Cinthia Marroquin, North Carolina
Cinthia Marroquin was born and raised in Puebla, Mexico. At the age of 15, Cinthia moved to the United States. In 2012, Cinthia came out about her immigration status and has been involved with immigrant rights organizations in various ways. She was part of the NC Dream Team and National Immigrant Youth Alliance. Cinthia has organized Education Not Deportation trainings, as well as led public campaigns to stop deportations. She also led the successful campaign for driver licenses for DACA recipients in NC by pressuring the NCDOT and former Attorney General Roy Cooper. She is currently leading the Dreamers for a Bipartisan Solution national initiative.
Elisa Hernandez, North Carolina
Elisa Benitez Hernandez is the proud daughter of Mexican immigrants and is a U.S. Citizen by way of Durham, North Carolina. Elisa has been a community organizer for almost 10 years. She was formerly a member of the NC Dream Team, affiliated with The National Immigrant Youth Alliance. She trained Familias Unidas and organizes within the Charlotte-metro area to prevent the deportations of community members. In April 2017, Elisa was recognized as an Empowering Latina Woman for her contributions to the Charlotte area and immigrant justice. In addition to her work on immigrant rights, Elisa holds a Bachelors in History and a license in Secondary Education from UNC Charlotte. She is currently working towards a Masters in Latin American Studies at her alma mater and will be defending her thesis “Undocumented, Unafraid, and Unapologetic: Youth Fighting for Immigrant Rights, 2007-Present” in the Fall of 2018.
Isabel Castillo, Virginia
Isabel Castillo is a “DACAmented” immigrant from Mexico. From 2009 to 2012, Isabel, with hundreds of other young people, organized to change the conditions of those living in the U.S. as undocumented immigrants. With the National Immigrant Youth Alliance, Isabel planned rallies, organized a march on Capitol Hill, and staged a non-violent sit-in at the then U.S. Senate Majority Leader’s office to demand passage of the DREAM Act. In May 2011, the University of San Francisco awarded Isabel an honorary doctorate degree for her unwavering organizing and advocacy. Isabel is a community organizer with a grassroots non-partisan statewide organization called Virginia Organizing and holds a Bachelors of Social Work and Masters of Conflict Transformation from Eastern Mennonite University. When she’s not building power with community, she’s spending time with her family and playing soccer.
Johana De Leon, Texas
Johana De León was born and raised in Coahuila, Mexico and became an undocumented Texan in 2000. She is now a DACA recipient. Johana’s personal experiences have informed her commitment to immigrants’ rights. In addition to her work assisting DACA recipients and immigrants through her current job at the Equal Justice Center, Johana is also seeking a Bachelor’s of Social Work Degree at The University of Texas at Austin. Before EJC, Johana was responsible for the coordination of volunteers from all over the country who traveled to the Karnes Family Detention Center to provide legal representation and paralegal work on individual cases as well as national and local advocacy to end family detention.
Dulce Guerrero, Delaware
Dulce Guerrero, 24, was born in Nayarit, Mexico and came to the United States alongside her family at the age of three. Her family settled in Georgia where she lived 20 years prior to moving to Delaware. Dulce became active in Immigrant’s rights organizing after a minor traffic violation landed her mother in jail and on the verge of deportation in 2011. Since then, Dulce has dedicated her time to working on public campaigns to help stop the deportation of immigrants around the country. She was also a plaintiff in a 2013 lawsuit against the University System of Georgia where 29 DACA recipients sued the state for the ability to pay college tuition at the in-state rate. Dulce currently attends Delaware State University on a full ride scholarship where she is majoring in public policy. She is currently working with other Dreamers at Delaware State University to advocate for the passage of the Dream Act in Congress.