New York, NY—Tomorrow marks the twelve-year anniversary of the announcement of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
For more than a decade, the program has been a lifeline for over 835,000 DACA recipients who arrived in the United States at a young age for a chance to build out their future.
Year after year, the DACA program has provided temporary relief and opportunities for hundreds of thousands and has faced numerous legal challenges, including the most recent one at the 5th Circuit Court. The outcome of that Court’s decision could potentially lead to the elimination of DACA, destabilizing 31,000 New Yorkers’ lives while pushing them into the shadows.
Now, as DACA continues to be under threat, it’s long overdue for Washington to provide permanent relief for DACA recipients who have contributed to the social, cultural, and economic fabric of the United States.
Diana Rodriguez Davila, Senior Communications Associate, New York Immigration Coalition:
“Across the country, DACA empowered recipients like myself, enabling us to build meaningful futures, pursue educational opportunities, and contribute to our communities. With DACA, it granted me the opportunity to achieve significant milestones that I never thought possible. I received my Master’s degree, developed my professional career, and purchased my first car. It filled me with hope that I could achieve legal status in the only place that I have ever known as home through hard work and persistence. But now that hope is fading away. As the legality of DACA continues to be dragged through courts, the fate of the program is in jeopardy. It feels unfair and unnecessarily cruel that I could be ripped away from my family and home when Congress could take action to protect DACA recipients like me by providing a pathway to citizenship.”