For Immediate Release: June 12, 2026
Contact: [email protected]
Read Gaby Pacheco’s reflections on DACA and visit to Obama Presidential Center on Substack HERE; check out TheDream.US resource on DACA delays at DreamsDelayed.com; and on Monday’s DACA anniversary, visit the relaunched RemembertheDreamers.org website with stories and higher ed perspective
Washington, DC – Monday, June 15th is the anniversary of the announcement of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program – one of the most popular and successful immigration programs in U.S. history. Despite the many stories and statistics that document how DACA transformed lives and strengthened the nation, Dreamers with and without DACA are currently facing increased threats, anxieties, and uncertainty (be on the lookout for TheDream.US Alumni Survey report – to be released on Monday – which will offer more details on the current lives and reflections of Dreamers).
Last week, TheDream.US President and CEO Gaby Pacheco traveled to Chicago and visited the Obama Presidential Center, including its exhibits detailing Gaby’s role in the Trail of Dreams and the fight for DACA and the Dream Act. In a Substack post, “Still Walking,” Gaby reflects on DACA, her visit to Chicago, and implications for the current moment.
Read the full Substack piece online here and find key excerpts from Gaby Pacheco, TheDream.US President and CEO’s reflections on DACA and her visit to the Obama Presidential Center below:
“DACA sits in that timeline as both a historic achievement and a reminder of unfinished promises. I will always be grateful that President Obama acted when so many young people were living in fear. DACA changed my life. It changed millions of lives. But gratitude and disappointment can exist at the same time.
For more than twenty years, Dreamers have shared our stories, organized, marched, studied, worked, paid taxes, built businesses, and served our communities while waiting for Congress to do what it has repeatedly failed to do: provide a permanent solution. Republicans have used us as a political punching bag. Democrats have often used us as a campaign promise. And through it all, millions of lives have remained suspended between hope and uncertainty.
…The question has never been whether immigrants belong in the American story. The question is whether America is willing to fully embrace a story that has always included us.
As I left the museum, I found myself thinking back to the Trail of Dreams in 2010. Every morning, I woke up with aching muscles and excruciating back pain. My feet were covered in blisters. Some days my spirit felt broken. The road ahead seemed impossibly long.
But every morning, I put on my shoes, tied the laces, and kept walking. More than fifteen years later, that is still what this movement requires of us. The road is long. Progress is uneven. The contradictions remain. But we get up. We lace up our shoes. And we keep moving forward. Because our work is not done. It never is.”
TheDream.US recently launched the Dreams Delayed initiative to document the growing toll of DACA renewal delays on Scholars, Alumni, and communities. Through firsthand accounts collected at DreamsDelayed.com and shared through the organization’s new @DACADreamsDelayed storytelling project on social media, Dreamers have described losing jobs, being placed on unpaid leave, postponing educational opportunities, and struggling to support their families while waiting for renewal decisions.
On the Monday anniversary of DACA, TheDream.US, along with the American Council on Education, institutions of higher education and major higher education associations, is relaunching RemembertheDreamers.org – a website created by institutions of higher education, major higher education associations, and allies in the fight to support our Dreamers, and featuring powerful stories of Dreamers.
About TheDream.US
TheDream.US is the nation’s leading organization supporting Dreamers at the intersection of higher education, workforce development, immigration, and advocacy. We’ve awarded over 13,000 scholarships to immigrant youth from 120+ countries and 45 states, with more than 5,000 graduates to date. We partner with close to 80 colleges in 19 states and Washington D.C. to provide scholarships, career support, and access to legal options that help Dreamers break through systemic barriers and achieve social mobility.
Through data, Scholar and Alumni stories, strategic partnerships, and targeted state and local advocacy, we work to expand equitable access to college, professional pathways, and permanent legal status. For more information on TheDream.US, visit www.thedream.us
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