44. How a DACA Organizer Became a Leading Activist For Immigration Rights in El Paso – Claudia Yoli Ferla, Executive Director at MOVE Texas

Immigration Today!

On the 44th episode of Immigration Today!, Angeline Chen welcomes Claudia Yoli Ferla. Claudia is the Executive Director at MOVE Texas, a nonprofit organization working to build the social, cultural, and political power of young people in Texas. She is a dedicated community organizer born in Venezuela and raised in El Paso, Texas. A proud DACA recipient and community organizer, Claudia draws from her personal experiences to amplify the voices of young people and immigrants in Texas, a state at the epicenter of the national immigration debate. Under her leadership, MOVE Texas is driving the fight for a more just and inclusive future at the Texas State Capitol. Claudia is proud to be part of the generation of young people who won the protections of the DACA program and who unapologetically continue to tell the world that immigrant stories do not belong in the shadows.

Immigration issues are deeply personal to Claudia, as she is a DACA and TPS recipient still waiting for her opportunity to become a US citizen. Throughout her youth, she directly faced the complications of what it meant to have her future at the discretion of an immigration system that didn’t favor her. During and after college she became connected with organizations that did direct policy work in D.C., later with communities that implemented social change in El Paso, and eventually became inspired by the youth that she worked amongst to lead an organization like MOVE Texas who is founded by young people for young people with a mission to increase political participation.

You can keep up with MOVE Texas work via their website, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter/X. Follow Claudia on LinkedIn. Please subscribe to our immigration newsletter to stay up to date with any new episodes!

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