Faces of Dreamers: Jacob Maldonado and Maria Campos, Trevecca Nazarene University

This is one in a series of posts on individual Dreamers, undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as young children, many of whom are under threat of deportation following the Trump administration’s decision in September 2017 to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy, or DACA.

Dreamers Jacob Maldonado and Maria Campos, best friends and fellow students at Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville, wondered whether it was still worth pursuing their college degrees after the 2016 elections and political winds shifting against the DACA policy that had granted them the ability to get work permits and protection from deportation.

But as The Hechinger Report details, they and other DACA students have persevered, prioritizing their educations despite uncertain futures in this country.

As the school year comes to an end, signs have emerged that still more will enroll and many already there will stay. This despite the DACA program’s precarious future, teetering between President Donald Trump’s threats to shut it down and federal court decisions that have so far blocked him.

To read the full story, click here.