SAN ANTONIO – Maria Rocha Carrillo returned to her classroom at Mark Twain Dual Language Academy on Thursday and was surrounded by her second grade students after a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Rocha was U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro’s guest at President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address Tuesday.
“It was an honor to have been invited by Congressman Castro to represent the Dreamers," Rocha said.
Rocha said she thought of her parents and students and how far she’d come as she sat in the audience wearing her monarch butterfly pin to represent her fellow Dreamers.
Rocha, who was brought to the U.S. from Mexico by her parents when she was 3 years old, said she’ll never forget the day that President Barack Obama created the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
“It was my 25th birthday,” Rocha said.
Currently, she is among an estimated 800,000 others in the U.S. whose fate rests in the hands of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Rocha said she saw the Supreme Court justices in the front row Tuesday night.
If they eventually rule against DACA, she said, “This could be my last year of teaching.”
Rocha said thousands of other teachers in the U.S. and Texas who are DACA recipients also are at risk. If they and other Dreamers are deported, she said, they could have to leave an estimated 250,000 U.S.-born children whose parents are DACA recipients.
“That would cause more family separations,” Rocha said.
Although Trump didn’t mention DACA during the State of the Union, Rocha said she wants Dreamers to know the following: “Keep showing this country what we’re worth and the contributions that we continue to do on a daily basis in this country.”
“Keep working together for a better tomorrow,” she said.
Castro sent KSAT the following statement about Rocha:
“I can’t think of anyone who represents the promise of America and San Antonio better than María. A first generation graduate of UTSA, a talented bilingual teacher who has given tenfold back to our community, she has spent her life building out an infrastructure of opportunity for all children despite their immigration status. She was a timely guest, too. Dreamers like María could be vulnerable to deportation depending on The Supreme Court’s decision on DACA. It’s a divisive time for the country, and we have to unify around our core principles and remember that immigrants built this nation we all call home. Maria is a unifying force, a committed public servant who has devoted her life to educating our kids. I was honored to have her with me at the State of the Union."