Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), is a program that protects nearly 1 million people across the United States. DACA’s recipients are also known as “Dreamers” who came into the United States unlawfully as young children.

The DREAM center will be hosting a virtual workshop for immigration policies in collaboration with Dream Centers and undocumented students programs across CSUs in Northern California monthly. Each month, immigration attorneys will be providing necessary updates and information regarding the topic. On Wed., Feb. 17, SSU’s Dream Center held their first virtual workshop event from 3:00-4:00 P.M.

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals doesn’t give it’s recipients official legal status with full citizenship, but it allows for them to apply and receive their drivers license, social security numbers, and work permits.

DACA was established by Barack Obama in 2012, and has allowed for dreamers all across the nation to safely reside in the United States. As of recent years, the Trump administration has repeatedly tried to shut down the program in an effort to stop it from accepting new applications from Dreamers. Although Joe Biden has recently promised to open up the program for new applications within his first 100 days being in office, DACA is still currently not accepting applications for new recipients. As of Dec. 4th 2020, it was ruled that first time DACA recipients are able to reapply, even after Trump’s administration stopped accepting new applications. Sonoma State President Judy K. Sakaki said, “At Sonoma State, we continue to support our DACA students and employees. The recent Supreme Court ruling on DACA was encouraging. We highly encourage all of our SSU DACA community to utilize all available resources CSU systemwide and on campus.”

According to seawolfliving.com, “During the spring semester, the DREAM Center, in collaboration with dream centers and undocumented student programs at campuses throughout Northern California, will host a virtual workshop series for undocumented students, allies, and individuals from immigrant backgrounds.” The virtual workshop series is working in partnership with the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA). The virtual workshop will be visited by an immigration attorney to provide students with necessary updates and information on topics surrounding the immigrant communities. The meeting will then be ended with an open Q&A session between the attorney and attendees of the virtual workshop. Students will have free range to ask the attorney about important issues revolving around immigrant communities, or get much needed valuable advice from attorneys.

On Wed., Feb. 17, the Undocu-Wisdom Workshop Series took place online for Sonoma State University students and faculty. DACA and immigration policy briefings are the workshop’s main goal, and students will be given the chance to ask a wide variety of questions towards the attorney in the meeting.

All across the United States, young immigrants use and need DACA for their everyday lives. DACA allows people from immigrant backgrounds to be able to apply for their drivers license, social security number, and their work permits. For DACA recipients, they’re unsure when their travel restrictions and basic needs will be cut off. President Donald J. Trump called for the ending of DACA over a year ago, and since then, recipients are unsure if their rights will be taken away. The most recent court ruling for DACA was in August in Texas, where a judge ruled the program was able to continue for the time being. After the court’s ruling, California State University Chancellor Timothy P. White said, “The Supreme Court’s decision today to require a full appeal of the legal challenge regarding Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals is encouraging news for Dreamers studying and working throughout the CSU system. We are hopeful that a permanent and positive solution is reached as soon as possible.”