Local students rally to support DACA and a Clean Dream Act

It was great to see local high school students exercising their First Amendment rights in the walk-out on November 9 to demonstrate support for DACA and a Clean Dream Act.  Photo by Ralph Barrera of the Austin American-Statesman

Undocumented students: keep college plans alive

The following commentary piece printed in today's issue of the Austin American-Statesman shares our views.  We meet many students in Austin's high schools who are affected adversely by immigration policies that threaten their families and their own future education.  It's important for undocumented students to know that, despite SB-4 legislation and the unwelcoming rhetoric of many Texas legislators, Texas law still allows undocumented high school students to apply for Texas Grant funding for college and in-state tuition when students meet these three qualifications:
1)  The student has lived in Texas for at least three years
2) The student is graduating or has graduated from a high school in Texas
3) The student signs an affidavit indicating intent to apply for permanent residency in the US
Thus, undocumented students who meet this criteria should fill out TAFSA forms for Texas financial aid for college, even though they are denied federal financial aid.  Also, a number of organizations and colleges offer scholarships that don't discriminate on the basis of citizenship status.
We believe that our communities are better when we make it easier rather than harder for all students to obtain a college education when that is their goal.

Here is the commentary piece by special contributor, Franklin Strong, in the May 30, 2017 issue of the Austin American-Statesman:

SB 4 hurts immigrants - and the rest of America
by Franklin Strong

A student I taught last year — I’ll call her Ana — comes by my classroom at the end of the day to ask if I’ll write a recommendation for her when she applies to colleges next fall. I tell her of course, and ask her if she’s excited to be a senior.

She says she is, but she’s nervous. “Why?” I ask. She talks about her ACT scores and college applications. She mentions that her Junior Seminar teacher is frustrated with her because, in making lists of colleges to apply to next year, she keeps refusing to include any out-of-state schools.

“Why?” I ask. “Why not keep a variety of options?”

“I’m undocumented,” she explains. “Well, I mean, I have DACA. I’m a DREAMer.”

I ask why that means she won’t apply to out-of-state schools. I know some schools won’t take undocumented immigrants, but many will. Why not focus on those?

“It’s just that I don’t want to fall in love with a school and then find out I can’t go there.”

She says she visited Colorado last summer with an extracurricular club and was enchanted by the state. She came home and told her mom she wanted to go to college there. Her mom was thrilled. So, this girl has been researching universities in the state and found one that appealed to her. But she won’t put it on her list.

Another student tells me about her aunt and uncle in Houston, who left for Mexico when it became clear Senate Bill 4 would pass, taking their son — this student’s cousin — with them. He was a senior, college-bound. Now, he doesn’t know when he’ll finish his education. This girl tells me her parents are considering doing the same thing with her. They’ve already pulled her brother out of his charter elementary school and put him into a neighborhood school.

“Why?” I ask.

“Less driving,” she says.

This girl loves acting; she is always writing about her auditions and rehearsals. Now, she says, she’s had to give it up, because her mom won’t drive her to auditions anymore.

Her family had two dogs, but they sent them to live with relatives in the country.

“Why?”

“They bark,” she says, “and we don’t want the cops to come because of the noise.”

The Houston Chronicle’s Lomi Kriel recently wrote about the lessons Texas can learn from how immigrants in Arizona have dealt with the immigration laws passed there in 2010. She describes one Phoenix couple that now hesitates before calling the police or before accessing public health care for their children, who are American citizens. After SB 1070 passed, Kriel writes, the couple chose to “make their lives smaller.”

This is exactly what I’ve seen with my students: a narrowing. A self-restriction. After the first travel ban and the February raids, Dana Snitzky wrote about the responsibility of bearing witness — of answering important questions like “Who has been detained?” and “Who has been denied entry?” and “Who has been deported?”

And she’s right: We need to hear about the five-year-old handcuffed at the airport. And about the father detained while taking his daughter to school. But we also need we need to record this narrowing, which is less likely to show up in statistics or in images on the news. We need to talk about the families who are too afraid of the police to keep their pets. The parents who drive to the store looking over their shoulders. The students limiting their college options.

