Democracy Café

At age 5, Yuleymi Mariano, originally from Acapulco, Mexico, was separated from her mom as she travelled north to cross the border into Mexico. Yuleymi's indelible memory, when at last reunited with her mom days later, is of seeing her mom, who crossed the Sonora Desert, with her feet bleeding badly from the harrowing journey. For an extended period, Yuleymi had to live in hiding at an abandoned home in Texas, until she and her family then made there way to Philadelphia, where she lives to this day. Yuleymi graduates next month from Constitution High School, a public magnet school in Center City Philadelphia. She's already enrolled at Philadelphia Community College, and is excited about her future. At the same time, she -- as with so many other children of parents who are undocumented immigrants -- lives in limbo, not knowing if or when her status as part of the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program will be revoked, and whether she, as one of the hundreds of thousands of DACA 'Dreamers', mi