hesitancy that 0:17:30.280 --> 0:17:33.160 I felt pulling up a Mexican passport to get into 0:17:33.160 --> 0:17:35.080 a club, to go to a bar, to get a drink, 0:17:35.480 --> 0:17:37.760 you know, having to have been able to get a 0:17:37.800 --> 0:17:40.280 California idea, and like just showing the idea, not having 0:17:40.320 --> 0:17:43.520 to explain or justifying my existence was something so simple 0:17:43.560 --> 0:17:45.800 that I think I didn't really realize until I was 0:17:45.840 --> 0:17:46.520 able to do it. 0:17:46.600 --> 0:17:52.159 You know, even though he was still struggling financially, with 0:17:52.200 --> 0:17:55.119 an ID and a work permit, Carlos felt like he 0:17:55.119 --> 0:17:57.679 could pursue a career he was passionate about. 0:17:58.160 --> 0:18:00.680 I always, you know, kept on watching movies, and eventually 0:18:00.760 --> 0:18:03.000 I started, while I was still working at the fast 0:18:03.040 --> 0:18:06.360 food place. I started like a blog to write reviews 0:18:06.359 --> 0:18:08.360 of movies, just the movies that I will go watch 0:18:08.400 --> 0:18:10.399 at the movie theater by myself. And it was mostly 0:18:10.800 --> 0:18:12.560 for myself, like, you know, like I don't think no 0:18:12.600 --> 0:18:14.240 one ever read them worth it was like a block 0:18:14.280 --> 0:18:17.760 sput blog, and I started writing little reviews there and 0:18:18.720 --> 0:18:21.800 to sort of like, you know, keep my mind invested 0:18:21.840 --> 0:18:24.879 in movies, not knowing if I could ever, you know, 0:18:25.720 --> 0:18:29.520 actually do anything related to the film industry. Because again, 0:18:29.560 --> 0:18:32.240 you know, going from a fast food place in Huntington 0:18:32.320 --> 0:18:34.359 Park to think that you're going to be able to 0:18:34.440 --> 0:18:37.159 work in film, that the world just feels so you 0:18:37.200 --> 0:18:42.480 know far apart in you know, kind of impossible to breach. 0:18:43.880 --> 0:18:46.800 On a fast food job salary. He couldn't afford the 0:18:46.880 --> 0:18:51.200 ridiculously expensive film school tuition, but as newly obtained work 0:18:51.240 --> 0:18:54.560 permit meant he could apply for a film internship. 0:18:55.520 --> 0:18:57.439 And so when I was able to get an internship 0:18:57.600 --> 0:19:01.680 at the Sundon's Institute, once I got DAKA, that's sort 0:19:01.720 --> 0:19:06.040 of like, you know, really open the door for me 0:19:06.080 --> 0:19:09.760 to think that, you know, maybe I won't do film production, 0:19:09.920 --> 0:19:12.320 but you know, if I enjoy writing about movies, and 0:19:12.359 --> 0:19:17.000 it seems like there could be something here. But but honestly, 0:19:17.040 --> 0:19:19.720 I never really thought that it would be like a career. 0:19:19.800 --> 0:19:22.520 Like I didn't know how do you make money as 0:19:22.520 --> 0:19:25.119 a film critic, Like I just had no connections, and 0:19:25.200 --> 0:19:28.840 no experience or no one that I knew even you know, 0:19:29.000 --> 0:19:31.720 had any sort of like yeah close connections to that world. 0:19:31.800 --> 0:19:33.680 And so the fact that they took a chance and 0:19:33.960 --> 0:19:36.479 someone like me has always meant a lot, you know, 0:19:36.560 --> 0:19:40.560 the fact that they saw something beyond you know, beyond 0:19:40.560 --> 0:19:42.960 the academics. You know that they gave me that internship 0:19:43.000 --> 0:19:45.760 and allow me to sort of start, you know, building 0:19:45.760 --> 0:19:47.760 connections and meeting people in that world. 0:19:49.800 --> 0:19:52.960 Today, Carlos is one of the leading film critics whose 0:19:53.000 --> 0:19:56.560 work has been published by huge publications like The La Times, 0:19:56.800 --> 0:20:01.600 New York Times, and Indie Wire's I Mean Proof. Like 0:20:01.760 --> 0:20:07.400 his mom said, no dream is impossible. Stay with us, 0:20:07.680 --> 0:20:33.040 Warren Carlos after the break. Even after fighting for DACA 0:20:33.760 --> 0:20:37.560 and going through all the hoops of the DACA application process, 0:20:38.520 --> 0:20:42.840 dreamers still have to work twice as hard. Here's Carlos 0:20:42.880 --> 0:20:43.760 Aguilar again. 0:20:45.080 --> 0:20:47.600 So sometimes when I feel down or where I feel like, 0:20:47.760 --> 0:20:49.879 you know, that I don't deserve whatever is happening, I 0:20:50.040 --> 0:20:51.640 try to take a look back and be like, Wow, 0:20:51.680 --> 0:20:54.280 you know, you've you've gotten to do all these things, 0:20:54.280 --> 0:20:57.480 if you've achieved all these things that you know, ten 0:20:57.560 --> 0:21:00.399 years ago when I was flipping burgers. I could have 0:21:00.480 --> 0:21:03.159 never even dreamed of the beautiful moments that feel, you know, 0:21:03.280 --> 0:21:04.360 kind of impossible. 0:21:05.560 --> 0:21:09.800 Thanks to DACA, Carlos's work exists to amplify Latino voices 0:21:10.040 --> 0:21:12.520 in big publications. 