At a recent community meeting hosted by Representatives Yassamin Ansari and Adelita Grijalva, former Maricopa County Democratic Party Communications Director Edder Diaz Martinez was among the panelists, calling attention to the dystopian vision and actions of the Donald Trump/Stephen Miller immigration system and their cruel quest to deny innocent people who have lived in the United States for years the chance to live the American Dream.
Now Communications Director of GreenLatinos, Martinez, a DACA recipient, graciously interviewed with Blog of Arizona to elaborate on his concerns about Trump/Miller’s inhumane immigration policies and how they could potentially jeopardize his DACA status.
The questions and his responses are below.
Before DACA, you had said at the meeting that you were classified as an illegal immigrant. Can you please tell the readers why?
“Yeah, a lot of people see immigration as a very black and white issue. And I think it’s an issue that unless folks have gone through the system or have had family members or have been personally affected by the immigration system, to them it seems very black and white. Either you are here legally, or you’re here without proper documentation. But the problem is that immigration is a lot more complex than that.”
“There are immigration cases where people do come into this country legally, and then they tend to overstay their visas. They overstay their documents.”
“There are people who come to this country as kids, and don’t realize that their documentation has an expiration date. And so they grow up thinking, ‘I’m just like anybody else.’ And so they grow up and then they come to realize once it comes time for them to get a job, get a driver’s license, all of the things you have to do that most Americans see as normal, they suddenly start to realize, I’m not like everybody else. I have this issue that is forcing me to stop me from moving forward in my life.”
“And so for me in my particular situation, I grew up, I moved to this country, and as a child, I recognized that there was a significant moment. It was a significant moment in us moving, but of course I was a child. I was literally five years old when we moved. So, I didn’t think that it would impact me, right, a couple of years down the road, right? I recognized probably when I was 16, 17, that I had a different classification in terms of my immigration status because I couldn’t get a job like everybody else in my peers. I didn’t have a Social Security number. And so that’s why I think a lot of people would see me and they wouldn’t know my story, and they would think that, oh, this is an illegal immigrant, because they simply just don’t understand that there are so many gray areas within the immigration system.”
“So it’s important to understand that it’s not a cookie-cutter issue. It’s a very case-by-case basis, and it’s very complex, and it’s not just as straightforward as one would think.”
Please explain at least two ways DACA positively changed your life.
“I think, like number one, I would say what DACA does is it provides an opportunity for people because it’s not just young people. I think a lot of times what happens in the media is that people think of DACA recipients as being like kids, but it’s now older adults. You’re thinking about people who are now having their own children. They have their own careers. Like for me myself, who is a DACA recipient, I’m 35. I’m not a child, right? And there are others who are much older than me and are DACA recipients. So number one, I think that it’s important to recognize that DACA recipients are adults. They were just brought to this country as youth.”
“And then number two, I think it’s important to recognize that when you receive DACA, people come out of the shadows. They are living in the margins of society, getting paid under the table, not paying taxes, and they’re sort of having to scrape by, find and maneuver ways to be able to exist without a social security number, without a driver’s license, without any proper documentation. And so DACA changes your life by being able to give you the ability to get a Social Security number, give you a driver’s license, give you the opportunity to integrate into society in a way that is meaningful, where you can contribute, and on paper, you’re giving back to your community through taxes, etc.”
“So I think that’s probably like another important point. And of course, for me, obviously, being able to just obtain an education, you know, because what I like to say is before DACA, it was easier for you to wind up in jail than it was for you to get an education, than it was for you to be able to get a job, right? Because I could easily hang out at the park and just like do like things that I wasn’t supposed to do, get in trouble, much easier than I could go and line up to get a job somewhere, than I could apply to my McDonald’s, and I could go and apply at a grocery store, and all those things. So, it is almost like a socioeconomic tool to be able to lift people out of the working class and into more of the middle class that, you know, we want communities to be able to do and ultimately achieve the American Dream.”
Please tell the readers at least two ways you have led your life in a forward and positive direction since becoming a DACA recipient.
