Nicoll Hernandez-Polanco, a Guatamalen transgender woman, came to the United States in October 2014 after surviving hate based harassment and violence in her home country. When she presented her case to the border patrol she was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers for past US deportations that occurred when she was an unaccompanied minor.
The federal DREAM Act is back. This week Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the longtime champion of the bill, chaired the first ever Senate hearing on the narrow legalization effort that would allow a select population of undocumented youth a pathway toward citizenship.