Dreamers at Delaware State University discuss DACA
At the end of a recent forum on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy, Maria Fernanda Lima, a Dreamer attending Delaware State University, looked at the 100 people in the audience and said, “I never imagined seeing such a large group of Americans smiling at me.”
Lima was one of five Dreamers on a panel of young men and women who came to the U.S. prior to June 15, 2007, and currently attend Delaware State University on TheDream.US Scholarship. This is a privately funded program for Dreamers who are locked out of attending college or forced to pay out-of-state tuition in their home state. Delaware State currently has 75 Dreamer scholars and is expected to have a total of approximately 120 by the fall 2018 semester.
Kevin Noriega, director of the Opportunity Scholars Program at Delaware State, introduced the panel and talked about the rigorous requirements of the scholarship. He also explained that while the scholarship covers tuition, fees, room and board, it does not cover the cost of textbooks, course access codes, and other educational supplies which can add up to $3,000 a year. Dreamers also must pay a $495 application fee every two years to renew their DACA status.
The students told the audience how important DACA is to them and spoke about the stress they currently are experiencing from not knowing the fate of DACA, which protects them from deportation. They described their lives before receiving the scholarship, of working in a factory or working full time and taking one or two courses at a time in a community college. And they spoke of their fear for the fate of family members who do not have DACA status.
They expressed how grateful they are to be in Delaware and for the warm welcome they have received from the students, faculty and administrators at Delaware State, the governor, the three members of Delaware’s federal delegation and several state legislators.
Sponsored by the Progressive Democrats of Sussex County, the event was also a fundraiser to help Dreamer Scholars at Delaware State University cover costs and fees not covered by their scholarship. To contribute to help the Dreamers at Del State, send a check payable to DSU Foundation and write Dreamers Success Account on the memo line. Mail checks to Kevin Noriega, Library 221B, Delaware State University, 1200 North DuPont Highway, Dover, DE 19901.
For more information about DACA and the Dream.US Scholarship, contact Noriega at 302-857-6188 or kenoriega@desu.edu.
