LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – Thirteen years after it was first announced, DACA remains a lifeline for many undocumented immigrants who arrived to the U.S. as children.
Las Vegas community leaders marked the policy’s anniversary Monday and spoke about its impact and the uncertainty surrounding it.
“In this time that we’re feeling a lot of anti-immigrant attention,” said Las Vegas councilwoman Olivia Diaz. “We really want our dreamers and our community in Las Vegas to know that they’re valued and that they’re seen.”
While the program offers temporary protection from deportation and a work permit, its future remains tied up in legal and political debate.
“The only people who have DACA now are those that qualified, you know 10, 12 years ago, and they’ve been renewing it, and so those are the people that can continue to do so,” said immigration attorney Jocelyn Cortez. “But if you are now thinking about applying for DACA and you never had it, you don’t get to apply.”
But as for Monday, DACA recipients in attendance celebrated the ‘DACA-versary’ complete with cake and personal stories of how the program has changed their lives.
“There’s there was roughly 1,000,000 people who had DACA, now it’s closer to 580,000, and for those 580,000, it’s been a tremendous benefit to them,” said Mark Delich, vice president of government relations at FWS.US. “There’s currently 10,000 DACA recipients in Nevada who you were able to take trips to their families, their work, you know, go to college, go to school, and it’s been a tremendous success.”
As policy discussions continue, participants said it’s important to stay informed and to remember the role that DACA has played in the last 13 years
“Currently, if we were to not reauthorize and not renew their work permits and their ability to be here, we would be out a significant number of bodies that we need to have in our hospitals and our school systems and our everyday lives,” Diaz said.
The DACA policy remains active for current recipients. Attorneys recommend timely renewals and legal consultations especially for those exploring other possible immigration options.
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