DACA recipient: 'I ask you to defend DACA alongside me because it has helped your community grow'

Daily Kos Staff

Tuesday August 15, 2017 · 8:51 AM PDT

2017/08/15 · 08:51

Screen_Shot_2017-08-15_at_8.49.29_AM.png — Ciriac, DACA recipient

As cities across the nation take to the streets in support of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) today, immigrant youth are also using social media to share what the program means to them and their families. These testimonies have never been more important, because while DACA is five years strong today, it is also under threat: “a coalition of states led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is threatening legal action to kill the policy, if the Trump administration doesn’t do it first,” writes immigration reporter Elise Foley.

DACA not only allows immigrant youth to work legally and apply for a driver’s license, it gives them temporary relief from deportation. If DACA is rescinded by the Trump administration, the consequences will be nothing short of devastating.

“Despite DACA only allowing temporary relief to me, I appreciate it because it removed the burden of my status from me and allowed me to work and contribute to society,” DACA recipient Deyanira, a student from Austin, Texas, told the New York Times for their “American Dreamer” series, which highlights the stories of young Dreamers. “If DACA were removed, we would have to return to the shadows and live life in constant fear.”

Upending DACA stands reduce the nation’s gross domestic product by hundreds of billions and uproot 800,000 immigrant youth who have built lives, families, homes, careers, and communities here. They’re American in every single way but on a piece of paper, with some arriving here so young that they remember no other place but the United States as their home. Defending and continuing DACA isn’t just an economic issue; it’s an American issue, and a moral imperative.

Ciriac Alvarez, a DACA recipient and immigrant rights organizer from Utah, shared what the program means to her and why it must continue:

There are #DACA recipients who are teachers, that means they each made a difference in their classrooms of 20 or more.
Ã¢ÂÂ Ciriac Alvarez (@ciriacisbeth) August 15, 2017

I worked with over 120 HS juniors and seniors to help them graduate & get to college last year. I am a #DACA recipient.
Ã¢ÂÂ Ciriac Alvarez (@ciriacisbeth) August 15, 2017

To living without the constant fear of deportation, to buying property and contributing to our communities the way we always hoped to do.
Ã¢ÂÂ Ciriac Alvarez (@ciriacisbeth) August 15, 2017

Research has found that six percent of DACA recipients started their own business after receiving DACA. Twenty-one percent of immigrant youth purchased their first car thanks to being able to work legally through their permits, and 12 percent purchased their first home. Through these contributions to local and state economies, DACA recipients are cemented in communities. They deserve a chance to stay, and keeping DACA alive—while ultimately passing permanent relief through the DREAM Act and comprehensive immigration reform—is something we must all support and fight for.

“Today I ask you to #DefendDACA alongside me because it has helped your community grow and prosper too all around the US,” Ciriac continued.

You can help support Ciriac and 800,000 immigrant youth by finding a rally to attend today in support of DACA and Temporary Protected Status, another immigration program under threat, near you through the “Defend DACA” website, as well as sending tweets in support using the #DefendDACA hashtag.

Ã°ÂÂÂ CALL your elected officials today & ask they #DefendDACA! #HereToStay

Ã¢ÂÂÃ¯Â¸Â 888-542-8298 pic.twitter.com/pFXI2xOkUf
Ã¢ÂÂ United We Dream (@UNITEDWEDREAM) August 15, 2017

DACA recipient: 'I ask you to defend DACA alongside me because it has helped your community grow'

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