x
Breaking News
More () »

DACA recipient paints to tell his story for those who can't

Roberto believes his story will allow those who view DACA as politics to step back and understand its people. He believes his story will evoke empathy, even though he arrived illegally.

ATLANTA - In the shadow of the city on its most diverse stretch stands so many products with one brush.

Roberto Hernandez is six feet tall and painting a mural 20 yards wide.

“You have to step back and look at it from a distance,” Roberto told 11Alive’s Matt Pearl.

His challenge is perspective.

“From up close, everything may seem fine,” he said. “If you don’t step back from it, that may change the entire image.”

Roberto wishes similar advice to others about a matter with much higher stakes.

“Do you feel, if your status was to expire, you’d be one pull-over away from possibly getting deported,” Matt asked Roberto.

“Absolutely. Absolutely,” he said.

Roberto’s status is DACA, the Obama-era program that protects from deportation, certain immigrants who came to America illegally as minors. Roberto arrived at age 10.

He went to a Catholic school in Mexico, and when asked why he had to leave the country, Roberto said he didn’t know.

“I was told when I was 21 that my mother was kidnapped,” Roberto said. “That happened quite often in Mexico if people wanted to extortion you.”

His mother moved first, legally, Roberto said, with a permanent business visa. She could not secure one for her kids. Years after he arrived, Roberto gained protection through DACA.

“I was constantly having to pay these ‘No Driver’s License’ tickets,” Roberto said. “I was excited and I was able to create my company.”

Roberto said many things happened to allow him to be the artist he is today.

“One is DACA, And the other is living in Atlanta,” he said.

Roberto is one of nearly 16,000 DACA recipients in metro Atlanta, and virtually every recent poll shows most Americans support it. But 60 million Americans voted in President Donald Trump, who campaigned on cracking down on illegal immigration.

President Trump tried to end DACA in March, but was blocked by the courts. Under his direction, removals by ICE of noncriminal illegal immigrants doubled in Fiscal Year 2017. Arrests of such immigrants quadrupled.

11Alive requested an interview with ICE’s Atlanta field manager Sean Gallagher about agency policy, but the agency said no.

“Anyone’s life can go to chaos at any time, not just anyone that is DACA,” Roberto said.

Roberto has built a life in Atlanta despite uncertainty. He manages a family restaurant at Plaza Fiesta, a restaurant they’d lose if he loses DACA.

He has won awards as a make-up artist and body painter. Roberto also has airbrushed murals all across Buford Highway, including his latest piece that is very personal to him.

Roberto painted his latest mural as a protest as part of a Living Walls exhibition of immigrant art.

“For a long time, I didn’t tell anyone that I was a DACA recipient,” he said. “I feel like I have a responsibility to tell my story for those who can’t.”

Roberto believes his story will allow those who view DACA as politics to step back and understand its people. He believes his story will evoke empathy, even though he arrived illegally.

But mostly, he prefers to work rather than worry, and to let his brush leave a legacy.

“They’ll stay vibrant like this for a very long time,” he said. “They will look like this even after I’m no longer here and then some more.”

Before You Leave, Check This Out