# @natgeo on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/CLmmGLpDkgH
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/11685967-natgeo-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/thumbnails/905d0e1129.jpg
- **Posted:** 2021-02-22T17:34:50.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** National Geographic (@NatGeo) — https://gondola.cc/NatGeo

## Caption

Photos by Karla Gachet kchete77 / “If we are not willing to sacrifice our social lives for the sake of our residents, it’s just so selfish... their lives literally depend on us.” - Marivic Danino Grijalva

Marivic, 24, is an essential worker, part of the dining staff at a retirement community in Altadena, California. Her mom went to the U.S. for a better life, leaving Marivic and her two siblings in Mexico with family. During that time, she and her siblings were often physically punished. She reunited with her mom when she was 11, and grew up helping her sell food in downtown L.A. Marivic became a mother during her senior year in high school. Around that time, her family moved back to Mexico. She felt alone and trapped, with a little baby and no papers to survive on her own. When DACA* was approved, it was her way out of an abusive relationship. “It was a game-changer for me as far as the way I felt about myself." She now lives with her husband and two kids.

Family photo (courtesy Marivic Danino Grijalva) of Marivic (left) and her cousin, around the time Marivic came to the U.S.; Marivic delivers food to residents at the retirement community in their rooms. They are not allowed to eat in the dining area because of COVID-19; portrait of Marivic at her home in Baldwin Park, California; a resident at the retirement community; and (last image) Marivic has a second job she does from home. 

*Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) protects some undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children from deportation. President Trump’s attempt to end DACA was blocked by the Supreme Court last year. President Biden signed an executive order to preserve the program. This project was created by kchete77 and ivankphoto with the support of the insidenatgeo Covid-19 Emergency Fund for Journalists. 
#DACA #Dreamers #HomeIsHere

Check out Nat Geo's link in bio for more on this story.

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## Tags

daca, homeishere, dreamers

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