A win, but not the end of the fight

Boulder County DACA recipients respond to SCOTUS decision

By Many Voices

Since President Trump took office in 2017, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program has hung in the balance. First introduced in 2012 by President Obama, the program gives undocumented residents who were brought to the U.S. unlawfully as children temporary immigration relief and the ability to lawfully work. But Trump vowed to end the program, and the legal protections it affords recipients, resulting in years of back-and-forth legal battles.

On June 18, in a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court blocked the Trump administration from ending the program, citing a lack of justification for the action, while not taking into account how it would affect the nearly 700,000 DACA recipients across the country. The news came as a sigh of relief for many, including the 14,640 Colorado DACA beneficiaries.

Still, the program is threatened as the decision leaves room for the administration to bring forward more concrete rationale for its actions and as a Texas lawsuit challenging Obama’s authority to institute the program in the first place is still making its way through the courts.

Below, Boulder County DACA recipients respond to the Supreme Court decision and what it means for their future. Read more at boulderweekly.com

LAURA SOTO

LAURA SOTO, LONGMONT

Motus Theater Monologist and Operations Manager with Philanthropiece Foundation

My family came to the U.S. in the winter of 1982, which is the year I was born. We crossed the River Grand — mid-winter — in search of a better life. They held the 6-month-old baby high above their shoulders as if holding her in offering to the skies above as a prayer for their future. My family tells a story of how the newborn baby’s life was at risk because she got sick with pneumonia after crossing the frozen river. This for me is proof that I was born a warrior. Life challenged my strength from the very beginning even as an infant and I didn’t die, I passed the test of resilience; this test has marked my path. My family has always had strong ties to both the U.S. — many are born or naturalized U.S. citizens — and Mexico. The broken immigration system of this country has left me with an undocumented status that creates unjust barriers for me (as it has for the millions of children growing-up in the U.S. undocumented) to build a meaningful, fulfilling life. However, I was born a warrior and I have overcome

I embody the identity of most U.S. citizens by loving and serving my community, seeking to educate myself, advance in my profession and share my talents. Thanks to DACA, I am a business owner, a cultural broker, a homeowner and have raised two U.S.-born citizens on my own as a single mom. However, what we saw last Thursday is the grim reality of the DACA program: it hangs by a thread. And it will continue to hang by a thread until Congress passes the Dream and Promise Act. SCOTUS’s decision allowed for a moment’s breath. The DACA program can still be eliminated by this president or any other subsequent president. The lives of DACA recipients have always been at the mercy of political campaigns, as have immigrants as a whole, we are politicians’ scapegoats, they literally play with our lives during their campaigns. There is no telling when they will try to end the program again; this is why now, more than ever, we need the Dream and Promise Act to be introduced into the Senate (it has been waiting a year after passing the House of Representatives), written into law and a subsequent immigration reform!

KIARA CHÁVEZ

KIARA CHÁVEZ, BOULDER

Community Development and Marketing Coordinator and UndocuAmerica Monologist at Motus Theater

The SCOTUS decision to rule in favor of DACA means that we are temporarily protected in two-year increments once more. The fear I have felt for the last four years is slowly leaving my body, but it’s not enough to make it go away. As long as Trump remains in office, I will continue to fear for my community because we are not safe as long as someone is threatening our humanity.

The bright side is that with DACA safe, for now, we can fight for permanent protection. We need permanent protection and more people need access. There are still thousands of us not protected, like my parents. There are still children in cages.

This is a win, but it’s not the end of our fight.

La decisión de SCOTUS a favor de DACA significa que estamos protegidos temporalmente en incrementos de dos años una vez más. El miedo que he sentido durante los últimos cuatro años está abandonando mi cuerpo lentamente, pero no es suficiente para que desaparezca. Mientras Trump permanezca el presidente de los E.E.U.U., seguiré temiendo por mi comunidad porque nadie esta seguro mientras alguien amenaza nuestra humanidad.El lado positivo es que con DACA seguro, por ahora, podemos luchar por protección permanente. Necesitamos protección permanente y más personas necesitan acceso. Todavía hay miles de nosotros sin proteccion, como mis padres. Todavía hay niñas/os en jaulas.

Esta es una victoria, pero no es el final de nuestra pelea.

HUGO JUAREZ

HUGO JUAREZ, LONGMONT

Housing Stabilization Program (HSP) Coordinator at Sister Carmen Community Center and Motus Theater UndocuAmerica Monologist

The SCOTUS decision meant to me some type of relief and not just for me but for my parents as well. For a long period of time, DACA recipients lived a life of uncertainty after the Trump administration decided to cancel DACA. After the SCOTUS decision was made, I started to cry, and right away I called my mom, then we both started crying because we knew that at least my brothers and I still had a chance to stay in this country. But the fight doesn't stop here. My older brother didn't qualify for DACA, my parents are still undocumented - that means that our work is not done. We need every undocumented American protected from deportation.

NANCY CONTRERAS, BOULDER

I grew up in Boulder. The SCOTUS DACA decision means a lot to me. If I didn’t have DACA I might not have been able to go to college. Because I did have DACA I was able to pursue my degree and be the first person in my family to go to and graduate college. It means I can continue to work to support myself and my family. DACA has opened up more possibilities for me. It has also allowed me to be less fearful of my situation. Having that said, there is definitely more that needs to be done. This is a temporary solution for anyone in my situation and, as we have seen, could potentially get taken away at any point. And if it had been taken away, where would that leave us DACA recipients after exposing ourselves as undocumented?