Two contestants on RuPaul’s Drag Race are making history as the first DACA recipients to compete. During last night’s episode, drag queens Geneva Karr and Xunami Muse had a heart-to-heart on the show about the uncertain reality that people in the DACA program face.
The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program was put in place by the Obama administration to allow undocumented children, or “Dreamers,” to live and work in the U.S. Approximately 81 percent of Dreamers are from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. About 0.05 percent of DACA recipients are from Panama.
Geneva Karr is the first Mexican-born drag queen to compete in the main series. She moved with her family to Brownsville, TX. Xunami Muse is the drag daughter of past competitor Kandy Muse. She was born in Panama and later relocated to New York City. “DACA is the reason why I’m able to legally work and be on Drag Race,” Xunami Muse said.
Geneva Karr and Xunami Muse got emotional about how the future of the DACA program hangs in the balance. In September of last year, a Texas-based U.S. District Court ruled that DACA was unlawful. Though protections still remain in place for DACA recipients, that status could change without an established path to citizenship.
“We’re kind of like in limbo,” Xunami Muse said. “We’re legally here, but we don’t have the full rights of a citizen.”
“When it comes to DACA, we’re kind of always not 100 percent feel[ing] safe because at any time they can be like, ‘You know what? We’re going to take this away from you,’” Geneva Karr added. “It’s very scary to think that could be a possibility.”
Geneva Karr and Xunami showed great pride in being Dreamers who made it to Drag Race. Many fans online applauded them for having this important conversation on the show.
This season has plenty of Latina representation with Morphine Love Dion, Megami, and Mirage as well. Before her elimination, Mirage, who is Mexican-American and Apache, talked about being proud of performing in drag at the first Indigenous Pride Month in Las Vegas.
RuPaul’s Drag Race airs on Friday nights on MTV.