skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

NM Dreamer Reflects on State of Union Message

play audio
Play

Wednesday, January 31, 2018   

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – A leading advocate for Dreamers in New Mexico, and a recipient of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, accompanied U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich to Tuesday night's State of the Union speech.

Ivonne Orozco-Acosta graduated from the University of New Mexico and has been a teacher for the past four years. She is hopeful that President Donald Trump and Congress will follow through on sparing Dreamers from deportation so she can keep teaching.

"I have a responsibility to return and give back to my community, and the only way that I can do that is through having legal protections,” Orozco-Acosta states. “And there's just such an urgency for this issue.

“There's always a fear for me, you know, waking up in the morning with a lot of uncertainty. You know, it is scary times right now."

Trump says if Dreamers receive an education, meet work requirements and show good moral character, they could become U.S. citizens in 12 years.

Orozco-Acosta was born and raised in Mexico until she was 12 years old, when her family immigrated to the United States. She maintains most DACA recipients have shown they deserve U.S. citizenship.

"DACA is a merit-based program,” she points out. “Not everyone gets in. There was an extensive background check. These are people that are not asking for handouts. We have done the work and we deserve a solution."

Trump's speech was delivered just nine days before another congressional budget showdown looms – this one to include the fight over immigration policies that includes DACA.

Trump has said a DACA solution is possible, but only if a long-promised border wall with Mexico is built.

Orozco-Acosta wonders if people who support the wall really understand what that means.

"I think people think of this wall being somewhere where there's nothing there, but the reality is that there are communities, people that live there, that would really disrupt their lives, and so I think people need to look at the bigger picture," she states.

Orozco-Acosta was recently named New Mexico's 2018 Teacher of the Year.





get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021