La Raza Centro Legal immigration attorneys, Maria Victoria Castro and Cecilia Candia, hosted a meeting April 10 at City College of San Francisco’s Mission campus to answer questions about Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).
In a classroom with more than 50 people listening, Castro and Candia spoke about DACA, presenting information about the requisites that must be met to apply. The attentive listeners began to raise their hands and ask question after question about this matter.
DACA is not the DREAM Act, a legal status, or a direct path to citizenship. DACA is a protection granted to undocumented young people for two years—that can be renewed—which offers a work permit, social security number and a California driver’s license.
People who apply must have come to the United States before the age of 16; be currently in school; have completed high school or have obtained a general education development certificate; have not been convicted of a felony or considered a threat to this country; are not above the age of 30; and have continuously resided in the United States since June 15, 2007.
After many protests and rallies from the Latino community—many of whom were young Latino students—President Obama finally gave the “okay,” and on June 15, 2012 Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano announced that DACA was in effect.
There are an estimated 65,000 high school students who graduate from high school each year but find themselves at a halt because they are undocumented.
In the meeting, one student who wished to remain anonymous said, “receiving this would make it easy for me to get my license, get a job and live with some peace.”
Arthur Ramirez, a 26-year-old graduate of San Francisco State University who came illegally to the United States at the age of three, was granted DACA.
“I’ve been able to get a driver’s license, that was the biggest change for me right off the bat because I’ve had many cars taken away [by] the police for not having a license,” Ramirez said. “Now I feel comfortable driving … I’m also able to apply for jobs. I’m not scared that if they run a background check I’m not going to able to qualify for a job. I feel like I’m on an even playing field.”
“I’m looking forward [to] a reform,” Ramirez added.
“We’re living in a good time and I hope anyone who is eligible for DACA does apply, and hopefully when we get more information of the immigration reform, those who couldn’t apply for DACA, hopefully they’ll be eligible for the reform,” Castro said. “We want to make sure that people have the most accurate information, that people know what their actual state of affairs [are]; whether that’s immigration status or what they can do so that they’re empowered and not taken advantage [of] with fraud.”
For more information about DACA, people can contact Maria Victoria Castro or Cecilia Candia at La Raza Centro Legal on 474 Valencia Street, Suite 295, San Francisco, CA 94103, or call (415) 575-3500.