How John Lennon’s deportation battle inspired Obama’s policy for Dreamers
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In 1972, you may have said John Lennon was a Dreamer. He wanted to remain in the U.S. after he overstayed his visa, despite a deportation order from the U.S. government.
“
I like to be here because this is where the music came from,” Lennon said, explaining his desire to remain in the U.S., according to NPR. “
This is what influenced my whole life and got me where I am today.”
Lennon was able to get a short extension of his visa, but his application for a green card was denied.
His attorney at the time, Leon Wildes, knew that it would be difficult to keep the former Beatles star in the country because he had been convicted of marijuana possession, according to Vice News. That meant Wildes had to get creative—and his creativity ultimately shined a light on a once-secret federal policy that, decades later, President Obama would use to protect 800,000 young, undocumented immigrants from deportation, according to NPR.
Read more here:
DACA program for Dreamers was inspired in part by John Lennon deportation fight | McClatchy Washington Bureau
