On Tuesday the White House will honor “Champions of Change,” who are Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) recipients.
Being recognized in a private ceremony for their excellent leadership, academic and professional skills, honorees include 10 young adults from Mexico, Colombia, Taiwan, Morocco, the Philippines, and New Delhi. Many of the individuals honored are being awarded for their initiatives that help to address immigration issues. Among them are Mexican-born Anahi Mendoza of Santa Maria, California who founded a DREAM Club to help undocumented students go to college, and Morocco-born Kamal Essaheb who works at the National Immigration Law Center on the passage of the DREAM Act and local enforcement of immigration law.
DACA was put in place by the Obama administration two years ago, and since then thousands of undocumented young immigrants have applied to the program, with recent studies showing DACAs positive impact as 59% of DACA recipients have obtained new jobs, 45% have increased their job earnings and 49% have opened their first bank account since 2012.