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The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program has changed the lives of thousands of people across the country and the Roaring Fork Valley. Established in 2012, DACA allowed certain qualified young people to apply for and receive work authorization and protection from deportation. DACA not only provides opportunities to earn college degrees, own homes and cars, and get jobs, the program also allows us to live freely, to step out of the shadows and dream.<\/p>\n
In Colorado, DACA has been life-changing for the nearly 15,000 recipients, with positive impacts felt across the state. According to the Center for American Progress, DACA participants contribute more than $59 million in state and local taxes and $113 million in federal taxes. In addition, more than 4,300 DACA recipients in Colorado are working in occupations at the forefront of the COVID-19 response.<\/p>\n
For me, the Roaring Fork Valley has been my home for the past 24 years. I graduated from Glenwood Springs High School in 2004, long before there was in-state tuition for undocumented students and protections under DACA.<\/p>\n
Being a Dreamer, a term used to describe those who came to this country as young children, meant that I would face challenges in college and after. But that never deterred me from working hard. I graduated from Colorado Mountain College with an Associate of Arts degree in 2006, and from the University of Denver in 2010 with a bachelor\u2019s degree in political science and a minor in communications.<\/p>\n
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