FWD.us EDITORIAL WRITING
PUBLIC RELATIONS DIVISION
ENTRANTS Anonymous DACA Recipient Nicole Bare Todd Dvorak
STRATEGIES 360
We are Change Makers
SHAPING BUSINESS, POLITICS, AND CULTURE IN THE SPIRIT OF THE WEST.
Project Summary THE CHALLENGE
FWD.us is a not-for-profit organization founded by leaders in the tech industry, including Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates, dedicated to reforming the United States immigration system. FWD.us’ policy objectives include protecting “DREAMers”—young, undocumented immigrants who arrived in the United States as children, many of whom consider the U.S. their true home and the only place they’ve ever known. Through an executive order called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), DREAMers have been allowed to live and work in the U.S. under certain stipulations. After the 2016 election, the DACA program came under fire from opponents and many feared the program would be repealed, revoking the work credentials of nearly a million law-abiding young people and subjecting them to potential deportation. These fears were realized in September 2017. FWD.us turned to S360 for help highlighting local stories of DACA recipients in Idaho, with the intent of demonstrating their positive economic impact and deep ties to their communities.
THE STRATEGY
Strategies 360 leveraged our personal ties in communities across the state to identify a handful of deeply brave DACA recipients willing to participate in media outreach and share their stories with Congressman Raúl Labrador. Strategies 360 secured meetings between representatives of FWD.us, local DREAMers, and the editorial boards of, among others, the Post Register.
THE SUCCESS
The Post Register invited the local DREAMer they met with to work with S360 to author a four-part opinion series on the broken U.S. immigration system. Given the restrictions of the awards category, we have incuded three of those four here. Because this was an effort exclusive to the Post Register, we have simply included those clips. We worked with a local DACA recipient who used a pseudonym, Jorge, to author the series. Together with “Jorge,” we worked to help reveal the local and personal impacts of national public policy, and to demonstrate the complexity of living in the shadows as a DREAMer.
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Guest column: Life before and after DACA A local DACA card holder PUBLICATION: Post Register (Idaho Falls, ID)
DATE: March 22, 2017 Page: A007
SECTION: Opinions Editor's Note: The author is a DACA card holder who grew up in eastern Idaho. Because of the tenuous situation of current DACA residents in this country, the Post Register has granted him anonymity so that he may tell his story. Think about the moments when your life took an enormous and positive turn: maybe the day you met your significant other, the birth of your first child or the day you graduated from college. The day I received my DACA card was like that. DACA stands for "Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals," a program created by executive action in 2012 to allow young, undocumented immigrants like myself to live and legally work in the U.S. without fear of deportation. To qualify, I had to pass an extensive background check, pay a fine, prove that I came to the U.S. before the age of sixteen and show that I capitalized on that opportunity by completing at least a high school education. In my small eastern Idaho community, everyone knew me. My family has roots here dating back to the 1960s, and my parents crossed the border with me when I was eighteen months old. I have never been back; if you've vacationed in Mexico, you have more memories there than I do. Before DACA, I pretended to live in the open, but in actuality, I was constantly hiding. I didn't drive until I was eighteen, when my parents took me to another state to obtain a drivers' license (you can't get one in Idaho if you're undocumented). While some of my high school classmates were courted by colleges with generous financial aid offers, I scraped together a few scholarships that didn't require a social security number on the application. I took a job where I knew I would never be promoted, with a company I hoped would never verify my legal status. I freelanced on the side in hopes of building a career with a future. I hadn't heard anything about the status of my green card application since I'd submitted it nearly twelve years earlier. I understand why some people don't like the way DACA was implemented. They feel that the executive action was a power move by an impatient president; that it sacrificed long-term progress for a short-term win; that it pre-empted Congress passing comprehensive immigration reform. I respect the importance of the lawmaking process, but for thousands of Idahoans like me, our lives were passing, our potential wasted and our hope draining, while some people in Congress played political games with real lives. After 22 years of waiting, scrapping, striving, to piece together a role in my community without the ability to work legally, I knew that my life, and by extension my community, were better off because of the new opportunities open to me. With my DACA card in hand, I almost immediately obtained a different job and then a promotion. I'm completing postsecondary schooling and will soon be licensed in my field. Some things haven't changed since my DACA card arrived. I still can't apply for federal financial aid. I can't visit family in Mexico or travel outside U.S. borders. To those members of Congress, including Idaho's own, who are working toward real and permanent change, I thank you. I don't want to live like this forever either. All I ask is to not be forced back into the shadows while we wait for Congress to agree on a better system for all Americansincluding those of us who aren't citizens.
