New downtown mural honors immigrants, event held to renew DACA registration

Immigration has been top of mind following the President's push to secure the border. Even after President Trump said the deal for DACA recipients may be off the table, some aren't giving up hope.

A local organization held an event to empower immigrants and renew their DACA registration. The event centered around a new mural off of Central Avenue.

The mural is titled, "Unlocking Your Potential and Freedom," and it honors Dreamers.

Lucinda Hinojos is the artist.

"I'm doing this for the Dreamers. I'm born and raised here, but these are our friends, our families, our classmates, our neighbors, our peers, our activists," Hinojos said.

A special dedication ceremony on Sunday unveiled the mural to community members while offering a message to DACA recipients.

"We're here to help and support DACA and recipients and right now there is a lot of confusion so it's important to use this medium to call to educate the community," said a woman.

Oscar Hernandez is a senior at ASU and is a DACA recipient.

He says this November he will lose his DACA status, but he has submitted his reapplication since the window opened up.

"You can reapply every two years. That was at least under the Obama administration. Under Trump, right now it's not certain. He extended it, but as of now we're not sure so after these two years I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to reapply," Hernandez said.

The artist hopes this mural will bring a new perspective to those who see it.

"This just means a lot and to be here a part of it and to contribute, a little bit of dancing, a little bit of our culture," said another woman.

"I always say we don't know each other, but we need each other and we are all different, but we are still the same human being," Hinojos said.

And at the ceremony, recipients were able to renew their DACA applications.