0:21:12.880 --> 0:21:16.760 When I'm able to, you know, profile or write about 0:21:16.840 --> 0:21:22.200 someone who's Mexican or Latino or who is someone that 0:21:22.240 --> 0:21:25.119 maybe if I hadn't pitched the idea, wouldn't be getting 0:21:25.160 --> 0:21:27.320 the coverage, those kind of things, when I'm able to 0:21:27.359 --> 0:21:30.919 sort of like, you know, convince an editor about the 0:21:30.960 --> 0:21:33.280 importance of why should we be writing about this person 0:21:33.320 --> 0:21:35.280 instead of like make it happen, I think those are 0:21:35.800 --> 0:21:37.919 some of the most the best moments for me. 0:21:39.240 --> 0:21:42.359 But Carlos never forgets how he got here and where 0:21:42.480 --> 0:21:43.240 he started. 0:21:44.160 --> 0:21:48.560 I started, you know, watching international movies on like bootleg DVDs, 0:21:48.640 --> 0:21:50.879 you know, and you know that you buy for a 0:21:50.880 --> 0:21:53.280 few pestls in Mexico and so like that that was 0:21:53.359 --> 0:21:56.359 my you know, it wasn't the video story. It was 0:21:56.400 --> 0:21:58.560 really like that the Yankees, you know, going to the Yankees. 0:21:58.600 --> 0:22:00.720 I'm buying the bootleg movies and watching them at home, 0:22:00.800 --> 0:22:02.560 and that's how I started watching other movies, which I 0:22:02.560 --> 0:22:04.800 think is very funny now that I've I've got into 0:22:04.880 --> 0:22:07.919 interview a lot of directors that I've admired and like 0:22:07.960 --> 0:22:11.680 whose work I first discovered on like Bootleg Coppies in Mexico. 0:22:12.840 --> 0:22:15.080 Although we had to put in the work and is 0:22:15.160 --> 0:22:21.000 still constantly fighting battles in a notoriously murky industry, Daca 0:22:21.200 --> 0:22:22.560 made his path tangible. 0:22:23.800 --> 0:22:25.720 At first. I wanted to make films, you know, I 0:22:25.720 --> 0:22:27.399 wanted to be a film director, or I wanted to 0:22:27.440 --> 0:22:31.520 work in animation, but again, you know, not not knowing 0:22:31.840 --> 0:22:34.520 what that would mean over how those things even work. 0:22:35.480 --> 0:22:38.200 Although Carlos had a lot of questions about how his 0:22:38.280 --> 0:22:41.800 career in Hollywood would all work out, his mother, who 0:22:41.880 --> 0:22:45.160 passed on her love of movies to him all those 0:22:45.240 --> 0:22:49.080 years ago, never had a doubt. 0:22:49.600 --> 0:22:52.280 I think the best thing that my mom did for 0:22:52.400 --> 0:22:57.320 me was that she never said no in the sense 0:22:57.359 --> 0:23:00.439 that even you know, as a kid grow up in 0:23:00.480 --> 0:23:03.960 Mexico City, we were very poor, and you know, it 0:23:02.960 --> 0:23:06.040 was kind of ridiculous to even things that I could 0:23:06.119 --> 0:23:09.080 work in the film industry. She never said, oh no, no, no, 0:23:09.200 --> 0:23:11.840 you can't do it. She never said you know, that's impossible. 0:23:13.320 --> 0:23:15.480 She just said, you know, we'll see you know, or 0:23:15.720 --> 0:23:17.919 you still said, you know, we'll find a way. And 0:23:18.000 --> 0:23:20.119 so I feel like I think that the greatest gift 0:23:20.160 --> 0:23:23.800 that she ever gave me was to allow me to dream, 0:23:23.840 --> 0:23:27.000 even if those dreams felt ridiculous and impossible. 0:23:31.640 --> 0:23:36.879 It's incredible. Carlos started as a kid watching bootlegs with 0:23:36.960 --> 0:23:40.720 his mom and brother in Mexico City. Now he writes 0:23:40.720 --> 0:23:45.680 about films professionally, all because of Dacca and a simple 0:23:46.080 --> 0:23:47.360 piece of paper. 0:23:52.640 --> 0:23:55.040 Though we've heard from some of the folks whose lives 0:23:55.119 --> 0:24:00.399 changed with DACA, many people didn't qualify. Here's Araka and 0:24:00.480 --> 0:24:03.879 Diola again recalling the day Doca was announced. 0:24:06.000 --> 0:24:08.120 And at the same time, it was better sweet because 0:24:09.080 --> 0:24:11.960 I also found out that sorry, I also found out 0:24:11.960 --> 0:24:15.000 that day that my sister wasn't wasn't going to qualify 0:24:16.000 --> 0:24:20.280 by one year, and I called my family. I was really, really, 0:24:20.320 --> 0:24:22.919 really happy. And when I got asked that question of 0:24:23.600 --> 0:24:26.399 you know, of course my little brother would qualified. 0:24:26.600 --> 0:24:30.200 Then when I got asked the question and my sister 0:24:30.359 --> 0:24:33.439 wasn't qualified, we had to tell her that she was. 0:24:35.200 --> 0:24:38.840 She was one year over the automn So, you know, 0:24:39.119 --> 0:24:42.600 just give me a reminder that it wasn't wasn't over we. 0:24:42.640 --> 0:24:43.600 Had a lot more to do. 0:24:45.920 --> 0:24:49.240 One of Carlos's friends also didn't qualify for different action. 0:24:50.960 --> 0:24:54.119 One of my one of my closest, dearest friends in life, 0:24:54.440 --> 0:24:58.040 who I met at Cruenschat High when I had just 0:24:58.080 --> 0:25:02.000 come she's also on locker meant that she didn't qualify 0:25:02.359 --> 0:25:05.520 for DACCA because she was one year older than me, 0:25:05.600 --> 0:25:08.440