Immigrant advocate speaks on impact of ending DACA

IOWA CITY - Early last month, President Donald Trump ended - but gave Congress some time to save it - the Obama-era program called DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.

His order to end the policy, which allowed people brought to the United States illegally as children to acquire legal permits, took place Sept. 5. According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, initial or renewal requests no longer are being accepted.

Trump gave Congress a March 5 deadline to act to continue the protections. The Washington Post reported late Thursday that a Republican senator who had spoken to him about the issue said the president was agreeable to 'a little more time” after his deadline for legislation.

Julia Zalenski, a public defender in Johnson County who works with non-citizen clients, said the DACA executive order sent shock waves through the immigrant community, particularly for the 'Dreamers” protected under the policy.

Zalenski, along with Iowa City residents Natalia Espina and Elizabeth Rook, founded the Eastern Iowa Community Bond Project, a nonprofit aimed to post bail for people held by immigration officials through community donations.

Q: What have you seen in the community since DACA was rescinded?

A: Obviously there's a lot of shock and disorientation. When DACA was implemented, I think there was a real sense that it maybe was not a path to citizenship or permanent status yet, but why would you give people some status, some right to work and then take it away again? I think having the rug pulled out is really shocking and disorienting and traumatizing for people.

Q: Trump has said priorities haven't changed when it comes to arresting immigrants in the country illegally, but is your organization preparing for the possibility of paying bail for DACA recipients in detainment?

A: Absolutely. I think the Bond Project is definitely wanting to pay close attention to that for a couple reasons. No. 1 is DACA recipients are often, in the absence of DACA, particularly vulnerable to removal and they are really good candidates for help with bond.

Q: Your organization is also considering raising funds to pay fees for various immigration applications, correct?

A: Basically, we're looking into paying applications fees not just for DACA, but for other applications as well. We'll have to think carefully about what applications we're wanting to support just because there are a lot of them and they vary widely. There are just tremendous costs associated with filing an application for benefits for anything. Application fees run from $500 to $1,000. There's an advantage there in that because it's cheaper than a bond, but still has a similar effect of really assisting in stabilizing status here. I think the goal with that is to take this newly vulnerable group of people and see if we can stabilize them a bit more.

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