Today, the Trump administration announced the termination of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, putting 800,000 young adults, more than a quarter of whom live in California, at risk for deportation. For five years, the DACA program has allowed immigrant youth to temporarily live and work without fear of being deported if they paid a fee, passed a background check, and met rigorous eligibility requirements. Now the US is going back on its promise in a move that primarily affects communities of color, especially Latinxs and Asian Americans.
This decision will also affect API Wellness’ clients and community. We stand with our immigrant brothers, sisters, and siblings to protect their right to live in the US and have their contributions recognized. We stand against anti-immigrant rhetoric, racism, and hate. We urge our supporters to stand with us, too.
Trump will phase out DACA over six months, leaving us a short window to take concrete action to protect our immigrant communities. API Wellness asks Congress to pass the DREAM Act of 2017, a bipartisan bill granting legal status and a pathway to citizenship for immigrants who came to the US as children.
Here are critical ways you can support immigrants:
• Fight lies with truth. Review this fact sheet so you are prepared to discuss DACA accurately.
• Attend a #DefendDACA rally to show your support: weareheretostay.org.
• Call key lawmakers to support the DREAM Act. These lawmakers are the swing votes needed to pass the DREAM Act which will protect immigrants who came to the US as children.
Join us in the fight to protect immigrant rights to health, wellness, and equality in the US.
About API Wellness
API Wellness is an LGBTQ and people of color community health center that transforms lives by advancing health, wellness, and equality. It believes everyone deserves to be healthy and needs access to the highest-quality health care. API Wellness fosters resilience, strength, connection, health, and wellness for all communities. To API Wellness, health care will always be grounded in social justice.