Friday, September 8, 2017

A MESSAGE FOR OUR DACA STUDENTS

With President Trump's announcement that he's going to terminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in six months if Congress doesn't act, hundreds of thousands of DACA students-workers are now living in the dark. This is understandable, especially since none of us have any idea what Congress will do over the next six months.


Fortunately, there are people working to help our DACA recipients walk through the political and legal landmines that President Trump's actions are now creating. For example, Bakersfield immigration attorney Win Eaton will continue to speak out publicly about the rights of our DACA recipients, as he did in this KGET 17 Sunrise News edition this past week.

When asked why DACA students don't "just go through the steps to become citizens when they became adults," Eaton responded that our so system is so broken that there is no legal process available for DACA recipients to legitimize their status.

Attorney Win Eaton also provided some very important advice for our DACA students: if you are within six months of having your DACA certification expire you need to reapply by October 5, 2017 or else you will lose your status.


Let's be clear here. Win Eaton is not telling non-DACA certified students they should apply for the program. That ship has sailed.

What Win Eaton is advising is that if you're already a DACA student or a DACA worker, and your status is going to lapse before March 5, 2107 (a Monday), you will be kicked out of the program if you don't have your DACA renewal application in place by Thursday, October 5th (there's more, so be sure to click on this link).

One last thing. We have Win Eaton and several other attorneys tentatively scheduled to speak about immigration and DACA at CSU Bakersfield on September 26.

I will provide more information once the details are finalized.

- Mark

UPDATE: For DACA students/workers who need help financing the $495 renewal application for DACA certification, the Mission Asset Fund has enough money to fund 2,000 applicants. You can access the program by clicking here.

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