Dear John, 

My name is Diana, and I’m a digital campaigner with NYIC—I’m also one of 700,000 Dreamers whose future hangs in the balance as the Supreme Court weighs whether to end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. 

Right now, nearly 30,000 medical workers who are on the frontlines of this crisis—working around the clock to take care of our elderly and sick—are at risk of losing their DACA status.

Across the country, COVID-19 cases are growing exponentially—and in New York, our hospitals are already overwhelmed. Ending DACA during an unprecedented public health crisis would be an attack on our healthcare system and on our ability to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic. 

During this crisis, our Dreamers are absolutely vital to keeping our fragile and exhausted medical facilities from collapsing. 

Thousands of Dreamers, like me, are your neighbors, classmates or colleagues. Those that are advocates like me are fighting for the inclusion of immigrants in pandemic response policies; others are working in grocery stores, restocking shelves so parents can feed their kids; while others are balancing remote learning with caring for immunocompromised family members. 

We are all in this fight together, working to serve our communities in a time of crisis. And each of us, like you, is scared for what this pandemic will mean for our families and our future. 

But with our status on the line, being used as a pawn in Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda, we’re coping with another layer of uncertainty and anxiety during these frightening times. 

Now is the time for us to come together, not to sow division by ending DACA and compromising our ability to survive this pandemic. We need the contributions of each and every New Yorker, regardless of status, to overcome this crisis.

In power, 
Diana Rodriguez