For Immediate Release: September 3, 2020
Contact: Michael Earls at [email protected]
Three DREAMers’ Op-Eds Make Powerful Case for Permanent Protections and Opportunities for DREAMers
Washington, DC – Three powerful recent op-eds from rising, current, and graduated TheDream.US Scholars highlight DREAMers’ anxieties about the Trump administration’s continued efforts to end or restrict access to the DACA program and drive home the importance of permanent protections and opportunities for DREAMers.
In the Newark Star-Ledger and NJ.com, incoming Rutgers University first year student and new TheDream.US Scholar Camila Krzyzanowski de Jesus wrote about why continued efforts to bar younger DREAMers like her from the DACA program is cruel and counterproductive:
“Keeping Dreamers subject to the cruelty of politicians who want to deny us the chance to live freely in this country makes no sense. We have grown up in the U.S. and already call it our home. At a time that many DACA recipients are using their work authorizations to help keep our country safe and moving forward during the pandemic, it’s the right time for our laws to finally give Dreamers permanent opportunities – both to give younger Dreamers like me the chance to apply into DACA without delay but also to give all Dreamers and our loved ones the chance to become citizens so we can plan our futures with more certainty and fully be a part of this, our country.”
In The Hechinger Report, rising Trinity Washington University senior and current TheDream.US Scholar Ewaoluwa Ogundana wrote about why the Trump administration’s continued efforts to unwind or restrict DACA call for a renewed effort to deliver legislation that will deliver certainty for DREAMers:
“While grateful for DACA, I’ve always known this temporary status was just a minute reflection of the things I could do if I had the full privileges of U.S citizenship. What I really aspire to do is fully participate in the country that’s been my home for majority of my life. I want to plan out my life and my future with more certainty than in two-year increments; and to travel back to Nigeria to see my family again after 17 long years without fear of not being able to return to my home, America.”
In the Arizona Republic, TheDream.US graduate Oscar Hernandez Ortiz, a recent Arizona public school teacher and current Arizona Department of Education Latinx advisory board member, wrote of the uncertainties and anxieties facing DACAmented teachers ahead of a challenging school year:
“Ahead of what promises to be an unprecedented school year, teachers in Arizona and across America are balancing fears and uncertainty with their commitment to educating their students.
For the nearly 15,000 teachers — an estimated 1,000 or more here in Arizona — who rely on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program for their opportunity to work as teachers, these feelings are compounded by the continued efforts to end DACA itself.”
About TheDream.US
TheDream.US is the nation’s largest college access and success program for immigrant youth, having provided more than 6,500 college scholarships to DREAMers at more than 70 partner colleges in 16 states and Washington, DC. We believe that all young Americans, regardless of where they were born, should have the opportunity to get a college education and pursue a meaningful career that contributes to our country’s prosperity.
Read through TheDream.US Scholar story-bank, featuring powerful personal reflections from Scholars about their lives, journeys, and future goals here
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