DACA and the Dreamer Movement, with Felicia Escobar Carrillo

You may know about the plight of Dreamers – over 3 million undocumented individuals who were brought here as children and are Americans in every way but immigration status. And you may know about DACA, the Obama-era policy that has allowed 800,000 Dreamers to pursue higher education, military service, and life out of the shadows.

But a quarter-century after the DREAM Act was first introduced, Congress still hasn’t provided permanent relief for Dreamers, and DACA is under threat.

Felicia Escobar Carrillo was Special Assistant to the President for Immigration Policy in the Obama White House, and tells the story of how DACA was created – after intensive organizing by Dreamers who continue to carry the torch today.

Learn More

Amanda, Claire, and Doug express their own personal opinions on The Melting Pod. This episode was produced by Michael Palmer (⁠palmer.media⁠). Read more about the topics in this episode:

* Dreamers in the United States: An Overview of the Dreamer Community and Proposed Legislation - National Immigration Forum (Dec. 2, 2025)

* My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant by Jose Antonio Vargas - New York Times (June 22, 2011)

* Astrid Silva: Meet the woman delivering the Democratic response to Trump in Spanish - ABC News (Feb. 27, 2017)

* How Democracy Works Now (2013) - free to watch with a library card

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