Yeah, I mean, obviously being able to have DACA. The thing that I’m most proud of that when I got my DACA card and I was able to get a job and was able to get a driver’s license. The first thing that I started doing was I actually went to get a credit card, a secured card, because that was the first time in my entire life that I was able to do it. And I have built a great credit score. And that was because I already had all of this knowledge. Wanting to get a Social Security number, wanting to get a credit card, are things that most people think are normal. But for me, I had to wait so long. So, I was in my mid-20s when I got my first credit card. And because I had all of this sort of financial knowledge about wanting to do it, I got a really good credit score, and then I was able to buy my mom a house. That was like the year after I got DACA, I got this great credit score, saved up money, and I bought my mom a house. So that was number one. What made me proudest was that I was able to financially support my mom in that way. And that’s what I mean by the socioeconomic tool. It helps to lift up communities, and it helps to lift up families.”
“I think it was just being able to like afford education and be considered an in-state student, which made education more accessible and being able to attend a four-year university and have like almost like a sense of normality in my life. Because for my existence from about 15 years old until about 25, I felt like I was otherized. I was not a part of society fully because I didn’t have DACA, and so when I went to a four-year university, I finally felt like I was integrated into society.
Can you please provide at least three examples in which the detention experience at Eloy for people detained there now has worsened since you were held there?
“I think right now people are being intentionally mistreated, and they are intentionally put into cages, which the people in these detention centers are doing to be able to force them and coerce them into dropping their immigration case and signing their deportations. That is what’s happening right now under the Trump administration.”
“When I was held, I was actually detained under Obama. And in Obama’s DHS, there was a little bit more humane treatment. I mean, you’re still detained. You’re still behind cages. But the problem here is that there is more intentionality in the cruelty that the Trump administration is actually providing. They are intentionally going out of their way to treat people inhumanely, to dehumanize people, to force them to be deported, and make their lives insufferable to the point where they give up.”
“And from the testimonies you heard at the event with the representatives, you heard that from people, especially if they’re already part of historically marginalized communities. If you’re an LGBT individual, if you are a Black individual, if you are a woman, these communities will face much more scrutiny and will be discriminated against much more. Thankfully, being a male, somebody who identifies as heterosexual, I definitely know that I didn’t experience that same hardship because these other communities have it so much worse.”
We heard an example at the meeting where, I guess, with Mr. Paris, they did more or less get him to agree to go because he had had enough.
“And that’s exactly what I’m saying is they are intentionally being more cruel. They are making it so that people have no other choice but to sign their deportation order, give up, and be removed from the country, which is completely unjust and is a violation of human rights laws. And it is being equated to what a lot of folks experience in the Holocaust, in the sense that there are people who are suffering, who are dying, and people have died in those places. And it’s happening before our very eyes. And we’re just allowing it to happen, which is completely unjust.”
Please explain at least two ways the Trump administration’s policies on DACA is now forcing you to hire an attorney to make sure no adverse action is taken towards you.
“The Trump administration implemented a policy through the Department of Homeland Security, which is reopening cases that are on the docket, that are under a specific status called Administratively Closed, which falls under my particular case. So when I was detained, and I was held for two and a half months back in 2010, I was able to fight my case. And due to a memo by then DHS chair, John Morton, and it was titled the Morton Memo, it de-prioritized the deportations of nonviolent folks. So that’s a stark difference from the Trump Administration’s policies to the Obama era policies, where there were policies that the DHS had, where they would prioritize violent criminals, and they would de-prioritize the folks that are here that were stopped by having a broken taillight, for example. Those are nonviolent folks. They got swept up in immigration stops, but we’re going to de-prioritize their deportation. Then we’re going to enforce and prioritize the deportations of violent folks like people who hit women, et cetera, et cetera.”
“So I was released due to the enactment of what’s called the Morton Memo, which was the de-prioritization of nonviolent offenders. So I was able to let go on bond because of that memo. So when I was let go on bond at that time, I was able to fight my case in my community without being detained. I successfully was able to get my case administratively closed, meaning I didn’t have to go back to any immigration courts; the case itself was still on the docket, but I was able to close it because I was granted the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)program. And so that allowed me to close that case. And now I was here under a work permit with a Social Security card.”
“Now, the Trump administration in 2025 chose to nix its acknowledgement of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. And it decided to reopen all of those cases that were considered administratively closed because they’re seeking to remove as many people as possible. They’re even going as far as going to people whose cases have already been heard by immigration judges and already been administratively closed to seek deportation of those people to meet their lofty goals of deporting millions and millions of people. And so that’s why I had to hire an attorney. And that’s why I’ve had to fight my case once again, because I am at risk of having my case reopened, because the Trump Administration does not consider DACA to be a lawfully valid program.”
