Motus Theater will host a visual arts exhibition and performance on Saturday, August 9 in Boulder, telling the stories of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). The performance will be preceded by a ‘Know Your Rights’ training session hosted by Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty. Boulder County Sheriff Curtis Johnson, Boulder Police Chief of Staff Alastair McNiven, and an immigration attorney will also be on hand to answer questions about Boulder County’s Immigrant Protection Initiatives.
The event will take place at the Canyon Theater and Gallery at the Boulder Public Library with the information session from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., followed by the reception and gallery opening of “Immigrant America: Reclaiming Our Presence” from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.
The Boulder County DA’s office said this would be a “powerful event,” which will also include a co-reading of a Motus monologist’s personal DACA story by Dougherty and former Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle. There is no price to attend the event, but registration is required.
“At a time when people who are undocumented are often demonized as ‘other’ for political gain, this exhibition invites viewers to look past our differences and find our shared humanity,” the event details state. “Regardless of individual beliefs about immigration policy, visitors will learn more about the impact of these policies on the lives of undocumented families.”
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is a program for individuals who arrived in the United States as children under the age of 16 before June 15, 2007. The program allows them to renew protection every two years, but it does not confer legal status or provide a pathway to citizenship. The program was signed into law by President Barack Obama on June 15, 2012. Arrivals after 2007 are not eligible for the program.
Colorado had about 13,180 active DACA recipients as of June 2022, with 8,240 of them living in the Denver-metro area. President Trump expressed intent to do something to provide legal protections to DACA recipients, also called “dreamers,” during a December Meet the Press interview. No action has been taken so far during this term.
In June, NBC News asked White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson about whether President Trump has a plan to follow through on providing protections for DACA recipients. Jackson said that "the Trump Administration’s top priority is deporting criminal illegal aliens from the United States, of which there are many."
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in January that the DACA program is unconstitutional in the case Texas v. United States. The court also upheld the stay from a lower court that allows DACA recipients to continue renewing their status while the case continues through further appeals.
