Michelle Javier was only a year old when she was brought across the Mexican border into the United States.
Fearful of the rising violence in their home of Guerrero, a coastal state in Southern Mexico, and horrified after the murders of two relatives, Javier’s parents sought a safer alternative. Like so many other immigrants, they said goodbye to their family, enlisted the help of a paid guide across the border, or a coyote, and crossed the border illegally.
Javier is 23 years old now, juggling a job and working towards a sociology degree at Cal State Long Beach like any other typical college student, but she doesn’t take it for granted. Her ability to legally work, study and drive in the U.S. is dependent on her status under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which she has renewed every two years since its inception in 2012.
Undocumented immigrants under 35 who were brought to the U.S. before they were 16 are eligible for DACA. This policy, passed by the Obama administration, prevents DREAMers from being deported and allows them to work in the U.S. as long as their application is renewed every two years. Now, their ability to renew their DACA may be in jeopardy.
What are purportedly drafts of White House executive order proposals were published last Wednesday by online news site Vox. One alleged draft asks for “ending unconstitutional executive amnesties,” which would effectively end DACA, an executive order by Obama. DACA’s repealment would leave DREAMers like Javier without any documentation to legally reside in the U.S..
Although Vox admits they can not confirm the authenticity of the documents and if they are legitimate they still remain subject to revision or rejection, a repealment of DACA is closely aligned with President Trump’s expressed views on immigration. President Trump has issued executive orders related to immigration, one which orders sanctuary cities to comply with immigration officials in deportations of undocumented immigrants with a criminal record and the initiation of the building of a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border.
“I can’t say I felt 100 percent safe prior to Trump because I never have felt safe,” Javier said. “The hardest challenges have been dealing with the stigma associated [with] immigrants. It’s been difficult overcoming constant obstacles and barriers in affording my education and trying to remain a decent human being at the same time while hearing so many racial slurs thrown at me.” Trump’s presidential victory, she says, “…only intensified and amplified [her] fear.”
According to the CSULB website, 39 percent of CSULB undergraduates identify as Latinx. AB 540, better know as the California Dream Act of 2011, allows undocumented high school diploma recipients who attended a U.S. high school for at least three years to pay in-state tuition at U.S. universities, state universities and community colleges. 1000 students at CSULB benefit from this act, and it’s likely that nearly all of CSULB’s undocumented students are recipients of DACA, according to Rafael Topete, the director of the Dream Success Center.
Topete believes that providing accurate information is the best course of action. Rumors circulate warning DREAMers not to apply for DACA for the first time or not to travel abroad, even with an advanced parole travel document which can allow DACA students to leave the country for educational purposes. Topete recognizes that being an immigrant can be especially uncertain and overwhelming at this time.
Realizing the implications of being an undocumented immigrant came as a huge blow to Javier even when she was in high school.
“I was like, ‘What’s the point of graduating if I’m not gonna be anything?’” she recalls. “Like, if I can’t work, if I can’t do anything, then what’s the point?”
She suffered from depression and was truant throughout most of high school before she started seeing a psychologist and began community college.
“I wish I had someone back then to guide me in that direction,” Javier said. “Where … I wouldn’t have gone through the things that I’ve gone through or done the things that I did had I had someone, like a mentor.”
Topete hopes the Dream Success Center can provide those kinds of resources to DREAMers on campus. He’s noted anxiety and stress among Latinx students and says that it’s understandable.
“Students know that they’ve worked hard to get where they are and DACA has given them the opportunity to continue to work hard for their goals [and] their dreams,” Javier said. “Taking DACA away from some of these students will basically not allow them to continue their dreams. If they become teachers, it won’t allow them to get a teaching job. If they become nurses or lawyers, even if they’re able to get their licensing, they won’t be able to practice because they can’t legally work in the country.”
The Dream Success Center has responded to student’s fears by hosting roundtables and safe spaces where students are able to express their thoughts. Similar events are planned this semester. Future Underrepresented Educated Leaders, a student organization which supports AB540 and undocumented students, has allied with the Long Beach Immigrant Rights Coalition for a free legal clinic at the Pointe on February 11 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
“Our job is to let students find the answers and let them interpret those answers,” Topete said. “We’re not in the business of telling them do it [or] don’t do it.”
Not all undocumented students have the same options. Javier, for example, could potentially join her father in Canada, where he moved to after coming to the U.S., and where he works to help support their family. They both see Canada as more welcoming to immigrants and offering more opportunities, such as easier access to healthcare, travel visas and paths to citizenship. Better yet, she would feel less anxious about her immigration status and the consequences of it, she said.
“The uncertainty is emotionally exhausting,” she said. “However … it’s a hard decision to leave the place you’ve called home your whole life.”