The federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program was fully restored this week after the US Supreme Court ruled the program to be constitutional in June.
DACA protects people who immigrated to the US with their guardians as children, shielding them from deportation, regardless of citizenship status. The program also makes these individuals, often called “Dreamers,” eligible for work permits and allows them to pursue higher education. The program currently covers about 650,000 people in the US.
The DACA program was initiated in 2012 and although it protects those who came to the country as children, recipients still have to apply to the program to receive its protections.
The reinstatement of DACA protections allows its recipients to continue to pursue work and education in a country that for many is the only home they have ever known. We recently shared how the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship awarded its first funding to a Latino DACA student, Santiago Potes.
