Despite Barriers, DACA Entrepreneurs Contribute To Their Communities

Published January 25, 2024.

Rosa Barrientos-Ferrer, Silvia Mathema, and Trinh Q. Truong report on DACA recipient entrepreneurs’ experience in navigating barriers related to status, persisting, and ensuring other community members succeed alongside them. DACA recipient entrepreneurs Tobore Oweh — SEED grantee, previous Immigrants Rising program participant, and founder of The Petal Effect; Christian Serrano — CEO of Christian Serrano Construction Group; and Alejandro Flores-Muñoz — former Immigrants Rising program participant and owner of Combi Taco share how DACA has been instrumental in their entrepreneurial pursuits but remains limited in entrepreneurial resources such as loans to scale their businesses. Through knowledge-sharing and openness about their experiences, Tobore and Alejandro empower other undocumented individuals to entrepreneurship. Ultimately, a pathway to citizenship is necessary to ensure that undocumented immigrants and DACA recipients can have the “security and stability required to plan for the future, grow their businesses, hire more employees, and contribute even more to their communities.”

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