For Immediate Release: July 21, 2025
Contact: Fermin Vasquez at [email protected]
New Op-Ed: “Targeting Dreamers like Caroline Dias Goncalves is not a mistake. It’s the policy”
Washington, DC – In a new op-ed in the Deseret News (UT), TheDream.US Chief of Staff and Government Affairs Susan Collins writes about the recent detention of University of Utah nursing student and TheDream.US Scholar Caroline Dias Goncalves.
As Collins writes, in “Targeting Dreamers like Caroline Dias Goncalves is not a mistake. It’s the policy”, Caroline’s story is “not an isolated one,” and states, “Instead of more detentions and deportations, America’s interests and values are better served by delivering education, enforcement protections, and permanent legal status for Dreamers. Caroline and countless others in her shoes should not have to live in fear or with tenuous futures in the only home many have ever known.” Of note, new polling from Gallup shows that the American public strongly endorses such policies for Dreamers, finding that 85% of Americans support a policy that would allow Dreamers a way to become U.S. citizens, including 71% of Republicans.
Read the full op-ed in The Deseret News from TheDream.US Chief of Staff and Government Affairs Susan Collins, “Targeting Dreamers like Caroline Dias Goncalves is not a mistake. It’s the policy,” and find key excerpts below:
“Despite what this administration says—and despite what the public might believe—Dreamers are immigration enforcement targets of the federal government. Young immigrants who have grown up in this nation are being detained and deported. And it has to stop.
President Trump has often claimed to support Dreamers—the young people brought to the U.S. as children, raised here, and deeply woven into the fabric of American life. He’s said, “We’re going to have to do something with them,” and has at times expressed openness to a legislative solution that would allow Dreamers to become legal residents. But here’s the truth: if President Trump believes in Dreamers’ futures in America, his administration is not following the wishes of the President. Because in practice, Dreamers are being swept up in the same brutal, indiscriminate dragnet supposedly meant for so-called ‘dangerous criminals.’
…Take Caroline Dias Goncalves as just one example. She was pulled over in Mesa County, Colorado. The officer knew her story—knew she had come to the U.S. as a child of just seven years old, was raised in Utah, and was now studying to become a nurse at the University of Utah as a TheDream.US Scholar. She had no criminal record. He didn’t even issue a traffic ticket. But he still flagged her for ICE—likely in violation of Colorado law. And ICE detained her anyway. They detained her despite the fact that she had a valid driver’s license, a Social Security number, a work permit, and a long, clear record of trying to adjust her status legally under this country’s broken immigration laws.
She was thrown into ICE detention in Aurora, Colorado, and treated like a criminal. She spent more than two harrowing weeks behind bars. She had to pay a bond to be released. And even after release, she was not made whole. They kept part of her commissary money. They refused to return her identity documents—including her driver’s license and Social Security card. And worst of all? They strapped a blinking, beeping GPS ankle monitor to her. It needs to be charged several times a day. It’s bulky and clumsy. It’s humiliating. And it is a constant reminder that our government considers her a threat.
Not a college student. Not a future nurse. Not a beloved daughter and friend. Not the young woman who loves to listen to country music and wear cowboy boots. But a criminal. This is not a glitch in the system. This is the system.
… unfortunately, Caroline’s story is not an isolated one. Other Dreamers – including TheDream.US Scholars like Ximena Arias-Cristobal – are also being targeted, detained, and even deported.
Keep in mind, Dreamers have grown up in America – at TheDream.US, our Scholars’ average age of arrival to the United States is just four years old. When given the opportunity, Dreamers have thrived: in K-12 Schools, in college, and as teachers, nurses, engineers, entrepreneurs, and Fortune 500 employees, as our thousands of alumni make clear. In the process, they make our communities and our economy stronger.
Yet instead of being able to study, succeed and contribute to this nation, Dreamers are now being targeted. They are being punished. And they are being harmed—on purpose.
It doesn’t keep us safer. It doesn’t make our communities stronger. It serves no national purpose. It destroys young lives. It is cruel. It is immoral. And it is a stain on this country that claims to value hard work, fairness and opportunity.
This has to stop.
Instead of more detentions and deportations, America’s interests and values are better served by delivering education, enforcement protections, and permanent legal status for Dreamers. Caroline and countless others in her shoes should not have to live in fear or with tenuous futures in the only home many have ever known.”
TheDream.US is the nation’s largest and leading organization supporting Dreamers at the intersection of higher education, workforce development, immigration, and advocacy. We provide scholarships, career support, and access to legal options that help immigrant youth break through systemic barriers, achieve social mobility, and drive change in their communities. Through our powerful Scholar data and strategic partnerships, we work to expand equitable access to college and career success, and advocate so Dreamers can fully contribute to the country they call home. For more information on TheDream.US, visit www.thedream.us
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