Salas letter: Immigration

As President Trump prepares to take action on immigration reform, I would like to urge our representatives to think about the young people like me, leading better lives in consequence of DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals). Since the implementation of DACA I have been able to get my driver’s license, enabling me to achieve my dreams of going to college. I now attend the College of Western Idaho, where I’ll graduate this spring. Next fall I plan to enroll in BSU with the hopes of eventually becoming an immigration lawyer. While going to school I also work at a retail distribution center, earning a better wage than before DACA. I am one of the 2,500 DACA recipients in Idaho attending school and working, constantly adding to our economy and community. If DACA were to be repealed I would have to move back to Mexico and lose my education opportunities, job, and the friends and family I have built here over the last 24 years of my life. I hope that Idaho’s congressional delegation will remember the potential for personal and economic losses in our state and work toward a legislative solution that makes it possible for DACA recipients to keep contributing here in Idaho.

This story was originally published February 24, 2017 at 7:28 PM with the headline "Salas letter: Immigration."