{"id":2457564,"date":"2020-04-23T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-23T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/?p=324800"},"modified":"2020-04-23T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-04-23T06:00:00","slug":"guest-commentary-we-cant-afford-to-wait-its-time-to-protect-daca-recipients","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/guest-commentary-we-cant-afford-to-wait-its-time-to-protect-daca-recipients\/","title":{"rendered":"Guest commentary: We can\u2019t afford to wait: It\u2019s time to protect DACA recipients"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText DropCap\">Sadly, it\u2019s no secret that our state and nation are facing immense uncertainty amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. For myself and the nearly 15,000 Coloradan Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program recipients like me, this season of uncertainty is only exacerbated due to the looming Supreme Court decision which will determine our fate in the U.S.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">These compounding issues are burdensome, because while our state has made many strides in its support for the immigrant community, before and during this ongoing crisis, there is still so much more to be done.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">When I was 9 years old, my family and I came from Mexico to Colorado. Being undocumented, however, posed many challenges. Thankfully, the DACA program established in 2012 allowed me to apply for and receive deportation protections and work authorizations, giving me the opportunity to finish college and alleviating many other obstacles.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Unfortunately, in 2017, the Trump administration terminated the DACA program. Since then, lawsuits have temporarily preserved the program in a limited manner.<\/p>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col\">\n<div class=\"row at-donation at-donation-mobile p-0\">\n<div class=\"col-xl-4 p-2\">\n<div data-bg=\"url(https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/AT-logo-white.png)\" class=\"p-0 mt-2 mb-2 h-75 text-center rocket-lazyload\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/AT-logo-white.png\" class=\"logo m-0 p-0 invisible\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-bg=\"url(https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/at-banner-paypal.jpg)\" class=\"col-xl-8 p-3 text-center rocket-lazyload\">\n<h3 class=\"d-inline mr-3\">Support Local Journalism<\/h3>\n<p><button class=\"btn d-inline\" type=\"button\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/donate\/?utm_source=article&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_campaign=donation&amp;utm_term=&amp;utm_content=mid-article\">Donate<\/a><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">These injunctions made their way to the U.S. Supreme Court, and justices heard arguments on the case, which will determine the program\u2019s future in November. The court is still issuing opinions, meaning a ruling determining the fate of the thousands of DACA recipients living across the country could still come at any time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Thanks to DACA, after graduating from a Colorado college, I became a Denver-area Spanish teacher and now work to support and advocate for our immigrant community every day. Recently, I was also appointed to the board of trustees at Metropolitan State University of Denver by Gov. Jared Polis, becoming the first undocumented person to be named to a state board.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">As evidenced by my story, DACA has provided myself and other young immigrants who came to the U.S. as children with the opportunity to create lives for ourselves and our families. All without the threat of deportation \u2014 for now.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Should the Supreme Court rule against the program without permanent legislative protections in place, we will be at risk of deportation. In addition to these fears, DACA recipients also are grappling with the added burden of renewing their protections and U.S. Customs and Immigration Services (USCIS) office closures due to COVID-19. Like our fellow Americans, many DACA recipients are also facing job insecurity, greater financial strain, and loved ones at risk of harm.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">This comes as Acting Director of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Matt Albence has confirmed that the Department of Homeland Security is preparing to deport Dreamers if the Supreme Court ends DACA.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Terminating the DACA program and deporting Dreamers like me would be an unquestioned disaster and humanitarian tragedy. Communities would be torn apart. Families would be broken. And our economy would suffer \u2014 all at a time when we should be coming together in response to the coronavirus pandemic and when we\u2019ll need Dreamers\u2019 contributions more than ever.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">While we anxiously await the Supreme Court\u2019s decision, it is important to prepare.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">For DACA recipients, this means renewing your status while you can.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">We don\u2019t know what the future may hold, so I encourage other DACA recipients to consult with an attorney about renewing your DACA status if you are eligible. For additional information and resources, I recommend you visit <a href=\"http:\/\/www.InformedImmigrant.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">http:\/\/www.InformedImmigrant.com<\/a><i class=\"fas fa-external-link-alt\"><\/i>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">For community and business leaders, this means supporting the DACA recipients around you by encouraging them to renew and calling on our elected officials to act.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Dreamers are teachers like myself. They\u2019re also small business owners, manufacturers, health care professionals and more. If the nearly 15,000 DACA recipients in Colorado were removed, our state would lose the nearly $60 million in state and local taxes that we pay annually and $527 million in annual spending.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Gov. Polis is leading the way in standing up for our state\u2019s Dreamers during this crisis and I thank him for his efforts. In late March, he sent a letter calling for the automatic renewal of DACA protections for program recipients whose status expires this year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">But to address this once and for all, Congress must pass permanent legislative protections for Dreamers. Last year, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the bipartisan American Dream and Promise Act and now it\u2019s the Senate\u2019s job to act, including Colorado\u2019s own Senators Michael Bennet and Cory Gardner who have previously pledged their support for Dreamers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">With an imminent ruling from the Supreme Court hanging over Dreamers\u2019 heads and the COVID-19 uncertainty, DACA recipients urgently need to renew their status and Congress must pass permanent protections. It\u2019s what\u2019s best for Colorado, especially during this time of crisis.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Tagline\">Marissa Molina is the Colorado state director of FWD.us, which is a bipartisan political organization that addresses immigration and criminal justice issues. She is also a DACA recipient.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/opinion\/guest-commentary-we-cant-afford-to-wait-its-time-to-protect-daca-recipients\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sadly, it\u2019s no secret that our state and nation are facing immense uncertainty amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. For myself and the nearly 15,000 Coloradan Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program recipients like me, this season of uncertainty is only exacerbated due to the looming Supreme Court decision which will determine our fate in the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2457564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-18 00:46:16","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley&#039;s Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2457564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2457564"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2457564\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2457564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2457564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2457564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}