Carlos Slim, the world’s second richest man and by far the richest person in Mexico, is advising Mexico’s young people to make their lives and fortune outside of Mexico, and he’ll even help pay for it, Newsradio 1200 WOAI reports.
Slim, who made billions in telecommunications and marketing, has established a pilot program to help young illegal immigrants participate in the Obama Administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Admissions, or DACA program. The Carlos Slim Foundation will even pay the $465 fee to enroll in DACA.
“The effort reflects a mutual concern for immigrants who are apply for the first time or to renew their DACA status,” said Diana Vela, President of the Catholic Association of Latino Leaders, which is working with Slim on the project.
DACA, which was announced by the Obama Administration in 2012, allows young people who came illegally to the U.S. along with their illegal immigrant parents when they were younger than 15, to legally participate in the U.S. work force, obtain drivers licenses, and get other documentation. DACA kids had to have arrived in the U.S. before 2007. Supporters say these children have never known any country other than the U.S. as their home and some don’t speak Spanish, and supporters say it would be bizarre to deport them to a country they have never called home.
The program is starting in Los Angeles and Phoenix and will expand to Houston and San Antonio.
“DACA youth can build a future of education, faith, and family life,” Vela said.
The Obama Administration and Slim might want to do a better job coordinating on message. The White House has steadfastly claimed that DACA is simply a way for young people, sometimes known as DREAMERS to ‘get out of the shadows’ and live and work legally in the U.S. But Slim says DACA is ‘the first action step toward U.S. citizenship.’
Even though he is pushing for U.S. citizenship for others, Slim himself is not a U.S. citizen.
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