DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, is a policy President Obama enacted by executive order in 2012. 

It’s had a rocky legal journey, but when it was still accepting new applications, DACA was open to undocumented young people who graduated from high school or served in the military and were brought to the U.S. as children. 

The program has given roughly 800,000 people access to things like a driver’s license, a social security number, and a work permit.

When the Trump Administration came into office, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that things would be changing.

"I am here today to announce that the program known as DACA under the Obama administration is being rescinded." ~Former AG Jeff Sessions

That was September, 2017. 

Within hours, immigration attorney Luis Cortes Romero – a DACA recipient himself based in Kent, Washington – helped assemble a team of legal heavy-hitters and plaintiffs who were committed to taking on the Trump Administration in federal court. 

Cortes Romero and his colleagues took the fight all the way to the highest court in the land and successfully defended DACA. 

In the process, he became the first undocumented person to help argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court. 

Now, Luis Cortes Romero is the subject of a new documentary, called “From Here/From There (De Aquí/De Allá)”, which premieres on the PBS series VOCES tomorrow, Tuesday, July 9th.

GUEST: Luis Cortes Romero

RELATED LINKS: 

• ‘From Here/From There’ (De Aqui/de Alla): The Extraordinary Journey of Luis Cortes Romero – People's World 
• Luis Cortes-Romero, a lawyer and DACA recipient, on his team's Supreme Court victory.
• Small Step Could Bring Big Relief to Young Undocumented Immigrants
• Biden Gives Legal Protections to Undocumented Spouses of U.S. Citizens - The New York Times 
• Trump says foreigners who graduate from US colleges should get green cards | Reuters

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