The UNM Division for Equity and Inclusion hosted a webinar this week exploring the potential repercussions facing the undocumented population in the midst of a transforming national political landscape. from Paper Clip Communications regarding “Undocumented Students: The New Administration & What It means for this special population”
“There is no clue as to what the administration will do in regards to students who are undocumented, families are living in a great state of fear,” said Tatyana Kleyn, an associate professor at The City College of New York, as well as faculty advisor for the college’s Dream Team.
Kleyn and Dream Team co-founder Isabel Mendoza were the featured speakers of the webinar.
According to the group’s Facebook page, the Dream Team is “an undergraduate club at The City College Of New York. Its purpose is to create a space for undocumented students and their allies.”
UNM has its own chapter of the Dream Team that works to advocate for undocumented students.
“There have always been questions from our DACA students about what the new administration will do in light of immigration policy,” said Lorena Blanco-Silva, program manager for the Division of Equity and inclusion.
“We work closely with El Centro de la Raza to help our students in a really wonderful way,” she said. “We figured we would do the seminar and be more aware of what’s happening.”
The webinar covered the “new context for undocumented immigrants” in a Trump presidency.
Kleyn said there is very hateful rhetoric regarding illegal immigrants, and people are feeling more at liberty to take part in discriminatory actions or say discriminatory words.
The “micro-aggressions” are becoming “macro-aggressions” when referring to the prevalence of hate speech, as well as violence against illegal immigrants in the U.S. since the Nov. 8 election, according to Kleyn.
The executive office has put undocumented students in danger, she said, as Trump has made promises to repeal programs and remove people from the country.
“CCNY has advised DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) students to not travel out of the country because we are seeing some students not being allowed back in,” Kleyn said, adding that Trump has alluded to leniency for DACA members.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
Although, even if DACA-eligible students are allowed to stay in the country, many of their families are not, the final decision on DACA students will be announced “in a few weeks.”
Sanctuary cities across the country are being threatened with losing federal funding if they do not comply with the executive orders, she said, which would leave many students vulnerable.
Kleyn said the best thing for faculty and staff to do is prepare for the “worst case scenario.”
“This administration has given a lot of surprises. We want to be as prepared as we can be,” she said.
The possible changes to DACA could include allowing work permits to remain valid through expiration, saving students from renewing or filling out new paperwork, she said. Trump could also order all work permits invalid immediately, and replacing DACA with a new program is possible.
If DACA students lose aid they will not be able to pay tuition, work in their field of study or receive driver’s licenses, Mendoza said.
There is also a concern for students becoming depressed, or suicidal because they are unsure of their future, she said.
Providing stipends, scholarships, gift cards or awarding college credit are some of the ways colleges can help relieve the pressure of the executive order, Mendoza said.
According to the statistics given in the webinar, there are an estimated 11.7 million undocumented immigrants in the United States, and there are 7,000 to 13,000 undocumented students in U.S. colleges.
“More than 900,000 people are eligible for DACA, but only 728,000 people are approved because people are scared of giving their personal information to the government,” Kleyn said.
Nikole McKibben is a news reporter at the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @nmckibben92.
