Washington, D.C. – This past Saturday, United We Dream (UWD) executive director, Greisa Martinez Rosas, joined MSNBC’s American Voices with guest host Julián Castro to discuss the imminent Fifth Circuit Court decision on whether the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program will remain in effect. This conversation on immigration comes on the heels of the tragic shooting of two migrants in Texas. The hate crime served to magnify the real-life consequences of the hostile and xenophobic environment that has been pushed by dangerous language from the far-right.
To listen to the entire interview, click here.
From UWD Executive Director, Greisa Martinez Rosas:
“DACA is ‘Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals’, it supports 700,000 undocumented young people just like myself that have made the U.S. home—to be able to work, to be able to drive without fear, to feed our children is an example of what a pro-immigrant vision is…Now, because Republicans have a very dim vision of what this country should be, they’ve attacked this program that has been backed by corporations, that has been affirmed by courts all across the country. They want to attack it because it simply does not fit their vision and they want to exclude undocumented people.”
“We DACA recipients have become business owners, we ensure that economies at the local, federal and state level continue to thrive. We are your teachers, your school [bus] drivers. We are the people that are now going into Florida to ensure that those that have been devastated by the hurricane are able to return back to normal. Outside of the things that we bring, DACA just makes sense. It makes sense for our economy, it makes sense for our education system and it is one of the most victorious and notorious policies that the Obama administration delivered on immigration.”
“I know that I can count on this American community to support me, and with or without DACA—immigrant young people are ready to fight. We’re expecting the Biden administration to have full-throated support of DACA and the immigrant young people it protects.”
