WASHINGTON, DC – FWD.us today announced the launch of the DACA Renewals Now campaign, a long-term educational campaign and resource drive to support the more than 700,000 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients who are impacted by changes to the DACA program.
The effort, which will continue through this year, will help encourage and facilitate DACA renewals for Dreamers by driving donations to organizations working around renewals, raising public awareness, and partnering with organizations to offer other related services, such as renewal clinics. The FWD.us Education Fund will adapt the campaign as needed pending the results of ongoing DACA-related litigation.
“In a time of uncertainty and chaos for Dreamers and their families, the DACA Renewals Now Campaign will provide vital educational resources and funding to help provide a little more peace of mind to Dreamers and the millions of Americans who stand with them,” said Katie Aragón, Informed Immigrant Program Director at the FWD.us Education Fund. “The funds raised will help power DACA renewals for Dreamers across the country, allowing them to continue contributing to the only country most have known as home.”
The campaign will be housed under Informed Immigrant, a resource-sharing platform and initiative for the immigrant community. DACA Renewals Now aims to provide helpful information on the renewal process and real-time updates around legal developments impacting DACA renewals to DACA recipients and those close to them. The campaign will also provide support to organizations working on the ground to provide renewal legal assistance and fee scholarships to DACA recipients around the country; DACA renewals cost $495 per individual renewal.
“The opportunity to renew my work authorization will help offer my life financial security and the means to continue working within my field of passion,” said Eriko Tsogo, a DACA recipient and Mongolian-American artist, who was able to renew his work permit with the help of DACA Renewals Now partner the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition (CIRC). “I am an artist and a Dreamer who seeks to be an active member of my community and give back to my country as much as America has given to me."
To kick off the campaign, the FWD.us Education Fund has pledged up to $2,500 in matching donations for each of eight partners supporting DACA renewals in the field, as well as an additional $5,000 in matching donations for the GoFundMe Protect DACA Fund. The non profit organizations being highlighted for matching donations are:
- GoFundMe Protect DACA Fund
- Americans for Immigrant Justice (AIJ)
- Coalition for Humane Immigrant and Refugee Rights (CHIRLA)
- Cabrini Immigrant Services of NYC
- Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition (CIRC)
- Dream Action Oklahoma (DAOK)
- Latino Community Fund of Georgia (LCF)
- National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC)
Key Links for the DACA Renewals Now Campaign:
The DACA Renewals Guide can be found here.
Donations to the DACA Renewals Now partner organizations can be made here.
“LCF Georgia is committed to supporting DACA renewals as it allows some members of our hardworking community to continue to work, drive, increase access to opportunities for post temporary education and effectively provides relief from deportation,” added Gilda Pedraza, Executive Director at the Latino Community Fund of Georgia. “As the only fund in the state providing financial assistance to Latinx DACAmented individuals, we are committed to expanding legal protections and economic development opportunities for immigrants in Georgia.”
The launch of the DACA Renewals Now campaign is the second DACA-related donations program FWD.us has announced in the last week. On June 28, FWD.us and GoFundMe announced a renewed partnership to boost donations to the Protect DACA Fund, a nationwide effort started in 2018 to provide support to Dreamers across the country.