DACA YOUTH
ARE  HERE TO STAY

Bolingbrook, IL (June 18) - The Southwest Suburban Immigrant Project (SSIP) is a social impact organization committed to community organizing for the rights of immigrants in Chicago’s southwest suburbs through education, civic engagement, and advocacy.

Yesterday morning, the U.S. Supreme Court released a 5-4 decision in favor of reinstating the DACA program. This decision did not arise from nowhere. Rather, this result comes from years of undocumented youth organizing for themselves, their families, and their communities. 

On November 12, 2019, 7 youth leaders from SSIP took to Washington D.C. to make their demands known. Since that day, 680,000 DACA recipients across the nation, 42,000 of whom live in Illinois, have been waiting on a decision.

One SSIP youth leader and student at Joliet Junior College, Alessandra Cadenillas, who was in the Supreme Court building on the day of the hearing, shared, “The decision today definitely gave me a sense of security for my future and motivation to have a career in Nursing. I’ll have the opportunity to help my community. It allows me to continue working in the field that I love most and that’s the healthcare field.”

The recent pandemic highlighted the thousands of DACA holders working in the health frontlines. DACA has provided many members of our communities the opportunity to work and to take care of their families. Now, this opportunity will be open to new applicants in the near future.

“As we celebrate this enormous victory today, we know the fight continues. We stand in solidarity with individuals and organizations across the nation fighting for respect and human dignity. From the Black Lives Matter movement to the fight for full citizenship for all, this journey does not end with DACA. We will not stop until everyone has access to a life without fear.” said SSIP’s Community Organizer Tanner Simeon-Cox.

This November, SSIP plans to make sure that our voices are heard and that our Black and immigrant communities go out to vote in record breaking numbers. Today, we take a moment to celebrate this victory, that could not have been possible without all the support of our communities!

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