On June 19, the Supreme Court ruled against the Trump administration and upheld the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, but those who fall under the program still face many barriers in Tennessee.
The program, an administrative action by former President Barack Obama, allows young immigrants living in the country without authorization who were brought here as children to remain in the U.S. The program does not convey legal status but gives temporary protection from deportation and permission to legally work.
A better life
Katherine Diaz Garcia, 21, was 7 when she first came to the U.S. from El Salvador and still remembers her home country and the violence her family left behind. Diaz Garcia later learned that U.S. policy was largely responsible for funding the weapons that were decimating her home country.
“Why criminalize people coming over from countries ruined by U.S. influence?” Diaz Garcia asked.