Stories
As Reservist Deploys, Fears His DACA Fiancé May Be Deported
Esmeralda Tovar-Contreras is an undocumented immigrant who was brought to the United States from Mexico City when she was 2 years old. Thanks to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which provides qualifying young people like her some protections, the 21-year-old has been able to get a job at a… Read More
New York’s First Undocumented Lawyer: ‘We All Have a Voice’
In 2016, Cesar Vargas became New York state’s first openly undocumented lawyer. It was a major personal accomplishment for Vargas, whose mother brought him to the United States when he was 5 years old, and for New York, which became the third state in the nation to allow undocumented immigrants to… Read More
Dreamer Wants To Teach Kids, Instead Lives in Fear
In 2016, when Laura Perez was granted the right to legally work in the United States, she was finally able to come out of the shadows and,contribute more to her community and family. Perez is one of Utah’s more than 13,600 recipients of Deferred… Read More
It’s the Economy: Nation’s Oldest State Really Needs Its Dreamers
Publicly, Sharon McDonnell’s son’s friend goes by the name “S.” That’s because S is an undocumented immigrant. And although she now has Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a policy that currently shields her from deportation, she cannot be sure how long she will remain protected. None of the country’s… Read More
Dreamer: Given the Opportunity, We Work Hard
In 2012, when Leonel Nieto, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, received the legal right to live and work in the United States, he quickly began achieving the milestones of American adulthood: He bought a house, took out a car loan, and earned a master’s degree in information technology to support… Read More
Caught in Limbo, STEM-Educated Dreamer Ponders a Move to Canada
Ecuadorian immigrant Edison Suasnavas is part of Silicon Slopes—a science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) hot spot that is propelling Utah’s economy. He holds a master’s degree in animal science from Utah State University and works as a molecular oncologist at Arup Laboratories, in Salt Lake City,… Read More
Despite an Uncertain Future, DACA Law Student Continues to Help Others in Oklahoma City
Javier Hernandez was brought to the United States when he was a 1-year-old. In the 24 years since, he has founded a tutoring and mentorship program for high school students in his home town of Oklahoma City; tutored college students in math; coached little league soccer; and worked as a… Read More
Deep in Conservative South Carolina, Republican Lawmaker Touts DACA’s Economic Necessity
South Carolina is one of America’s reddest states, and Pickens is its reddest county; 75 percent of voters in the county cast their ballot for President Donald Trump in 2016. But when Neal Collins, a Republican representing Pickens, introduced a bill to help South Carolina Dreamers get an education, his… Read More
An Unresolved DACA Would ‘Tear Our World Apart’
Carolina Hernandez-Arango is a business-administration major in her final year at Wichita State University. She is also a mother of two, a community organizer — and a Dreamer, brought to the United States from Mexico by her parents when she was 3 years old to receive urgent medical treatment. Now,… Read More
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