# DACA/Dreamer hypothetical (would you take a "fugitive" Dreamer into your home?) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 5, 2017, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daca-dreamer-hypothetical-would-you-take-a-fugitive-dreamer-into-your-home/795595 "2017-09-05T22:42:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daca-dreamer-hypothetical-would-you-take-a-fugitive-dreamer-into-your-home/795595/21 "2017-09-06T16:12:06Z")
Yes, but I am not American, so I don’t think it would help much… ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daca-dreamer-hypothetical-would-you-take-a-fugitive-dreamer-into-your-home/795595/22 "2017-09-06T16:20:02Z")
Yes. That assumes it’s feasible for me to take in any guest. I’d place a priority on the conditions here, someone who I consider an American, who has not even violated the immigration laws as far as I’m concerned since they did not come here of their own volition, should be protected. As I told a misguided Trump fanatic friend of mine recently, this attitude to deport people who should be considered productive citizens shows that Trump is a little man, and the worst result of that is that America is belittled by him. Just ask yourself if you would shelter a slave in the Underground Railroad, or if you would you shelter Anne Frank in your attic. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daca-dreamer-hypothetical-would-you-take-a-fugitive-dreamer-into-your-home/795595/23 "2017-09-06T17:31:45Z")
I really think it’s easy to ask yourself “Would I risk jail to save someone from deportation?” It’s not the risk of jail that would stop most people. It’s the absolute certainty of a dramatic loss of privacy/family cohesion and the cost of keeping people: permanent house guests that can’t contribute are not a little expense. I’m honestly not sure how I’d feel about it. Homelessness is also not deportation, so the stakes are not quite so high. But I really think the question we need to be asking outselves is how much will we contribute to save people from poverty when we aren’t going to allow them to work. Because that’s the real fallout of this. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daca-dreamer-hypothetical-would-you-take-a-fugitive-dreamer-into-your-home/795595/24 "2017-09-06T17:37:41Z")
We have plenty of room with our kids all grown. I’d do it, at least for a year or so. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daca-dreamer-hypothetical-would-you-take-a-fugitive-dreamer-into-your-home/795595/25 "2017-09-06T18:26:00Z")
I also think it depends on the legal consequences. And if anyone came to the door, I would tell them that I don’t open the door without a warrant, and I don’t speak to the police without an attorney present. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daca-dreamer-hypothetical-would-you-take-a-fugitive-dreamer-into-your-home/795595/26 "2017-09-06T19:18:23Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Just ask yourself if you would shelter a slave in the Underground Railroad, or if you would you shelter Anne Frank in your attic. I’d like to think I would, yes. Heck, I’ll go you one better: given what happened to slaves who got caught, and what happened to Anne Frank when she got caught, I’d sure like to think I’d instead help them get out of the country. So I guess what I’m saying is, I’d sure like to think I’d help illegals get out of the country? Huh. I guess I _would,_ at that. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daca-dreamer-hypothetical-would-you-take-a-fugitive-dreamer-into-your-home/795595/27 "2017-09-06T19:44:09Z")
It would depend on a whole host of things, including what the end game is, what the penalties are, how safe we could make the person, and what my husband feels about it (the cats would be delighted to have another person around to feed (Cuthbert) or pet (Bertram) them). ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daca-dreamer-hypothetical-would-you-take-a-fugitive-dreamer-into-your-home/795595/28 "2017-09-06T19:48:30Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > It would depend on a whole host of things, including what the end game is, what the penalties are, how safe we could make the person, and what my husband feels about it (the cats would be delighted to have another person around to feed (Cuthbert) or pet (Bertram) them). I already voted “yes” in the poll. I know some good lawyers and would almost certainly be willing to take the risk unless the penalty were really absurd. It’s hard to imagine how such a person would be less safe with us than if they had no other home as an option, unless they were allergic to punk-ass cats. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daca-dreamer-hypothetical-would-you-take-a-fugitive-dreamer-into-your-home/795595/29 "2017-09-06T19:59:27Z")
> [@Asimovian](#): > > It’s hard to imagine how such a person would be less safe with us than if they had no other home as an option, unless they were allergic to punk-ass cats. Well, if it’s a situation where they would have to live in our furnace room for seven years and we’d have to quit our jobs and hide in the house and even so we would get busted because we buy extra pork chops and then the person is likely to get shot in a raid? That doesn’t sound like anyone is really benefiting. Obviously, that is extremely unlikely, but I don’t know precisely where the point is where it goes from making sense to not making sense. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daca-dreamer-hypothetical-would-you-take-a-fugitive-dreamer-into-your-home/795595/30 "2017-09-06T20:19:02Z")
I voted no. I have my own children to raise, and being in prison is not conducive to that. If you change it to “If they find a family willing to take them in, they can legally stay”, then of course yes, but I’m not committing any crimes, sorry. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daca-dreamer-hypothetical-would-you-take-a-fugitive-dreamer-into-your-home/795595/31 "2017-09-06T21:46:19Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Just ask yourself if you would shelter a slave in the Underground Railroad, or if you would you shelter Anne Frank in your attic. Getting deported to some other country (that you are legally a citizen of) when you’ve lived most of your life in the US is tragic and terrible, but it is generally not really comparable with what happened to runaway slaves or Anne Frank. It’s reasonable for people to be less willing to assume risks to prevent them from a lesser harm. ---
