Faces of Dreamers: Laura Salas, Monmouth College

This is one in a series of posts on individual Dreamers, undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as young children, many of whom are under threat of deportation following the Trump administration’s decision last month to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy, or DACA.

Laura Salas, who was brought to the United States from Mexico 11 years ago, considers herself lucky. The DACA policy gave her the certainty she needed to pursue a college degree, and she now is a junior at Monmouth College (IL).

Salas was a freshman at Rauner College Prep in Chicago when she was granted DACA status.

“It was such a relief when I got it just because I knew I was safe for awhile,” she told The Hawk Eye (IA) newspaper.

A communications and public relations major at Monmouth, Salas said she hopes to attend graduate school and help undocumented students navigate life away from home.

Now, the DACA rescission, and waiting to see if Congress does as the president has requested and passes a long-term legislative fix protecting Dreamers, has thrown her future into question.

“I was really happy when I had DACA and I felt really safe, like I could have done something here,” she said. “Now I’m just scared and thinking about this every single day in class.”

To read the full story, click here.