Washington, DC – Ahead of tomorrow’s eleven year anniversary of the announcement of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, America’s Voice reflects on the incredible successes and popularity of DACA while reiterating the call for Republicans to stop obstructing the legislative fix Dreamers and the country sorely need.
For a reminder of DACA’s importance and successes, read this new summary from Gabe Ortiz at the America’s Voice blog, “Despite Legal Challenges Launched By GOP States, Young Immigrants Continue to Thrive Under DACA.”
According to Yuna Oh, Political Associate at America’s Voice:
“Being a DACA recipient gave me the opportunity to receive my bachelor’s degree and to start my career. But despite growing up and living in the U.S. for most of my life, Republicans don’t seem to consider me as an American and want to keep DACA recipients in legal limbo. Their ongoing efforts to end DACA and block a legislative fix would not only harm the economy and result in thousands of people being unemployed, but also would hurt families across America, including the children of DACA recipients and part of mixed status families.”
- Read Yuna Oh’s op-ed in the Baltimore Sun from November 2022: “Despite what judges say, America is my home”
According to Vanessa Cárdenas, Executive Director at America’s Voice:
“Hundreds of thousands of Dreamers have benefited from DACA’s protections and opportunities to build lives, careers, and families in the country they call home. The program has not just strengthened these recipients’ futures, but the country as a whole. We are proud to call DACA recipients our friends, our colleagues, and some of our family members here at America’s Voice and in workplaces and schools across the country.
Yet despite its successes, the futures of Dreamers with and without DACA remains uncertain and in limbo due to Republican efforts to overturn DACA in the courts and Republican efforts to block a legislative fix in Congress. On this DACA anniversary day and every day, we call for lawmakers – especially Republicans blocking progress – to stand with the strong majority of the American public and work to finally deliver a pathway to citizenship for long-settled undocumented immigrants. In the interim and given the stakes, the Biden administration must also be ready to use its executive powers to step in and provide support for Dreamers and the many families and workplaces affected by DACA’s tenuous future.”
