NAC Blog: NAHREP urges Congress to act on DACA, providing a path to citizenship for Dreamers

This week, NAHREP issued a statement expressing our disappointment in the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that affirmed the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program as unlawful. Last year, a Texas-based U.S. District Judge also ruled the program unlawful, in part because it did not follow typical administrative procedure – it had not been subjected to appropriate public notice and comment periods required under Federal law. Last week, the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the Texas court’s ruling, sending the case back to the lower court to review the newest version of the rule issued by the Biden Administration in late August. While the 600,000 DACA recipients currently enrolled have not lost their status, the program’s longevity and protections for Dreamers are at risk. Join NAHREP in urging your elected officials to provide a path to citizenship for DACA recipients here.

NAC Blog: Sneak Peek: 2022 State of Hispanic Wealth Report

In the fall of 2018, I had the opportunity to travel to Puerto Rico for a conference addressing the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. I had just started at NAHREP and was still getting acclimated to the culture of the organization. During that trip, I had the opportunity to get to know the Puerto Rico chapter well. It was through conversations with NAHREP leaders like Eric Haddock, Francisco Fernández, Enrique Morales, and Ivelisse Lopez, it clicked for me that there was so much more to NAHREP than meets the eye. NAHREP isn’t just a professional network or simply a group that advocates for homeownership opportunities for Latinos. It is an organization that lives, breathes, and sleeps wealth creation, grit, and economic mobility for themselves and for the broader Latino community. As an organization that is working to bridge the network, I realized that was the secret sauce – the culture. I was hooked.

NAC Blog: Where do your candidates stand on housing?

If there is nothing else you take away from these blogs, let it be this one thing: You have so much more power than you think. Now it’s time to use it.

When it comes to your elected officials, YOU are in charge. Don’t ever forget that. Every 2 to 4 years, you get to choose whether you want to keep your elected officials or to fire them. With that power comes a great deal of responsibility. And I know, ignorance is bliss. Most of us go about our days, solving problems that arise within our immediate families and/or businesses, and we don’t have time to “supervise or manage” our elected officials. But, if you think housing supply is the biggest issue impacting your clients and business right now, let’s do something about it! Use this upcoming election to actually review and vet your candidates – especially when it comes to housing issues.