Meet the 22-Year-Old Organizer Powering the Movement for Immigrants’ Rights

For Sara Mora, it is nearly impossible to separate the personal from the political. Born in Costa Rica, Sara immigrated to the United States with her family when she was three years old. As a teenager in New Jersey, she joined the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA), which offers a two-year renewable legal status to undocumented immigrants who entered the US as children. Like so many DACA recipients, Sara’s whole world shifted when the White House proposed an end to the program, leaving thousands at risk of deportation. With their DACA statuses in jeopardy, young people were left not knowing whether they could get jobs, keep their in-state tuition rates, or even travel outside of the country safely. Most recently, the House has passed the DREAM and Promise Act, which would provide a path to citizenship for young people with temporary status, like DACA recipients. However, it’s unlikely that this legislation will get beyond the House to the Senate or the President.

Now 22, Sara is a leading voice in the fight for immigrants’ rights as the co-president of Women’s March Youth Empower, and the founder of Who Is Our 2020, a social platform for promoting youth voter turnout and engagement, launching this summer. With a diverse group of followers, Sara uses her influence to empower her generation to create positive change and to break down the stigma of what it means to be an undocumented person in America.

DoSomething: Tell us about the work you’re involved with right now.

Sara: Currently, I am working with workers unions, non-profits/community organizations, and immigration reform initiatives to provide media strategy which will help better amplify and send clear messages online [and in the] news about the work communities are currently doing on the ground and all wins associated to the work. This summer, I am specifically heading to the border, and the goal is to provide free social media workshops/media trainings for organizations leading the work who might not be able to afford a media strategist. In addition to these workshops, I will be on a “tour” with #WhoIsOur2020, which is a campaign I’m launching in June. This campaign looks to engage communities to speak their truth, build solidarity, and vote.

How has your experience as a DACA recipient informed your activism?

More than my experience as a DACA recipient, I think my experience as a minority from a young age has applied all of the pressure of ensuring I was educated enough for my family, my community, and myself. Knowing that those around me could be in danger, would feel fear because of language barrier, financial insecurity, amongst so many other adversities led me at a young age to understand I needed to be 10 times more prepared than everyone.

What might people misunderstand about what it means to be an undocumented young person?

That undocumented people come from so many different countries, have so many different occupations and cannot be pointed out because we have all lived our lives in different parts of the country with different levels of access and varied lifestyles.

What should more people be talking about when it comes to the fight for immigrants’ rights?

Even when it’s not trending on the news, the need for immigration reform is actively impacting the livelihood of my community. We need for people to be informed on issues to the point where we continue to push for change while educating others, even when we’re not being reminded of it on social media/television.

What advice would you give to young people looking to take action around immigration reform?

Even if you don’t have experience in change-making spaces, your story makes the difference. Entering a space of change-making or embarking on beginning your own initiative that will create change is already a step towards making the difference. Understand that you are more brave than you think while also taking care of yourself. Even doing little things that take care of you will allow for you to better help others. Self-care is a luxury, but to whatever extent, be conscious of yourself while on this journey of taking action towards immigration reform.

What are your biggest hopes for the future?

My biggest hope is something I work towards on a daily. That future generations don’t look back and see complacency as the legacy they were left with. My hope is that they will be able to build off the work of change makers and advocates of my generation.