Six months ago, President Trump broke a commitment when he ended DACA, a program supported by a majority of Americans and which gives 800,000 young people a chance to achieve their dreams. Since then, young immigrants from across the country have pushed back against a Congress and a President that would rather use their lives as bargaining chips than pass a permanent legislative solution that allows them to live and work here freely.
DACA, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, is an Obama-era effort that gave temporary legal protections to people brought to this country by their parents as children. But DACA is more than a four-letter acronym.
DACA is the people behind the policy. The Humans of DACA are people like Diana, Ivan, Jung Woo and Paola. They have been leading the fight to uphold DACA and defend their families and communities against indiscriminate deportation. Over the last few months, the Fair Immigration Reform Movement has shared their stories as a testament to the undeniable contributions they make to our country.
Diana, a Harvard graduate, remembers her mother’s joy to watch her daughter walk down the graduation stage. Ivan wants to use his education in nutrition and dietetics to help create healthier communities. Jung Woo describes how a bike ride across America helped him build connections to people he may have never met otherwise. While Paola depicts the harsh reality immigrants faces when her son goes to visit family in Bolivia that she hasn’t seen in 15 years because her status does not allow her to travel.
On March 5, these Humans of DACA will hit the streets with thousands of others from across the country to demand that Congress pass the DREAM Act, a law that provides a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Young immigrants have been waiting far too long for a permanent legislative solution. Their voices and stories matter.