“I could be deported if they do choose to open my case again. Since finding this policy out, I’ve gotten married, I have a U.S. citizen spouse, and we’ve applied for a green card, and we’re currently in the process of receiving the green card. We’re about halfway through the process. But it takes a toll emotionally, not only on me, but on my partner, my wife, who has never gone through anything like this. And the anxiety is crushing for her. And not only that, it’s like my mom, her parents. These are people with whom I’ve made relationships. They’re my family now. And so this is what I mean by having the experience of knowing somebody in your family who is going through this, and then they realize, they open up their eyes, and they say, ‘Wow, this is such a complex issue. I didn’t know that the immigration system was like this. I didn’t know that they would just retroactively go back and try to deport you again. It doesn’t make sense. You’ve been here for so long, but that’s not how the law works. That’s not how immigration works in this country, unfortunately.”
Are you worried you will be wrongly detained even though you are doing everything right to stay in the country?
“I’m definitely afraid for myself because I know my rights. I have worked in the immigrants’ rights movement. And honestly, I have been doing this work since 2010. That’s why I got involved in community advocacy. That’s why I got involved in electoral work, right, is to elect candidates who are going to protect our families and our communities from this sort of reign of terror. I mean, what I like to say is we saw Trumpism and Trump politics here in Maricopa County and in Arizona since 2010. This has been something that started with us.
We’re like the epicenter of Trump politics because of SB 1070, because of Russell Pierce, because of all of these extreme laws, like Joe Arpaio. And so, I’m not scared because I know that I’ve done this for so long, and I know my rights, and I know how to defend myself if I am confronted with potential deportation. But I’m worried about community. I’m worried about my neighbors. I’m worried for myself. And it’s tough because you’re torn. I try to console them. I try to make them feel better, but it’s hard on them. You know, the mental struggle is tough.”
How would you compare your status to, say, Yari or the young lady who was next to you in the meeting, or the attorney, Mr. Macias, who was worried about his parents? How would you compare your situation to theirs?
I mean, I don’t really see myself as any different. I really don’t, because in the eyes of the law, I’m not. You know, once we go up in front of that immigration judge and once we are seen by ICE agents, we’re all the same. They’re going to try and remove me. They’re going to try and, you know, no matter how good English I speak, no matter how many degrees I have, I’m the same.”
You had mentioned how you had been detained during the Obama administration and the Trump administration’s policy. How are the Biden policies, when he was in office, different compared to Mr. Trump’s?
“Biden, again, was a return to allowing families to be together without necessarily the cruelty that Trump had. Biden allowed for a lot of people, although they were swept up in immigration rates, to at least go through the immigration system in person with their family at home. And that’s why there are so many people who do the check-ins. Because Biden allowed people who are seeking asylum, for example, to fight their asylum case while living in the United States. These are people who are doing it the right way. They were literally going through the asylum process, how you’re supposed to, and they were granted a stay here.”
That’s why you see the immigration footage of ICE agents catching people at immigration court. These are people who went and were doing it the right way. And then, you know, they were getting stopped, they were getting detained. That’s the stark difference, you know, is that what Trump is doing now is he’s intentionally separating families and doing it in a cruel manner.”
Is there anything not covered in the first six questions that you’d like the readers to know about yours and others in the same situation regarding the Trump immigration agenda?
“I think the most important thing to remember is that the immigration system is very complex. And the immigration issue is something that has been batted around by both parties for decades. I think the very first immigration movement that some of the immigration elders here locally was back in 2001. And so this has been an issue that, unfortunately, has now become a wedge issue by the radical right to cause fear in communities and to interfere longer and to create a sense of xenophobia in people.”
“I think people have to understand that immigrants come to this country seeking a better life for the vast majority, and that it’s not an easy issue. And people are human. And they migrate, that’s just who we are as people. That’s why a lot of people believe that it is a human right to migrate, to move, right. There are so many issues. It’s case by case. And so I would say that folks should take the time to understand a little bit about the complexities of immigration and understand that, it’s all very difficult. But the majority of folks that I have met that are immigrants, and those that I’ve met in immigration detention, when I was in there, were just human beings that were looking for a better life.”
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