**Author:** ![Mdcastle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/958977/32.png) [@Mdcastle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mdcastle)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daca-dreamer-hypothetical-would-you-take-a-fugitive-dreamer-into-your-home/795595/32 "2017-09-06T23:19:41Z")
I’d not only refuse to take one in, I’d report him or her to the authorities. I don’t have any respect for people with such little respect for our laws that the choose to remain here illegally even after they’re adults. Once they’re back in they’re home country if they want to follow the rules and apply for legal immigration status here I’d be all for that. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daca-dreamer-hypothetical-would-you-take-a-fugitive-dreamer-into-your-home/795595/33 "2017-09-06T23:50:29Z")
> [@Mdcastle](#): > > I’d not only refuse to take one in, I’d report him or her to the authorities. I don’t have any respect for people with such little respect for our laws that the choose to remain here illegally even after they’re adults. Once they’re back in they’re home country if they want to follow the rules and apply for legal immigration status here I’d be all for that. Presumably you would have felt the same about a slave who escaped (which was against the law), or a Jew in Nazi Germany who remained hidden (also against the law)? ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daca-dreamer-hypothetical-would-you-take-a-fugitive-dreamer-into-your-home/795595/34 "2017-09-06T23:51:31Z")
> [@Mdcastle](#): > > I’d not only refuse to take one in, I’d report him or her to the authorities. I don’t have any respect for people with such little respect for our laws that the choose to remain here illegally even after they’re adults. Once they’re back in **they’re home country** if they want to follow the rules and apply for legal immigration status here I’d be all for that. Bolding mine. Out of curiosity, how do you define “home” here? ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2017, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daca-dreamer-hypothetical-would-you-take-a-fugitive-dreamer-into-your-home/795595/35 "2017-09-07T04:09:50Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Just ask yourself if you would shelter a slave in the Underground Railroad, or if you would you shelter Anne Frank in your attic. So it’s not about DACA at all, right? Your answer would be the same for any undocumented immigrant, regardless of their circumstances? ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2017, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daca-dreamer-hypothetical-would-you-take-a-fugitive-dreamer-into-your-home/795595/36 "2017-09-07T06:21:52Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Presumably you would have felt the same about a slave who escaped (which was against the law), or a Jew in Nazi Germany who remained hidden (also against the law)? Would this also apply to a helping a criminal escaping prison for a crime they didn’t even commit? The crime is attempted murder ---
**Author:** ![Zyanthia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Zyanthia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyanthia)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2017, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daca-dreamer-hypothetical-would-you-take-a-fugitive-dreamer-into-your-home/795595/37 "2017-09-07T19:58:22Z")
I’m a single woman living alone, so I would not let anyone hide in my house. However, I wouldn’t turn in my neighbor for doing it unless they were committing other criminal acts that endangered me. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2017, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daca-dreamer-hypothetical-would-you-take-a-fugitive-dreamer-into-your-home/795595/38 "2017-09-07T20:22:02Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > So it’s not about DACA at all, right? Your answer would be the same for any undocumented immigrant, regardless of their circumstances? No. These people are not undocumented immigrants through any fault of their own, they were brought here as children by their parents. They don’t have any real tie to the country they’ll be deported to, sometimes not even speaking the language, and it’s been a waste of the education we provided for them to send them away. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2017, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daca-dreamer-hypothetical-would-you-take-a-fugitive-dreamer-into-your-home/795595/39 "2017-09-07T20:28:24Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > Getting deported to some other country (that you are legally a citizen of) when you’ve lived most of your life in the US is tragic and terrible, but it is generally not really comparable with what happened to runaway slaves or Anne Frank. > > It’s reasonable for people to be less willing to assume risks to prevent them from a lesser harm. I don’t see a great risk in harboring one of these people for myself, I doubt there will be any prosecutions based on aiding a single person in these circumstances. Even if imminent death for these individuals is unlikely I still deportation as unjust, they’ve done nothing to deserve this, and the consequences could be great for them even if it’s not death. I also see these policies as harming our country, we have educated these people, they can become productive citizens, and we need many of them. I think it is idiotic to deport people who otherwise by productive US citizens if they were born a few years later in this country. I don’t see the need to deport any undocumented person who has otherwise been a productive citizen, paying taxes, and contributing to the economy as long as they haven’t committed crimes. I don’t even consider someone brought here as a child to have committed the crime of illegal entry since they had no say in the matter and did not act willfully to do so. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2017, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daca-dreamer-hypothetical-would-you-take-a-fugitive-dreamer-into-your-home/795595/40 "2017-09-07T22:12:04Z")
> [@Lasciel](#): > > Another plausible scenario is that your IP address can be used to find you and that our DoJ seems really ok with very broad applications of ‘information gathering’ warrants for websites hosting conversations by people who are online discussing or planning counter actions to the current administration, and so far they haven’t been entirely reined in. > > If you are already on a list by incriminating yourself online, you won’t be a very good hiding place later. If enough people do the right thing and stand up proudly to do so, the government will eventually back down. I’m a single woman living alone and I’d be perfectly fine secreting DREAMERS who’ve been tricked by a craven, hypocritical and petty White House who told them a scant few months ago they’re safe from prosecution while pandering to a racist base all along. In my eyes, breaking a bad law does not make them a criminal. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daca-dreamer-hypothetical-would-you-take-a-fugitive-dreamer-into-your-home/795595.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daca-dreamer-hypothetical-would-you-take-a-fugitive-dreamer-into-your-home/795595.md?page=3)