DACA Digest: September 1, 2017
Curated news from the DACA Time team
Each week, the DACA Time team provides you with curated news and stories related to DACA and immigration to help raise awareness of the problems we’re trying to solve and the people we’re trying to help.
Raising awareness is a crucial component of social impact:
- How can you change something no one knows anything about?
- What support systems already exist for the folks we’re trying to help?
- Where do we see examples of success that inspire us?
- Perhaps most importantly, what victories, no matter how tiny, can we celebrate this week?
Beyond the social enterprise space, beyond those directly impacted by DACA and its far-too-often arduous application process, answering these questions helps us better understand how our actions are all connected.
DACA’s Uncertain Future
The threat to DACA remains very real and unresolved. Despite rumors that the program’s end is imminent or has already occurred, DACA remains intact as of this writing.
Nevertheless, allies, community leaders, and support organizations are preparing for the worst with plans underway across the country to assist the 800,000 Dreamers whose lives could be irrevocably altered by the politics surrounding this issue.
Immigrant Legal Resource Center has put together this guide offering advice on what to do should DACA end and what DACA-recipients should consider doing now to prepare should the unthinkable come to pass:
Amidst the uncertainty surrounding DACA as an executive action, there still exists a legislative path to protecting Dreamers and conferring upon them the same benefits.
The bicameral, bipartisan DREAM Act represents one such path, and, while his method faces many hurdles, at least one member of congress is pressing the issue on how to secure a better future for current DACA recipients.
Regardless, Dreamers across the country are the victims of extreme and justified anxiety regarding the fate of DACA. How can one decide what path to take in life when one path may be completely shuttered at a moments notice?
“I feel like I cannot make a decision about my life because it could go either way.”
And yet many Dreamers refuse to return to the shadows in the face of this adversity, instead speaking out, such as with this open letter to Donald Trump from Juan Escalante.
Support Continues
The volume of the voices supporting DACA and Dreamers has certainly been dialed up this week in response to the fear and uncertainty, with a coalition of state, local, and community leaders collectively signing a letter supporting DACA and Dreamers. There are literally hundreds of supporters standing #withDreamers to date:
Tech giants like Microsoft have taken a public stance:
Along with scores of entrepreneurs and business leaders who have signed another open letter:
Entire school systems are speaking out:
Studies and analyses continue to be published demonstrating, in no uncertain terms, the socioeconomic benefits of DACA beyond the overwhelming humanitarian reasons to keep it intact:
Proactive protests are underway across the nation:
And letters of support to news outlets reach millions of readers every day.
The DACA Time team, of course, proudly adds our voice to the chorus of those decrying the potential of revocation and urging that we collectively defend DACA throughout this troubling time:
Please know that, in spite of the uncertainty the government of the United States has thrust upon you, support is out there. If DACA Time can help in any way, please reach out to any member of our team or connect with us on Facebook.
