This is historical material “frozen in time”. The website is no longer updated and links to external websites and some internal pages may not work.

Search form

Watch: Honoring "DACAmented Teachers" as Champions of Change

Today, the White House honored nine “DACAmented Teachers” — extraordinary educators with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status — as Champions of Change.

Watch the full event below:

Watch on YouTube

On June 15, 2012, President Obama announced that the Department of Homeland Security would establish DACA, which allows select undocumented individuals who came to the United States as children and meet several guidelines to obtain temporary relief from removal and to apply for work authorization.

Since the 2012 announcement, more than 650,000 people have received DACA and many of those individuals have chosen to take on work in critical fields of service to the nation. Among them are DACA recipients taking on the challenging and noble work of being a teacher.

Today's event -- which honored nine such teachers who have been strong role models for students and families as well as change agents within their communities -- also featured remarks by Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council Cecilia Muñoz, and actress and immigrants' rights advocate Diane Guerrero.

Read more about the honorees here.