Dear John, 

Nine years ago today, President Obama announced the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. This initiative indisputably changed the lives of over 800,000 young people, who were finally able to live free from the fear of being ripped from their families and communities and the only place they had ever known as “home.”

DACA stands as one of the most pivotal moments for immigrant rights in the United States. Yet, DACA remains under constant threat from court decisions and partisan agendas that seek to dismantle it—causing stress, turmoil and constant instability in the lives of young people, many of whom were on the frontlines of this pandemic as healthcare providers, grocery workers and in other essential professions without whom we may not have survived this pandemic.

DACA was meant to be a temporary solution, but has been extended for nearly ten years, leaving recipients in a cruel and unfair limbo and at the mercy of elected officials and courts. 

The only way to secure the future for hundreds of thousands of young men and women is to provide an immediate pathway to citizenship. Extending protections for DACA recipients is not enough—we demand a road to citizenship for DACA recipients, DREAM Act eligible youth, TPS recipients and their families, and essential workers. We must fulfill the promise of DACA by offering permanent protections to immigrants today! 

In solidarity,

Murad Awawdeh 

Executive Director