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Guest column: Looking for a path forward A local DACA card holder PUBLICATION: Post Register (Idaho Falls, ID)
DATE: May 20, 2017 Page: A006
SECTION: Opinions In March, eight House Republicans introduced the Remembering America's Children Act, intended to provide a pathway to citizenship for young people like me. As with DACA, the program that currently allows me to live and legally work in the U.S. without fear of deportation, this new bill applies only to undocumented immigrants who entered the U.S. prior to the age of sixteen, who pass a background check, and who have graduated high school. The RAC Act proposes to do what the DACA executive order couldn't: Provide me a way out of this limbo state, with access to the full rights and responsibilities of American citizenship. In order to be granted this opportunity, I must demonstrate my willingness and ability to stay employed, serve honorably in the military, or graduate from an institute of higher education over a fiveyear period. The bill's passage would be a victory for me and others in my situation. But its introduction also points to one of the defining flaws in our immigration system: currently, there is no way for many undocumented immigrants to "get right" with the law. I've heard people ask why undocumented immigrants don't simply return to their home countries and apply for a visa to enter legally. It's the "get in the back of the line" argument. For most immigrants, going "home" is even more untenable than continuing to live in the shadows here in the U.S. Depending on how long you have been here illegally, you're subject to three or tenyear bars from reentering the United States once you leave. For the millions of undocumented immigrants with citizen spouses and children, separating for that long is a nonstarter. Other undocumented people face a different challenge: If you don't have any citizens or green card holders in your immediate family, it's virtually impossible to obtain a green card, especially if you don't have an advanced degree or specialized skill. Despite the fact that undocumented immigrants add tremendous value to our economy and prop up some of our biggest industries, there aren't enoughor the right kindsof employment visas for all the undocumented workers we need to fill our jobs. Our immigration system is also incredibly complex. In my personal experience, there are about as many different perspectives on the best way to navigate the system as there are immigration lawyers. On top of that, there's the cost: attorney bills, application fees and work absences make engaging with the immigration system an expensive proposition. The story of American immigration is one of long odds: from the earliest European immigrants who traveled here by ship over rough seas, to the young Irish fleeing the potato famine, to children escaping across the Central American desert to leave behind gang violence, people coming to the U.S. to build a new life have never had it easy. But one difference is that today's immigration system can be even more challenging, daunting and complex to navigate. Undocumented immigrants aren't looking for an easy out or a free ride. We're looking for a way forward. The author is a DACA card holder who grew up in eastern Idaho. Because of the tenuous situation of current DACA residents in this country, the Post Register has granted him anonymity so that he may tell his story. This is part three in a series. Find parts 1 and 2 on our website, www.postregister.com.
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Guest column: Despite concerns, I’m hopeful
DATE: June 2, 2017
A local DACA card holder PUBLICATION: Post Register (Idaho Falls, ID) SECTION: Opinions Carimer Andujar is a college student who lives more than 2,300 miles from my home in Eastern Idaho. Despite the distance between us, we share much in common. Like me, she is Hispanic with parents who illegally crossed the border when she was young. Like me, she has status under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and is committed to getting an education and being a positive contributor to her community. We also share the fact we're living in a political climate that has created uncertainty with our DACA status, despite President Trump's admonition that we can "rest easy" under his current policy. Last month, Andujar was informed that she needed to meet with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials in New Jersey. In a newspaper story about her case, Andujar said she is worried and concerned about her future in this country and her dreams of graduating from Rutgers University. She's not alone. In recent months, there have been numerous reports of DACA recipients being detained, arrested and accused of things that imperil their status. But my point is not about sounding alarms. Instead, it's to urge Idaho's congressional delegation to collaborate with their House and Senate colleagues to eliminate the uncertainty and doubt that lingers for the 3,000 DACA recipients in Idaho and the more than 750,000 nationwide. There are simply too many consequences for not debating and passing comprehensive immigration reforms. Consider what's at stake for families, businesses and the health and economic vitality of communities across Idaho if we continue to delay. At one time, DACA status provided stability and security, but the new administration and different solutions to immigration have created barriers and rekindled anxiety. Take the example of Julio Ramos, a 24yearold biology teacher in Texas who dreams of becoming a doctor. Although he's been accepted to Loyola University of Chicago's medical school, he's unable to go because he can't afford tuition. In the past, the school, in collaboration with private lenders, has provided financial aid to DACA students. But shifts in immigration policies have forced those investors to pull back out of concern their investments may not come to fruition. These new barriers are creating so many unintended consequences, including the reality that so many with so much potential to make a positive contribution are being denied the chance to pursue those goals. Over the years, I've learned to adapt and understand the value of being flexible. I believe the same is true for many DACA recipients across the country. We also understand how to live within certain parameters, of making the most of the opportunities available. But the lack of certainty in our immigration policy undermines our ability to advance, to take the next step to better our lives as well as those in our immediate families, neighborhoods and communities. Without certainty, clear parameters in which to operate, I'm limited in the things I can achieve and the ways in which I can contribute. Despite my concerns, I am hopeful. America has always been about tackling complex challenges. Some of our country's greatest moments have emerged when leaders recognized being pragmatic was more important than winning an argument. Our history is built on examples of courageous leaders finding a way to overcome differences and compromise in hopes bettering people's lives.
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