WASHINGTON, D.C. — “It’s DACA; it’s good.”
Those were the words Giovana Oaxaca wrote to her staff, hands trembling, when she heard the Supreme Court ruled in favor of recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA.
“I prayed for this moment for you and your brother and here we are,” was the only sentence the 23-year-old DACA recipient’s mother could muster in between tears, as the two rejoiced in this small victory in a battle that is far from over.
On June 18, the U.S. Supreme Court in a 5-4 ruling said President Donald Trump could not stop the program with his 2017 executive order. DACA protects about 700,000 young people who qualify for the program from deportation and allows them to work, go to college, get health insurance and obtain a driver’s license.
The program was established by President Barrack Obama with an executive order in 2012 to allow young people brought into the country illegally as minors by their parents to stay in the United States.
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TheDream.US is the nation’s largest college access and success program for immigrant youth, having provided more than 5,000 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.