Hundreds rally in support of DACA at Twin Falls County Courthouse

Cheers and applause filled the grounds of the Twin Falls County Courthouse on Saturday. They were in support of the DACA program. Laura Prado's voice was one of those in support.

Prado's parents brought her to Jerome when she was 7 years old.

She went to school in South Central Idaho and graduated high school with a 4.0 GPA and as a part valedictorian.

"I got a bunch of scholarships, but I had to pay out of state tuition because I'm not a citizen," Prado said.

Prado is a DACA recipient. She enrolled in the program when she was 15. Now she is working in a pharmacy and studying pre-pharmacy at the College of Southern Idaho.

DACA stands for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. It was a program former President Barack Obama enacted to give people brought to the U.S. illegally as children a legal status to do things like work, go to school and get a drivers license.

All things that Prado has done. They are also all things Prado fears may be taken away after the announcement earlier this week that President Donald Trump plans to rescind the DACA program.

"I won't be able to work at the pharmacy anymore, and without being able to work then I can't pay for my schooling, so it kind of ruins my whole future," Prado said.

That's a fear shared by Paul Sturman. He is a college recruiter and has seen DACA students at high schools around the state.

"They know no other country except America," he said. "America is their land and we should support them."

Sturman wasn't alone. More than a hundred people gathered in Twin Falls to support DACA. Groups called Jerome United Making Progress, or JUMP, and Southern Idaho Progressive Coalition organized the rally. The Legislative District supported the rally as well.

"We don't just want to make a lot of noise, we want to move people into action," said Benjamin Reed, a spokesman for JUMP, "We're asking everyone to call congressman Mike Simpson, we're asking them to call our two senators and we are pleading with them to do something to come up with some legislation, not just for dreamers, but comprehensive immigration reform that will bring 11 million people out of the shadows."