With continued uncertainty about the future of the Deferred Action of Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA, a community art project recently stopped at the University of Nevada, Reno, to highlight the issue.
The Inside Out Dreamers Project aims to show solidarity with so-called Dreamers by letting community members take their pictures in a photo booth truck. The images are then pasted on the sidewalk for all to see.
The event, held earlier this month, included a press conference where local DACA recipients and community organizers discussed the DREAM Act, which would offer protection to undocumented young immigrants vulnerable to deportation.
At UNR specifically it’s been great. There’s been a lot of families, a lot of kids, a lot of students, teachers, faculty members and everyone’s really excited because I think that they understand that, in this campus specifically, there’s a lot of undocumented students, there’s a lot of teachers and allies that support their students,” she said. “Everyone is American, and that’s the point that we’re trying to make.”
The project will be moving on to other states including Utah, Arizona, and Texas, stopping in over 30 cities.
Congress has a limited window of time to determine the fate of the program, and a group of conservative attorneys general says DACA was an abuse of presidential power during the Obama administration.
This report was produced in partnership with NPR member station Reno Public Radio, KUNR 88.7 FM.