Activists rally for clean DACA bill outside Rep. Engel’s office

<p>Activists rallied for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program in the Bronx.&nbsp;</p>

News 12 Staff

Feb 9, 2018, 2:28 AM

Updated 2,283 days ago

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Activists rallied for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program in the Bronx. 
About 100 people rallied in the cold Thursday outside Rep. Eliot Engel's office in Riverdale to demand a pathway to citizenship for the Dreamers, many of whom have no recollection of life outside the U.S.
As News 12 has reported, President Donald Trump will end protection for DACA recipients beginning next month. They are immigrants who were brought to the United States unlawfully as children.
One of them, who gave her name only as Maria, says she came to America from Mexico before her first birthday.
"I was raised here my entire life," she says. 
Now she attends Lehman College, where she studies business administration.
Among the ralliers was Tereza Lee, who is widely considered to be the first Dreamer. That's because she inspired the Dream Act, a failed piece of legislation that would have given people like her a pathway to citizenship.
"I realized we didn't have any rights in this country, so I decided I need to do something to help," she says.
Although she has gained citizenship for herself through marriage, she says she worries that people with similar backgrounds may just get kicked out of the country.


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