On June 15, 2012, President Obama announced the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program to allow undocumented young people who came to the United States as children—commonly known as “DREAMers”—to apply for work permits and relief from deportation.

While this announcement presented a life-changing opportunity for LGBTQ DREAMers, it also carried $465 in fees in order to qualify. This posed steep hurdles for many DREAMers because neither they nor their parents had been able to obtain lawful employment due to their undocumented status. This was compounded for LGBTQ DREAMers who also face significant employment discrimination based on their LGBTQ status.

In order to make this program accessible for as many LGBTQ young people as possible, NCLR collaborated with the Evelyn & Walter Haas, Jr. Fund and the LA Gay & Lesbian Center, and many generous contributors to create the LGBTQ DREAMers Fund at the Liberty Hill Foundation to help LGBTQ undocumented young people cover the $465 fees required to apply for relief under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The fund raised $100,000 and was able to assist nearly 200 DREAMers.