February 18, 2023
How DACA Helped This Student Achieve His Dreams
By Lisa Herforth-Hebbert
Born in Uganda to Pakistani parents, Fahad Paryani came to the US at the age of 3. Because of DACA, he’s now a full-time medical researcher at Columbia University.
By Jordan Coll
EDITOR’S NOTE: The names of several persons mentioned in this article have been changed in order to protect their identity.
When Fahad Paryani was 13, he wanted to sign up for a science boot camp. All he needed was his parents’ signatures to prove his family was eligible for a scholarship only offered to low-income households. Instead, he found out two things: He wouldn’t attend the boot camp and he was undocumented.
“I never knew that it was such a big deal,” he said. “Like, ‘This is weird and people are making such a big fuss about this. I guess I can’t go to the science camp.’” He needed to know more. Born in Uganda to Pakistani parents, he arrived in the United States with them in March 2001 at the age of 3. He has vague memories of a guard dog who would watch over him and his family while living in Uganda, but not much else of that time. “I don’t even remember being on a plane.”
He and his parents stayed with his cousin, aunt, and uncle in Atlanta, Ga., for a few months. The family of three was squeezed into one living room. They were starting from scratch. Eventually, his father, Asif Paryani, found work at a local Shell Gas Station and the family moved to an apartment complex called La Vista Crossings. Paryani would grow up in Atlanta.
