J. Antonio Rodríguez is the star of the national tour of the Broadway hit Hadestown.
The 26-year-old interpreter arrived in the United States from Mexico at the age of 2.
His last show was on March 13 because the Citizenship and Immigration Services was delayed in renewing his DACA extension.
Minutes before the interview with NY1 Noticias, he received notification that his immigration status and work permit were renewed for 2 more years.
Rodríguez talked about the parallels between his character, Orfeo, and his own life.
“Orfeo’s journey from a naive boy to a man who has to be a voice for the voiceless is how I felt in my journey as a DACA recipient and as a dreamer,” Rodriguez said.
That journey covers the same two decades in which the so-called Dream Act has not been approved in Congress.
“It’s so exhausting to be treated like second class, or to feel like a second class citizen and to be used as political pawns.
“It’s, frankly, infuriating,” Rodriguez said.
Rodríguez had to stop performing on March 13 because his employment authorization expired.
Renewals of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program are being delayed as U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services prioritizes work permits for other immigrants.
“There are 600,000 people in my situation who all they want is to work. We literally pay to work every two years because of the application fee, because of the legal fees,” Rodríguez said.
All of this without the right to vote, but paying taxes.
After weeks of anguish and sending letters to Oklahoma elected officials and the White House, he received notification of his renewal minutes before this interview with NY1.
Despite the uncertainty about his immigration status, he thanks the producers and the theater community for supporting him.
“You always hear that it’s a business, it’s a business, it’s about money. While that may be true for some productions, I really feel like they valued me so much that they were willing to fight tooth and nail for me. And that has meant the world, really,” Rodríguez said.
“I was lucky that it was approved today. What is going to happen in two years? What is going to happen tomorrow?” Rodriguez asked.
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