For thousands of North Carolina residents, their lives could soon be in limbo as their legality to work and live in the country changes.
These young North Carolinians are commonly known as Dreamers, or recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy.
As the policy reaches its 10th anniversary, more legal challenges are threatening DACA, leaving Dreamers and their advocates saying they feel frustrated and scared.
In New Hanover County, local immigration attorneys and their clients are advocating for new legislation to protect Dreamers.
“If you suddenly lost your work authorization, then you’re not able to work to support yourself, your family, to support your career goals, to use your degrees or higher education,” said Katherine Haddock, senior associate attorney for Helen Tarokic Law, an immigration law firm in Wilmington.
The decade worth of effort to preserve the DACA policy could soon be erased as a panel of judges in a federal court in New Orleans is expected to soon rule on whether to end the policy, USA Today reported.
While the Biden Administration said it would not be a high priority to deport former DACA recipients if it is overturned, according to USA Today, Dreamers would be left without work authorization to support themselves and their families, Haddock said.
She added that Dreamers are “vulnerable to deportation, depending on what kind of administration we have and how aggressively they’re pursuing detaining and deporting…
