Listen to the Full "Turnout" Interview with Dulce Matuz:

Latin Post presents "Turnout", a series that features leading Latino politicians, government leaders and advocacy groups discussing and debating the most important issues facing the Latino voting bloc.

Immigration has been among the top three issues for U.S. Latinos nationwide leading up to and after the midterm elections, but it has been an extensive issue for several years for residents in Arizona, home to a 30.3 percent Latino population, higher than the 17.1 percent national average. One individual involved in Arizona's movement for immigrants' rights, Dulce Matuz, came to the U.S. as an undocumented immigrant from Hermosillo, Mexico, more than a decade ago. While personally experiencing setbacks due to the Grand Canyon State's lawmakers, she found that engagements with the youth can bring necessary reforms.

Matuz is the co-founder of the Arizona DREAM Act Coalition (ADAC), an organization formed with fellow undocumented immigrant youths as a result of a controversial law requiring verification of immigration status for individuals applying for state-funded services such as child care and adult education, including in-state tuition and financial aid. The law, known as the Public Program Eligibility Act, or Proposition 300, impacted immigrants across the state but national efforts have made some progress.

Since President Barack Obama issued the 2012 executive action creating the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and the 2014 announcement of the Deferred Action for Parental Accountability (DAPA), Matuz said the deferred action programs are "a step forward in the right direction."

"Deferred action is just one option towards a solution," Matuz said. "It's a step towards a solution, but it's not a permanent solution."

"For us, it's not about politics, it's about family unification and stopping the pain the deportation machine has done to our communities," said Matuz, adding, "A lot of people, when they talk about immigration, they think about it as a 'black and white' issue and for us it's not like that."

According to Matuz, politicians have decided to use the immigration issue as "political football" and have polarized the matter.

Obama's latest immigration executive action included an expansion of DACA and creation of DAPA. While DAPA was not scheduled to start until mid-May, the new DACA rules were set to be in effect Feb. 18, but a temporary injunction by a federal court judge in Texas paused the deferred action programs until further notice.

"I believe we need to be, as America, on the right side of history. Sometimes it takes us a little bit longer to make a morally-right decision but unfortunately there are those individuals who continue to attack families and the unification of families and having solutions," said Matuz about the DACA and DAPA's delay.

While Matuz said there are people who want to "create fear," the temporary injunction is another roadblock. As an activist and a DREAMer living in the U.S. for more than a decade, Matuz said she identified a pattern when success does not arrive suddenly but in return sees opportunity for improvements for future generations.

"We are not just setting an example for this country, but we're setting an example for the rest of the world," she said. "If we are able to solve immigration, a problem, in a compassionate way and in a common sense way, I think that other countries will follow because immigration is not just a problem that is happening here in the U.S., it's something that's going on in the rest of the world, especially with all the conflict that is going on."

Although progress for immigrant rights was made, Matuz said the advancements have consistently been under attack or challenged. She said regardless of legal status or being Latino, there needs to be push to achieve an educated community. While ADAC has been committed to engage Latino voters, the coalition does not endorse political candidates. Matuz believes people have to be taught and be empowered on how to make their own decisions.

"It would make no sense or progress for us to tell people who to vote for. People are smart enough to know who's for them and who's against them," said the ADAC co-founder.

Matuz acknowledged Sen. Marco Rubio's, R-Fla., political presence while being a Latino.

"He's bilingual. He speaks English and Spanish. He gives an interview to the Spanish media. He gives an interview to the English media. And he changes his talking point. When a person believes that he can go and give a different opinion because it's in different languages, it's offensive. Because they're giving off the message we're not paying attention? That we're not smart enough?"

As the temporary injunction is still in effect and pending an appeal from the Obama administration, Matuz still called for undocumented immigrants to utilize the deferred action programs, which she recognized as "stepping stones" to a larger picture. The activist also wants people to become familiarized with technology, specifically with the FileRight software, which offers U.S. government immigration forms and clarification ranging from the deferred action programs, citizenship and permanent residency inquiries.

Matuz's engagements with ADAC led to recognition in TIME magazine's "100 Most Influential People in the World," "25 Most Powerful Women" by People en Español and the 40 Hispanic Leaders Under 40 Award.

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For the latest updates, follow Latin Post's Michael Oleaga on Twitter: @EditorMikeO or contact via email: m.oleaga@latinpost.com.

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