Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals

Undocumented students and recent graduates in southwestern Washington are navigating uncertainty in the wake of changing immigration policy.

If approved next month, the additional $70 million would make Washington state a nationwide leader in help offered to the undocumented community, which has been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, Latino and Black people in particular. Last year, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced an unprecedented $125 million in aid for undocumented workers. Washington state is poised to match or exceed that amount.

As NPR reported earlier this week, the Trump administration has not been accepting new applicants even after the Supreme Court ruled last month that the administration didn't go about ending the program correctly.

Daniela Medina is a first-grade teacher in the Kennewick School District — at the same school she found herself in at age six when she and her family immigrated to Washington from Mexico in 2001. The Mid-Columbia Mastersingers are holding concerts January 10, 11 and 12 of music by immigrant composers to tell the stories behind the politics.