For DACA Teachers, Uncertainty Lingers on the Last Day to Renew for Program Ariana Figueroa - NPR
go to original October 5, 2017

DACA-mented Teachers Fear for Their Future (AFTHQ)

There are nearly 700,000 people in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, and Thursday is the final deadline for them to renew their DACA status, which the Trump Administration announced would be discontinued unless Congress steps in to save it.

With an application fee of $465, the program allows the recipients, often called Dreamers, to renew their temporary two-year work permits. But with no contingency plan, many are left with a feeling of uncertainty.

Another word for that is limbo. And that's how three teachers described their feelings after the Trump Administration announced last month that the program, which protects young people who came to the country illegally, would end.



The Department of Education doesn't keep records on how many teachers are protected by DACA, but there are an estimated 20,000 teachers eligible to apply for DACA, according to data from The Migration Policy Institute, a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C. According to Teach For America, there are 188 DACA teachers working for the organization that places young teachers in low-income schools.

Maria Rocha is one of those 188. She was born in Mexico and brought to Texas when she was 3 years old. Now 30, and a third-grade Spanish teacher living in San Antonio, she says doesn't remember much of her native land.

"I consider this country my home," Rocha says.

Read the rest at NPR

Related: Mexico Considers Certifying Work References for “Dreamers” (El Universal)

Related: Key Facts About Unauthorized Immigrants Enrolled in DACA (Pew Research Center)

Related: Republicans Say Trump Denied Deal with Dems on Dreamers (Associated Press)

Related: Making It in America: Video Series Highlights Survival in the Midst of Immigration Reform (Miami Herald)

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