DACA Extension Gives Dreamer Students Hope

By Cindy Lazo| Published by February 24. 2021

After four tumultuous years under the Trump Administration, many Americans felt a sense of relief and hope when, hours after his inauguration, President Joe Biden signed several executive memorandums—one of which reasserts protections for DACA recipients, including Kean’s Dreamer students. 

DACA, standing for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, was first established back in 2012 by President Barack Obama so that young children who were brought over by their parents were not subject to deportations.

The term ‘Dreamer’ first originated from the Dream Act, a bill that has been introduced to Congress multiple times, and it refers to those young undocumented immigrants

“President Biden’s Executive Order seeks legally strengthen the DACA program and suspends any efforts by the new administration to end the program.” Kean Associate Professor Frank Argote-Freyre said, “The hope is that DACA renewals and new applicants will now be accepted. This removes the sword of deportation from over the heads of DACA Recipients or DACA eligible individuals.”

Argote-Freyre explains that this action acknowledges that:

• Congress was unable to agree on and pass a comprehensive immigration reform
• These children were not responsible for the actions of their parents

“By the time he issued this order, many of the children brought over in the late 1990s and early 2000s were adults and trying to begin their working lives,” Argote-Freyre said. “DACA allowed them to apply for temporary status so they could obtain driver’s license and work permits”

More than 650,000 undocumented immigrants are qualified for DACA, and Argote-Freyre estimates that there are 200 or more Kean students who are DACA recipients.

Dreamers’ statuses and DACA itself were in jeopardy under the previous administration. President Donald Trump looked to fulfill one of his immigration policy promises of eliminating the program but attempts to suspend DACA were blocked in court.

“He was unsuccessful, but in the process, some folks were prevented from applying and that left them vulnerable to deportation.” Argote-Freyre said, “Trump’s legal challenges to the program left DACA recipients in limbo, fearing for their futures. It was a cruel four years for them under Trump.”

The news was met with positive reactions from immigration advocates and DACA recipients, including some from the Kean community.

“It hasn’t impacted me just yet because I renewed it recently but I’m sure it’s going to be very beneficial for me in the future and for hundreds of other students,” Angie Benitez, a third year Biology student, said. “I’m certainly more hopeful about Dreamers being able to obtain citizenship under this new administration.”

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