This week marks the 12th anniversary of DACA, the executive action that President Obama announced in 2012 allowing immigrant youth to legally work and stay in the US without fear of deportation. A lot has happened with DACA since then — after Donald Trump tried to end the program in 2017, DACA has not been allowed to take in new applicants, and the program has slowly been shrinking. While current DACA recipients are still allowed to renew their status every two years, many are afraid that this part of the program will also soon be gone for good.
Today, Dreamers, DACA recipients, members of Congress, and other advocates gathered at the Capitol to both celebrate the anniversary of DACA and highlight the precariousness of the situation. They called on members of Congress and the Biden Administration to pass permanent protections for immigrant youth.
As our own Yuna Oh, Research Associate at America’s Voice, said today:
Our immigration system is broken, and further inaction from the Biden administration and Congress will make it worse. Like the generations of immigrants before me who have been essential to the fabric of this nation, as Langston Hughes said, I too, sing America. We are your neighbors, co-workers, family, and friends. And just like every other American, we want to be happy and safe in the country we call home.
Read more of Oh’s remarks here, and view some of the photos and videos from today below:
Earlier today, I joined @AmericasVoice, @UNITEDWEDREAM, and @FWDus for a press conference ahead of the 12th anniversary of DACA. #HomeIsHere, and Dreamers are a vital part of our communities. It's time for a path to citizenship. pic.twitter.com/69SZco4v2E
— Rep. Sylvia Garcia (@RepSylviaGarcia) June 12, 2024
Full video of @yunaoh08 telling her story at today's #HomeIsHere rally: "I, along with my family and other DACA recipients, should be able to feel safe in the place we call home, free from the ever present shadow that we are one policy away from being stripped from loved ones." pic.twitter.com/jqPghhTPyx
— America's Voice (@AmericasVoice) June 12, 2024
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