Juan Escalante

With much foresight to the oncoming political violence, Juan Escalante’s parents fled Venezuela, with Juan and his two brothers in tow, for the United States in 2000. In 2006, an immigration attorney mishandled the Escalante’s case, and they lost their immigration status.
 
By the time President Obama announced the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in 2012, Juan had graduated from Florida State University with a political science degree and had helped spearhead some of the digital tactics that are currently used by the Dreamer movement.
 
Thanks to DACA, Juan was able to return to FSU for a Master’s degree in public administration and continue his immigration work as a digital advocate.

A coffee enthusiast and firm proponent of pineapple on pizza, Escalante’s work has been covered and published in a wide range of publications including The New York Times, USA Today, Univision, and CNN.

He currently serves as the Communications Manager of the immigrant advocacy group in Washington DC and writes a bi-weekly column for the Huffington Post.

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