Multiple – On Wednesday, June 15th, immigrant youth, allies, and volunteers from United We Dream and partner organizations hosted actions in Arizona, North Carolina, Connecticut, Maine, California, New York, Texas, Washington, D.C., and Tennessee, marking one decade of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. DACA was won by the organizing power of young people, and youth, allies, and volunteers across the country celebrated that organizing power by continuing to demand more than just DACA. As DACA continues to be under attack in the courts – while millions of undocumented people never qualified for DACA in the first place,– young people took action to make it clear that Congress must act to pass permanent protections for millions!
In Raleigh, North Carolina and Washington D.C. young immigrants and allies marched and rallied to demand a pathway to citizenship. While in El Paso, Texas young people banged pots and pans to demand politicians do everything in their power to pass permanent protections by any means necessary.
In Bridgeport, Connecticut, Connecticut Students for a Dream hosted a paint night to raise money for their work towards a pathway to citizenship.
Communities in Arizona took action to send a powerful message that DACA was never enough. In Phoenix, DACA recipients were at the Arizona State Capitol meeting with State Representatives to demand driver’s licenses, free college tuition, and adult education for all regardless of immigration status. Also in Phoenix, young people hosted a DACA 10-year celebration and launched a GoFundMe account for scholarships that will be available in the near future. In Tempe, students held a flyering community event at the ASU Tempe Campus to spread awareness about the demand for a pathway to citizenship.
Meanwhile in California, immigrant youth took action with a “DACA is Temporary, Our Home is Here” community vigil in Seaside and a sit-in at Congressman Calvert’s office in Corona to demand the congressman to support a pathway to citizenship.
In Nashville,Tennessee the Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition hosted an information session and legal clinic to mark the 10 years of DACA..
Along with in-person actions, young people organized online actions. In Maine, immigrant youth joined the #MainersForDreamers Day of Action by raising their voice to their Congressional representatives on social media. Immigrant community members in Dallas, Texas hosted their “DACA is Temporary IG Live” to make the message clear that DACA was never enough.
