SPRINGDALE, Ark. — A local community organizer is fundraising to help Arkansas DACA recipients stay in the US.
According to US Citizenship and Immigration Services, there are nearly 4,000 active DACA Recipients in the state of Arkansas. With a list of requirements, undocumented migrants were protected from deportation in 2012 under the Obama Administration's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).
"Honestly, it can be from someone that works at Walmart home office to someone that works at a poultry factory," community organizer Irvin Camacho said. "It's your neighbors, it's people that went to the school system that you went to, and it's people that you see every day in your everyday life."
Berenice Alcala is one of those recipients, having moved to Arkansas from Mexico at one year old. She has since grown up in the natural state and considers it her home.
Alcala recalled a recent trip to Mexico where she had the chance to finally reconnect with family and where she was born. She explains that it made her think about her identity.
"It's a strange land because you were, you didn't grow up there, but, you know, that's where you were born. And so, it was just this huge realization, in a way, where it's almost like, so where do I actually belong? Because here, you know, even though I grew up here, you're not fully accepted necessarily, clearly by the laws, and in the eyes of a lot of people, you are still seen as a minority. You're still seen as different," Alcala said.
Camacho is fundraising to help recipients like Alcala. He said that DACA renewals used to be $465 whenever DACA began, and now it's $555 if you do it online, and it's $605 if you do it through paper. DACA recipients have to figure out how to pay these fees every 2 years, and Alcala said they typically start their renewal process 6-8 months ahead of the expiration date.
"Altogether, you're looking at that honestly thousands of dollars for this process, because it's not just the application fee, it's the attorney fees. You have to go get passport pictures; you have to go get fingerprinted. It's like a whole thing to actually renew every single time," Alcala said.
"One of the things that I get the most through emails or through messages is people saying, Hey, I don't have this money, and I'm afraid that if I'm not able to renew my DACA, my job is going to drop me," Camacho said.
In 2017, the Trump administration started a legal process vowing to end the DACA policy. New applications are frozen from approval, and those still left with DACA are left in limbo, as a court of appeals is set to hear oral arguments on Oct. 10
"I think that we have an uphill fight still, but not, not everything is lost, and I truly think that the DACA program is such an integral part of our country that it's going to be very hard for it to go anywhere," Alcala said.
The scholarship also continues in honor for Carmen Castorena who wanted to advocate for her community with Camacho. Camacho said she decided to drive home to Searcy one winter and died in a fatal accident. With no chance to help her community, he initially named the scholarship after her but renamed it the "Arkansas DACA Scholarship" after donors were confused if it was for one recipient or multiple.
Alcala said she will advocate for DACA next week as the oral arguments start. If you'd like to donate to or share Camacho's fundraiser, you can find more information and the fundraiser on the Arkansas DACA Instagram.
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