Official Statement
June 14, 2024
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PHOENIX – The Arizona Center for Empowerment (ACE) will be hosting a DACA clinic on Friday, June 14, to mark the 12th anniversary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The all-day event will give current DACA recipients the opportunity to renew and protect their DACA at no cost, offering scholarships to cover 100% of the application fee.
With DACA in the hands of the 5th Circuit –a court that has ruled against immigrant communities in the past– our community faces a potentially catastrophic decision on DACA this year.
Along with the uncertainty of the program, our DACAmented community is under constant attack by Republican leadership trying to strip away their rights. At the same time, Arizona is also proposing a bill, HCR 2060, that would grant police unchecked power to racially profile and strip immigrants from the communities they call home.
For many, the 12th anniversary of DACA is not a moment of celebration but rather a reminder of DACA’s fragile, uncertain future and how this program continues to exclude millions of our loved ones and even fail the individuals it is supposed to protect.
As we continue to push for the strengthening and expansion of protections for DACA recipients, we celebrate those in our DACAmented community living fearlessly in Arizona.
“The DACA Program has served a valuable purpose for 12 years offering some protection and some form of normalcy for hundreds of thousands of recipients across the country. But this is not enough, without comprehensive immigration reform, the attacks on the program will continue,” said Karime Rodriguez, Servicios Director at ACE. Rodriguez continued, “DACA Recipients will continue to live in limbo, and under threat that their security could be ripped out from under them at a moment's notice. Comprehensive immigration reform must be the number one priority number for the Pres. Biden's administration and Congress."