We support Dreamers

There is a cruel edge to President Trump’s decision to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). In the aftermath of national tragedies like Charlottesville and Hurricane Harvey, it is unconscionable that this Administration would increase the vulnerability of another 800,000 souls in our country, for no clear purpose. This move harms many while shoring up the political conviction of a few. It abandons the children who have grown up in American communities, attended schools here, served in the military, joined the workforce, and who know no other home than the United States.  It undermines economic growth in communities whose futures are tied to the social and economic resources supplied by immigrant residents. 

Congress has six months to create a new way forward to protect young people whose parents brought them to the United States. Rural America has a huge stake in this fight to create more humane and effective immigration policy.

Drawing Resilience: Maureen Hearty

Maureen Hearty transforms objects, space, and community, seeing art as a tool for action, education, and opportunity. The majority of her community-based work today is on the eastern plains of Colorado, considered one of the most sparsely populated areas in the United States. In Joes, Colorado (pop. 78), she is activating space using art, music, and the collection of story. In 2020, Maureen and her friend Kristin Stoltz were awarded an NEA grant for a project titled “Arts for a Prairie Seas: Farming Fluxus.”

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