If stripping people of their dignity, opportunities and joy is the method by which we achieve our goals, then we come up with monstrous ideas — like forcibly separating mothers and children, or holding undocumented immigrants in facilities with appalling conditions.

And we start by thinking that maybe it’s OK for people who aren’t supposed to be here to live lives that are dimmer and smaller. In doing so, we make our nation — and ourselves — smaller, too.

Strong recently completed a PhD in comparative literature and now teaches at KIPP Austin Collegiate High School.

Talking careers and fairness at the Reagan HS career fair

Yesterday, Hart, Regina, Tami and I had a full and inspiring day tabling at the annual Reagan HS career fair.  Representatives from a number of colleges, businesses and community organizations were set up in the gym.  We were there to provide a different view of military life and militarism than the military recruiters who also were present.  Reagan HS has a JROTC program, and JROTC students were dressed in uniform.  A number of them came by our table to participate in the t-shirt challenge and talk with us about their plans for the future.  Hart and Regina as military veterans spoke with students from their own experience.  Regina had brought two jacket art pieces from her Fatigues Clothesline Project to display at our table.  The jackets were covered in statements by veterans who have experienced Military Sexual Trauma (MST), one of the serious issues we raise in our materials.

About 75 students completed the t-shirt challenge over the course of the career fair, and it was good to talk with students about their hopes and plans.  Two students told us about having participated in the historic Women's March on Austin last Saturday (Regina and her daughter and I had also participated), as did a Reagan teacher who stopped by the table, and they all spoke about how empowering and encouraging the huge march and rally were, and we agreed!  We in SOY are very much opposed to the Trump agenda that is already increasing anxiety among families in our community.  Life is challenging enough for our young adults who are working hard and hoping to further their education.  Adding more worry and hardship by threatening to separate families, cut financial aid for college and create more division between people is cruel and damaging to our social fabric.
The Penny Poll results showed the Health Care category as the biggest priority with 28% of the penny vote, closely followed by Education with 27%, then 22% for the Environment, 13% for Humanitarian Aid and 10% for the Military.  As always, if our high school students could decide on our national priorities, we would have a much healthier, better educated society and a more protected planet.
There were 75 written responses to our reflection question, and the majority of students cited racism as the primary supervillain that requires resistance.    Following is a sampling of their responses that are indicative of what was written over all.  Thank you to all Reagan Raiders for engaging with the questions we raised in the t-shirt challenge and for expressing your thoughts on these crucial issues.

A sampling of the student responses to the question:

"Of the Supervillains: Racism, Sexism, Poverty, Militarism and Ecocide, which will you resist?  How?"

Racism – I will resist racism because I am an immigrant that has also been discriminated against and now more than ever I will stand up to racism because “our president” thinks it’s okay to discriminate against people, and as a “citizen” if this country, I WILL NOT let racism happen in my community or around me.

I will resist all the above issues, including Trump’s immigration policy, racism and discrimination.  I will do this by marching, calling my representatives, speaking out on daily discrimination and write and document.

Racism because I believe that we’re all the same regardless so we need to stand up to that!

Sexism because there are still a lot of things that society says women can’t do.

As a rising female, I’m against gender norms.  I don’t believe a woman should only be in the house and only the men should work.  How about we flip the table and let them do this.  Women should be treated equally.  Women overcome so much and I’ll try my best to end it.  I want to make a better world where your gender doesn’t affect anything.

Racism affects me because I am judged because I wasn’t born here, and I want to change this because it’s not about race, it’s about culture, and I am proud to be Mexican.

Poverty, I would try to eliminate all currency in the world.

Of these supervillains, I will resist all.  Just resisting one will make no change.  We have to resist all and come together.

In my opinion, racism would be what I would resist because racism is an every day thing.  And no one is different, everyone is equal to one another and you being a different race does not make you any different from them.

Racism – I would speak publicly about it.

Racism, because no matter your race, you’re still a human being.

I believe that I can resist all of them with understanding and treat everyone with respect because we are all human.

Racism, because it’s all over and people should work on getting along with each other.  What I would do to address it is help people if I see racism around.

I plan to resist ALL, but I will resist racism because people may be prejudiced against me, but it’s all about love at the end of the day.

