Thanks to President Obama's recent executive action on immigration, today millions of immigrants would have been able to apply for relief. Sadly the Republican Party has blocked comprehensive immigration reform and the expansion of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is now caught up in the courts, along with a program known as Deferred Action for Parental Accountability (DAPA) — which could shield parents of U.S. citizens from deportation.

Republicans remain eager to deploy every maneuver they can to deny undocumented immigrants like myself peace of mind. Whether it is denying us driver's licenses, in-state tuition, or other opportunities that would facilitate the contributions of undocumented immigrants to this great country, the Republican Party continues to put speed bumps on our path.

And their presidential candidates aren't doing so great when it comes to Latino outreach and talking to our communities. Late last month in Puerto Rico, Jeb Bush said that he understands what it means to live the immigrant experience because his wife is an immigrant and his children are bilingual and bicultural. As an undocumented immigrant, I struggle to comprehend what Bush was saying. The immigrant experience that he perceives is vastly different from my reality.

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Juan Escalante is a graduate student at Florida State University and a DREAMer. He blogs on immigrant rights at the Huffington Post and has volunteered for Democratic political campaigns.