We are America – DACA recipients, supporters say they are not going anywhere
They’d known it was coming, and feared it for months, but still the news landed like a gut punch: President Trump was killing a federal program that shields nearly 800,000 undocumented immigrants from deportation.
“It’s right now official,” CASA Executive Director Gustavo Torres told a suddenly silent crowd of immigrants and supporters who, moments earlier, had been shouting, singing and banging drums outside the White House in defiance. “This administration just ended DACA.”
Monica Camacho Perez burst into sobs.
“Taking DACA away is taking us back to a really dark time for immigrants,” said the 23-year-old Maryland resident, who arrived in the United States from Mexico when she was 7. “This is our country. We are not going anywhere.”