Commentary: ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Today, in a cowardly and erroneous move, Donald Trump announced the rescission of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The decision comes after 10 Republican Attorneys General –lead by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton– threatened to sue the Trump administration unless the DACA program was phased-out by Sept. 5th.
Around the country, the over 800 thousand people who benefited from the DACA program –a proven successful program which vastly improved the lives of its recipients– are now at immediate risk of deportation.
In NM alone, nearly 7 thousand people lived under the protection and benefits of DACA, which provided each of its beneficiaries with temporary protection from deportation and a work permit.
Gabriela Hernandez, DACA recipient, Southwest Organizer with United We Dream & Executive Director for the NM Dream Team said:
“Today, Trump has decided to continue his white supremacy and terror agenda by rescinding Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a temporary protection for 800,000 undocumented youth like me. Yet, I do not live in fear anymore, and for that reason I’m here to remind my community that in the same way we won DACA 5 years ago, we will continue to organize and we won’t stop until all our families can live without fear of deportation.
“The New Mexico Dream Team (NMDT), the largest youth-led immigrant organization in the state of New Mexico, is calling on all allies and people of conscious to fight alongside us during this urgent time. Our youth and their families will now face personal, economic, and educational uncertainty with the rescinding of DACA. Regardless, we will continue to educate, mobilize and organize to channel our outrage into action and empowerment.
“We’ve said it before and we will say it again: Immigrants, refugees, brown and black people, the differently abled and LGBTQ folks are #HereToStay!”
Felipe Rodriguez, undocumented Albuquerque resident & Field Organizer for the NM Dream Team said:
“Trump lied to the face of over 800 thousand young immigrants who believe he would not terminate the program. He cowered amidst threats by a small group of republican extremists being lead by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
“The administration knows DACA worked as demonstrated by numerous surveys which backed the success of this program. A life filled with peace of mind and a new found sense of security from deportation has been ripped away from my community. But my community is ready to fight back and continue protecting each other.
“Now more than ever it is crucial to plug into the fight for our families by making sure they Know Their Rights, by calling on their local officials to fight alongside our immigrant families and to stay up-to-date with the latest in immigration by texting the word FightBack to 877-877. We are Undocumented & Unafraid! And we are #HereToStay!”
Connect with the NM Dream Team on Twitter: @NM_Dream_Team and on Facebook: @NewMexicoDreamTeam
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The New Mexico Dream Team is a statewide network committed to creating power for multigenerational, undocumented, and mixed status families through community organizing and leadership development. We work to engage our community and allies in becoming leaders using an intersectional, gender, and racial justice lens—to develop and implement an organizing and advocacy infrastructure for policy change fighting to dismantle systemic oppression.
United We Dream is the largest immigrant youth-led organization in the nation, a powerful nonpartisan network made up of 55 affiliate organizations in 26 states. UWD organizes and advocates for the dignity and fair treatment of immigrant youth and families, regardless of immigration status. We seek to address the inequities and obstacles faced by immigrant youth and believe that by empowering immigrant youth, we can advance the cause of the entire community—justice for all immigrants.