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

Give More

Want to help build a more sane and humane immigration system? Support hardworking organizations like these:

National:

* ⁠#AfghanEvac⁠ – working to ensure the U.S. keeps its promise to our Afghan allies

* ⁠Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project⁠ – the country’s largest membership organization of asylum seekers, working together for change

* ⁠Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI)⁠ – organizing and advocating for racial, social and economic justice

* ⁠Haitian Bridge Alliance⁠ – providing humanitarian, legal, and social services

* ⁠International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP)⁠ - strategic litigation and advocacy to uphold the rights of people seeking safety

* ⁠Justice Action Center⁠ - immigrant justice through litigation and storytelling

Local:

* ⁠Al Otro Lado⁠ - legal and humanitarian support to refugees, deportees, and other migrants in the U.S. and Tijuana

* ⁠Catholic Charities Rio Grande Valley⁠ - providing assistance to the poor and most vulnerable populations in the Rio Grande Valley community

* ⁠Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center⁠ - free and low-cost legal services to immigrants and refugees in West Texas, New Mexico, and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico

* ⁠Support an immigration service provider near you⁠

Chapters

(0:00:00) Intro

(0:01:29) Who is Felicia Escobar Carrillo?

(0:03:43) Doug does his best Simpsons Teenager voice 

(0:06:00) Felicia cuts her teeth in Texas

(0:10:37) “It’s very easy to testify at a state hearing” 

(0:14:54) Plyler v. Doe and the right to education

(0:15:51) Organizing for the DREAM Act

(0:21:34) The bravery of undocumented youth speaking up 

(0:26:33) The tenacity of Sen. Dick Durbin

(0:28:37) How to work in the White House while finishing law school

(0:32:26) The nailbiter DREAM Act vote of 2010

(0:39:22) Obama comforts his team: “We’re gonna get there”

(0:41:31) Why didn’t the DREAM Act pass? 

(0:45:20) Doug can’t stop ranting against the filibuster…

(0:47:36) …and nativists

(0:50:18) Dreamers keep getting deported under Obama

(0:58:33) What can we get done without Congress? 

(1:03:13) The White House gets serious

(1:07:02) What makes DACA legal? 

(1:09:14) Obama announces DACA in the Rose Garden

(1:14:44) The 60-day sprint to get DACA running 

(1:20:54) Implementation Day 

(1:25:18) The amazing stories of individual Dreamers

(1:30:29) Congress still has to act

(1:33:50) Conclusion – “for anyone out there who’s just paralyzed by cynicism…”