J. Antonio Rodriguez is the lead in the national tour of Broadway’s hit Hadestown. The 26-year-old performer was brought into the U.S. from Mexico at age 2.

Rodriguez spoke about the parallels between his character, Orpheus, and his own life.

“Orpheus’ journey as a naive boy to a man that has to be a voice for the voiceless, is how I felt in my journey as a DACA recipient and as a dreamer,” Rodriguez said.

That journey spans the same two decades in which the so-called Dream Act has failed to pass in Congress.

“It’s so tiring to be treated as second-class, or to feel like a second-class citizen and to be used as political pawns. It is, quite frankly, infuriating,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez had to stop performing on March 13 because his employment authorization expired. Renewals of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program are being delayed as the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services prioritizes work permits for other migrants.

“You have 600,000 people in my situation that want nothing but to work. We literally pay to work every two years for the application fee, for legal fees,” Rodriguez said.

That’s all without the right to vote, but while paying taxes. After weeks of anguish and sending letters to Oklahoma elected officials and the White House, he received notification of his renewal minutes before this interview with NY1.

“I was lucky for it to get approved today. What’s going to happen in two years? What’s going to happen tomorrow?” Rodriguez asked.

Despite the lingering uncertainty of his immigration status, he credits producers and the theater community for standing with him.

“You always hear that — it’s a business, it’s a business, it’s about the money. While that may be true for some productions, I really do feel like I was so valued that they were willing to fight tooth and nail for me. And that has meant the world, truly,” Rodriguez said.