Staff. – Armed with two bachelor’s Degrees from Arizona State University (Political Science and Transborder Studies) and a master’s degree in Secondary Education from Grand Canyon University, Reyna Montoya still feels somewhat in limbo in the United States, a country she has embraced, loved and calls home.
Montoya is a DACA recipient (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals); she was born in Tijuana, Mexico and migrated to Arizona in 2003 fleeing violence. Her grandfather was murdered, and her dad was kidnapped.
On June 18th the Supreme Court ruled that President Donald Trump’s order to end the program cannot be stopped.
“I feel a bit of relief to know that a lot of young people like me will still be protected through DACA,” stated Montoya. “At the same time this is not a complete victory, it is only temporary,” she added.
Supreme Court’s Chief Justice John Roberts was the swing vote (5-4) that kept the program alive.
The eight-year old program will keep temporarily protecting young immigrants from deportation and allow them work authorization.
“There is still a lot of work to do and we are focusing our efforts in what comes next for all of us; there are still people who are not protected,” stated Reyna.
“I think about my mom and others who we don’t know if they will qualify for DACA. We need to think about what we are going to do for them while congress decides to make it into a permanent law.”
DACA has protected nearly 800,000 young immigrants know as Dreamers, who were brought to the United States as children.
“It is now in the hands of the Senate,” Montoya told VivaPhoenix.com. “It is time for the Democrats and Republicans to stop playing hot-potato with this issue, but again at the end of the day, the Trump Administration will keep on trying to block the program.”
“It is also time for president Trump to stop talking so much and do what is best for this country,” added Montoya.
According to Reyna Montoya 9 out of 10 voters approve of a measure for a road to citizenship for DACA recipients and 69 percent of those voter approve a measure for a road to citizenship for all of those who contribute in many ways to this country.
Reyna Montoya is the founder and CEO of “Aliento” an organization, according to its website, is described as follows: We are a community organization that is DACA, undocumented, and youth-led. We are directly impacted people and allies who are invested in the well-being, emotional healing, and leadership development of those impacted by the inequalities of lacking an immigration status.
