DENVER — On July 4th, I was out picking up tortillas for a family barbecue when I saw two ICE vans pull up and take someone away. My heart stopped. I felt angry and helpless. I wanted to do something, but I knew I couldn’t. 

I have permission to live and work in the United States, but it’s through DACA. So I knew that intervening would likely put me and my family at risk. That is the reality for all immigrants right now, even those who, like me, have status that is supposed to protect us from this violence. 

The current administration has put a target on the backs of all immigrants, whether or not they have permission to be in the U.S. legally. We’ve seen the scary videos of mothers pulled away from their kids, or older men dragged from inside their vehicles.  

Dreamers like me, and all immigrants, need stronger protections to continue contributing to our communities without being paralyzed by fear. If we cannot get the change we need at the federal level right now, we need our states and municipalities to step up to protect all the people who live there. 

I came to this country when I was one year and three months old. I’ve spent all my life here. I grew up in Garden City, Kansas, and now reside in Denver, Colorado, where I am raising a child. I’m a wife, a mom, and a small business owner. I pay my taxes. But right now, I am one of millions of people in this country who feel their lives could be upended at any moment. 

Every day, I receive fewer clients for my mobile notary business, where I assist individuals with powers of attorney and other services. No one wants to leave their house. No one wants to be seen. Not even to buy groceries. You walk into a store and see teenagers instead of adults, because their parents are afraid ICE is waiting outside. 

Even with all the heaviness, I do what I can to help others. I drive to people’s homes to help them with legal paperwork, often for free, because I know how hard things are for them right now and because I still have more options than many of them do to move around and get things done. People call me crying. I know that fear. I carry it, too. 

I know that the pressure on state and local governments to cooperate with federal immigration actions is tough. I saw it in my home state of Colorado a few months ago. In April, Governor Jared Polis moved to comply with a subpoena from ICE seeking personal information on sponsors of unaccompanied minors, despite having signed state laws against sharing personal information with ICE in 2021 and 2025. A court order stopped it.  

A month later, the governor signed into law a bill to strengthen data privacy and limit cooperation with ICE. He did the right thing there, but his previous actions make me uncertain that Colorado Dreamers and other immigrants can count on him to protect them. And there are still reports that Colorado still cooperates with ICE agents.

In some states, lawmakers have introduced bills that help Dreamers, by allowing them to qualify for in-state tuition (Georgia, Hawai’i, and New York), that allow them to get valid state driver’s licenses like they do here in Colorado (New Hampshire), and to get professional licenses (South Carolina). We need these bills to pass, and for more states to approve similar laws. 

I wanted to be excited about the Dream and Promise Act getting reintroduced in February. This federal bill would finally provide a path to citizenship for individuals like me, as well as those with Temporary Protected Status and Deferred Enforced Departure. However, I also understand that passing a bill, such as the one on immigration reform, will take time and effort. I hope we can see it become a reality before it’s too late for a lot of us. When the time comes, I will do all I can to get my representatives to back it.

Dreamers and other immigrants deserve the chance to live without fear. To raise our children in peace. To keep giving back to the only country we’ve ever called home. 

Right now, it feels like that dream is slipping further away. But I will continue to help my family and neighbors because that is how we make community and keep each other safe. 

Nayelli Bandera is a DACA recipient in Denver. She came to the U.S. from Durango, Mexico at just over a year old. Now a wife and mother, Nayelli has served her community as a mobile notary for over four years, after previously working as a lab technician.

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Mario Guevara Press Conference: From NBC News, “A Spanish-language journalist who was arrested while covering a protest just outside Atlanta last month and is being held in a federal immigration jail felt a duty to help those whose voices often go unheard, his children said Tuesday.”

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