On its 12th anniversary, DACA is on the ropes as election looms

Monarch butterflies, passionate activists, and “we’re here to stay” signs have become emblematic of marches and protests that call on presidential administrations to defend DACA Recipients of deportation during the last 12 years.

Saturday marks the 12th anniversary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which was established by the Obama administration in 2012.

“I’ve never felt so powerful. I’ve never felt so humble. I’ve never felt so happy,” said Greisa Martinez Rosas, director of United We Dream, as she recalled receiving the news of DACA’s announcement in 2012.

At the age of 7, Rosas crossed the Rio Grande River, on the border between the USA and Mexico, together with her parents. She lived as an undocumented immigrant in Texas and later went on to work as a community organizer, rallying support to call on the Obama administration to protect Dreamers.

After DACA was implemented, Rosas said he waited about a year out of fear to apply. By providing him with personal information, she believed that immigration authorities would deport her undocumented mother.

“I remember having my work permit in hand,” Rosas said. “It was a little anticlimactic because it’s just a piece of paper. It’s a piece of plastic, and I had the same feeling when I got my Social Security number. It’s just numbers on a piece of paper, but they mean a lot.”

Rosas’ work permit allowed her to leave her job as a car salesman to become a full-time advocate for the nonprofit immigrant advocacy group United We Dream.

It’s work she still maintains 12 years later, calling for legal protections for DACA recipients since the program was declared illegal in 2021, and its future remains uncertain amid an ongoing legal fight.

Like Rosas, Astrid Silva, a Dreamer with the immigrant advocacy group Dream Big Nevada, became a face of the DACA movement as a community organizer starting in 2009 – working closely with elected officials to advocate for the needs of those who were brought in. to the US as children. .

“I still remember to this day the excitement, and it was all this optimism about what will come with this,” Silva recalls on the day DACA was announced.

Silva was 4 years old when he illegally crossed the US-Mexico border with his parents and remembers from a young age not sharing the privileges of his peers.

“I remember dreading my 18th birthday so much,” Silva said, recalling that he was unable to obtain an official government ID or license like most of his friends.

Now, Silva reminds so-called “Dreamers” not to take their status for granted.

“My request is that we not give up, that we not settle for a temporary period of two years”, says Silva. “We need to get the permanent solution.”

Rosas and Silva are just two at the end 500,000 people who actively benefit from the DACA policy today. They help make up the handful of Dreamers who have organized their communities for more than 12 years, delivering their appeals to Washington lawmakers.

“No matter what the outcome of the election is, I’m here to stay,” Rosas said. “This is my home and I have to keep fighting.”

With immigration among the top issues for voters heading into the November elections, both Republicans and Democrats are campaigning on their proposed policies regarding undocumented immigrants and the future of DACA.

President Biden last week issued an executive order restrict asylum claims for undocumented immigrants along the southern border. Sources also told CBS News Friday that the Biden administration is preparing an immigration aid program that would offer work permits and deportation protections to unauthorized immigrants married to US citizens, as long as they have lived in the US for at least 10 years.

These sources said the Biden administration is also preparing a second plan that would streamline the process for Dreamers and other undocumented immigrants to apply for exemptions that would make it easier for them to obtain temporary visas, such as H-1B visas for high-skilled workers.

Ahead of the 12th anniversary of DACA, the Biden-Harris campaign released a Spanish-language ad titled “Here to stay“in swing states. Includes a Dreamers compilation contrasting Mr. Biden’s immigration record with that of former President Donald Trump.

The campaign also published a second ad on Friday titled “Next to the dreamers“, in which Vice President Kamala Harris underscores her commitment to protecting Dreamers while condemning Trump’s immigration policies.

“The former president when it comes to immigration, man, his policies are cruel and ineffective,” says Harris.

In 2017, when Trump announced the end of DACA, he issued a statement saying he “does not support punishing children, most of whom are now adults, for the actions of their parents. But we must also recognize that we are a nation of opportunity.” . because we are a nation of laws.”

At the time, Trump said he hoped to work with Congress to resolve immigration issues. Now, as part of his re-election campaign, Trump Prometheus to begin mass deportations upon taking office.

“We will begin the largest domestic deportation operation in the history of our country,” Trump told his crowd on June 6 during a Turning Point Action town hall in Arizona.

Mass deportation proposals currently have bipartisan support among registered voters, according to the latest CBS News Poll. A majority of nearly six in 10 voters say they would favor, in principle, a new government program to deport all undocumented immigrants living illegally in the United States. A similarly sized majority would prompt local authorities to try to identify those living in the US illegally.

– Camilo Montoya-Gálvez and Anthonly Salvanto contributed to this report.