We are seeking community support to help Daniela fight an arduous battle in immigration court. She is a DACA recipient with a pristine trajectory in the United States who is being forced into proceedings in Atlanta, GA. The community can show their support for her legal and defense fund!

Daniela Valladares Hernandez is a DACA recipient who is in danger of being deported to Honduras, a country she fled in order to survive. She’s asking for community support because her life is in danger if she’s deported. Daniela fled Honduras after facing brutal violence from government officials and members of the police. She came to the United States at six years old, alone, carrying a tiny purple backpack and wearing bright orange shorts –she wanted to feel like Dora the Explorer on an adventure. Inside that backpack were all of her childhood belongings: her Rapunzel and Swan Lake Barbie dolls.

Daniela almost didn’t make it. She nearly drowned crossing the Rio Grande. When she was pulled from the water by CBP, instead of being comforted, she was handcuffed. At 6 years old, she watched her dolls fall onto the dirt losing everything she loved as the handcuffs tightened around her tiny wrists. She was placed in detention, and deportation proceedings began.

From the age of six, Daniela learned quickly that survival meant she didn’t have the luxury of mistakes. She poured herself into school and work to achieve her goals. She seized every opportunity given with the intent of reaching excellence.

Despite threats of ICE being called on her or being told she did not have the right to attend college because of her status by her high school counselor, Daniela graduated at the top of her high school class, with eleven honor cords. She earned the Posse Scholarship, attended George Washington University, and later transferred to Cornell University College of Industrial and Labor Relations where she graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Industrial and Labor Relations with an minor in inequality studies, while working multiple jobs.

After decades of “doing everything right,” her immigration case has been reopened. Her court hearing is in Georgia and her first request to appear remotely or change venue to California was denied. Daniela is terrified of being detained again, and even more terrified of being deported to a country where she has no family, no support, and where she fears that her life will be threatened. The state of Georgia denied her an opportunity and sought to swallow Daniela alive; it sought to assert a claim over her yet again. Daniela’s life is in California. She deserves to fight her case here, surrounded by the community that loves and cares for her.

Daniela has spent her whole life trying to survive, trying to contribute, trying to make the most of every chance she was given. She is not asking for special treatment. She is asking for the chance to stay alive. She has spent every moment in this country proving her worthiness to belong.

Daniela cannot do this alone. She needs the support of her community. She needs allies who believe in fairness, in compassion, and in giving people a chance to live in safety. By signing this petition, you’re not only saying “Daniela, I support you”-- you are potentially saving her life, and liberating her from the violence she endured as a child.

Her name is Daniela.

She is a Dreamer.

Daniela’s fight is far from a small one. Please consider donating to her legal defense and battle fund so she can stand up against such grave injustice.

Read More: https://www.capradio.org/articles/2026/04/14/sacramento-daca-recipient-ordered-to-travel-thousands-of-miles-for-court/

My name is Giselle Garcia and I am the Programs Director at NorCal Resist, a mutual aid nonprofit that assists vulnerable neighbors. The beneficiary of this fundraiser is Perla “Daniela” Valladares Hernández.