Funding for the Department of Homeland Security remains unclear as Congress struggles to pass a bill that would address DHS’ upcoming budget expiration date. Democrats this week successfully blocked a bill from Republicans that would have gutted President Obama’s executive actions on immigration — executive actions that the president continues to move forward with.
On Wednesday, six DREAMers met with the president at the White House to discuss how the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and the Deferred Action for Parental Accountability (DAPA) improved their lives and the lives of their parents. One DREAMer, Maria Praeli, joined msnbc Thursday to share her story about her family’s journey from Peru, and said, “DACA has really empowered me to come out of the shadows, were as before it, I was really timid, I felt really ashamed of being undocumented, and I didn’t want anyone to know.”
Praeli added, “Now that I’m able to work and drive without fear, and I’m safe from deportation I can’t imagine my life without it.”
Junior Maria Praeli (who takes JRN160) met w @BarackObama today. We're proud of her! #Dreamers http://t.co/mqV6CZayqd pic.twitter.com/dXHaalBjYA
— QU Journalism (@QUJournalism) February 5, 2015Watch the full conversation in the video player above.
Nicole Acevedo
I am a bilingual national reporter specializing in issues affecting Latino communities in the U.S., the Caribbean and Latin America. Experience I have produced hundreds of stories across digital, radio and broadcast platforms throughout my career — reporting on everything from elections, natural disasters and immigration to pop culture trends, social justice issues and breaking news. I'm best known for my coverage of the crises affecting Puerto Rico, including its reconstruction process after Hurricane Maria, the island’s financial crisis and more. After graduating from the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University with a bachelor's degree in broadcast and digital journalism in 2016, I joined the inaugural cohort of students who helped launch the Spanish-language bilingual journalism master’s program at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY. Awards I was a 2024 finalist for the NAHJ/University of Florida award in investigative journalism for my reporting uncovering the challenges Puerto Rican families face in caring for their elders, given that the island’s population is aging faster than most places on Earth and fragmented by migration. I served as the lead reporter and writer of NBC News' 2022 Hispanic Heritage Month project “Who’s Latino? Amid growing numbers the definition is expanding,” which was awarded an NAHJ Ñ Award for best Latino issues story for print/digital.