Students and administrators of Harvard University held a rally Monday in support of people enrolled in Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, a program President Donald Trump has tried to end.
Organizers of the #DefendDACA Rally said the event aimed to support DACA recipients, TPS holders and undocumented immigrants "who are currently facing constant attacks by the administration, family separations by ICE and CBP, and constant threats to programs that have positively impacted the lives of thousands of immigrants, their families, and their communities."
Alma Oñate Munoz, who moved from Mexico at the age of 8, was in the crowd at the rally. She is currently a student at Harvard Medical School and said ending DACA could mean the end of her dreams of becoming a doctor.
"The decision the Supreme Court takes on this case will affect my ability to be a doctor in the future," Oñate Munoz said. "It's the thought of will I even be able to put these skills into practice? Will I be able to serve the people that I want to serve?"
Rodrigo Telles, a PhD student at Harvard, is in the same position.
"Without DACA, I wouldn't be able to be in school here. I wouldn't be able to afford it. I would constantly be afraid of being deported," Telles said.
The fate of more than 700,000 DACA recipients is at stake. The rally in Cambridge came as the U.S. Supreme Court was set to hear arguments Tuesday about Trump's attempt to end the program. The Trump Administration tried to shut DACA down in 2017 by declaring it illegal only to be blocked by the lower courts.
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The Supreme Court is not expected to issue a decision until the spring of 2020.
