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the order was issued, to stay in the country and access education and employment. So, after she graduated, Love returned to Santa Fe and began processing DACA applications for students as an in-house lawyer for the school district where she had once taught. Thanks to her, Santa Fe became one of the only school districts in the country to offer aid to undocumented students, and 96 percent of the students Love represented went on to graduate from high school (compared to 65 percent of Santa Fe high school students overall). Within two years, her work had grown so popular that she took it off school grounds.

The Santa Fe Dreamers Project officially began as a solo act in March 2015. Love hosted a free drop-in legal clinic at a local church one night a week and processed 100 cases in her first year. The organization, which is funded by grants and donations, has since grown to include an office in Santa Fe and a weekly clinic in Albuquerque (chosen because of the increasing demand from dreamers in Colorado and Texas), and Love was able to hire two additional bilingual attorneys. Together, they’ve helped 700 people gain legal status through DACA.

Since this past election, their phones have
been ringing nonstop.

During his campaign,

Trump promised to end DACA immediately, and although that didn’t happen, the president’s hard-line approach to immigration so far—in January he ordered the suspension of the admission of refugees, blocked travelers from seven Muslim-majority ■| nations, and directed

the immediate construction of a U.S.-Mexico border wall—has Love and other activists fearing the worst. At press time, the Trump administration hadn’t yet said what would become of the 800,000 immigrants who have already been granted legal status under DACA if the policy is repealed, and a recent wave of ICE raids suggests a firm stance.

That’s why, until DACA’s fate is sealed, Love and her team will be on the road, sacrificing sleep and meals in order to help as many
immigrants as they can—all because they know every case they take on has the ability to make that person’s life better, safer, and more secure. One recent client is now working on a master’s degree; another was able to leave an abusive relationship as a result of her new immigration status. “These [policies provide] ladders out of poverty, and that has a long-term positive impact on the whole community,” Love says. “We’re showing what’s possible w