Joe Biden was inaugurated the 46th President of the United States last week and signed 17 executive orders his first day in office. One executive order fortified the DACA program, an immigration policy that allows children to seek a work permit.
Erick Lopez, a 22-year-old political science major at UNO, is a “dreamer” protected under DACA and said he is happy to see the administration change.
“With Joe Biden, it was finally a chance to take a deep breath and relax for a while,” Lopez said.
Although happy to see Biden sign the action, Lopez said it is not enough.
“DACA was a good start, but it was always a Band-Aid to the issue. It was always a Band-aid to the 11 million immigrants here in the United States, and we need real immigration reform that is fair and just.”
Despite the issues immigration reform still poses on the United States, DACA and the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) have provided many opportunities he is thankful for, Lopez said.
Lopez and 50 other dreamers were given the Dreamer’s Pathway Scholarship, which assists DACA and Nebraska residents seeking an undergraduate degree at UNO. The scholarship provides tuition for up to five years, including tuition, books and all fees paid for.
Johnathan Benjamin-Alvarado, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and political science professor, said that the program has been a huge success at UNO.
“All the students that we get into it are pretty high-level retention and pretty high levels of graduation,” Benjamin-Alvarado said. “It is doing everything we want for the university.”
With the success of the program, high-performing students from Scottsbluff, Lincoln, Grand Island and Kearney have expressed interest in coming to UNO, Benjamin-Alvarado said.
Applicants for the Dreamer’s Pathway Scholarship must be admitted to UNO and have a minimum 2.5 GPA from a Nebraska high school.
Even though opposition to DACA still exists, hopefully the success and commitment of DACA students ends the controversy behind immigrants and the program, Lopez said.
“I feel that once you get know the people behind these stories, these stereotypes start breaking,” Lopez said.
