DACA

Darlene and Jesus

Jesus (right), pictured here with Darlene, created a list of scholarships in Illinois that don’t require a Social Security number, which means that undocumented students can apply. He’s considering a law career, but for now he’s getting a wealth of experience in understanding individuals’ interactions with the legal system.

AFSC's Youth Peace Building and Justice Program are assisting undocumentd students in four Chicago Public Schools as they fill out their Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals forms. Many students and families of immigrant youth have been uncertain of the risks and the costs connected to applying for DACA status.

To date, the program has assisted over 50 youth and family members with applications and trained five college interns to assist at the school. The medical program coordinator at one high school expressed her appreciation in the following e-mail:

Yazmin

Getting her deferred action approval meant Yazmin, a longtime advocate for immigration policy reform who graduated from college last year, could get a job.

In June, when high school junior Ivania heard the news about a new immigration policy, she thought for a moment that this was it—that Congress had passed the DREAM Act. Maybe medical school was not too much of a stretch after all; maybe she would be able to qualify for grants and get a part-time job to pay for a psychology degree at the University of Iowa.