I would protest against sexism.  I would gather up friends who feel the same and we would protest together.

Racism – because it’s been a constant problem in my people’s history.

Mine is racism – one of the reasons it bothers me is because my family is Mexican and I don’t like it when they get treated bad or called names.  A way that I would change this is by doing my best and show that they are wrong about us.

Racism -- more activity involved with diversity culture.  Sexism -- nothing I can do to change people’s beliefs, just hoping people will open more to the transgender community.

I would make everyone see all the ways we can treat everyone with the same respect and how if all the world united and treated everyone with the same respect, the city would be much better and accomplish more goals in the world.

Ecocide—We need to take care of our environment b/c we live in it.  Racism – We need to respect everyone the way they are.

Racism – because I will let people know how I feel and I will let them know my rights.

I think racism is still a big problem around the world.  Like now w/ Donald Trump as our president, it’s going to be a bigger problem.  How can I stand for this?  I would always be equal to anyone I meet.

Racism – and I’ll try to teach people about history and why what’s happening is happening.  I won’t let history repeat itself.

Sexism – by proving I can be independent and successful before marriage and never relying on a husband.  I will also fight racism by proving immigrants can have a bright future.

Sexism and Racism – We should not be divided in any way such as the color of one’s skin: the only time colors should be separated is on laundry day.  We need to unite.

   

Scholarships available for immigrant students in Texas

Good info in this article by Joy Diaz of The Texas Standard and reported on KUT radio this week:

It’s college application season, and for many colleges the due date is next month. That means now is the time for writing essays, rounding up letters of recommendation and – lest we forget – figuring out how you’re gonna pay for a college education.

There are loans, of course, if you qualify. There are also scholarships. Typically, if you’re undocumented, you’d be on your own. But a contested executive order on deferred deportations, better known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, could mean money in the bank.

When Pedro Villalobos started college, DACA didn’t exist. “It was really hard to find scholarships just because most of them require that you be a citizen of this country or a legal permanent resident,” he says. “So, at a certain point when you are trying to find funding for college – as an undocumented student you lose hope – because before DACA there weren’t many options for you.”

Then, after Villalobos got his BA in 2012, President Obama issued an executive order that would prevent him from being deported. When he applied for a spot at the University of Texas at Austin Law School, and got in, most of his expenses were covered – and mostly through scholarships.

Foundations and benefactors, like former Washington Post CEO Don Graham, have put millions of dollars into a scholarship fund for immigrant students whose parents entered the country illegally.

There have been close to 500 Dream Scholars and they represent most every continent, including Latin America. But that’s a small number of people compared to the 665,000 students who are protected from deportation through DACA.

Cristina Jimenez is one of the founders of United We Dream. It’s a non-profit that helps connect immigrant students with resources. She says few students even know they have financial options.

“Scholarship programs are still limited, but they are available,” Jimenez says. “You have many schools that have opened up scholarship programs. Different states, organizations like MALDEF – for example – have been providing scholarships to undocumented students for a long time.”

As for Villalobos, if immigration laws do not change by graduation day next year, he won’t be able to work as an attorney in this country. Some may wonder if he’s wasting his time and scholarships.

“I see it as an investment in myself, as an investment in Texas and as an investment in the United States,” Villalobos says.

Villalobos’ parents recently became legal residents. They had waited 16 years for immigration authorities to process their paperwork. In that time, Pedro Villalobos aged-out of his parents’ application. He had to start his own – from scratch. He’s hoping it wont take another 16 years to process his paperwork.

Dreamers: Study these things carefully

I like this message from Los Angeles colleague, Joe Maizlish, written in response to the appeal, below, from Kiana C., a young woman writing on behalf of a group called Keeping Families Together: 

Kiana,


I join you in seeking full rights for you and those like you, and protection for your families.

As for your ambition of joining the U.S. Marines: I both appreciate your desire to serve the country, AND hope you will reconsider about joining the U.S. armed forces, and study matters carefully. Your goal is honorable service, however the dedication, skill and good will of the members of the Marines and the rest of the U.S. military are used to create and support oppressive conditions in many other countries -- and indirectly contribute to the poverty and dislocation which have led many to try to emigrate to the U.S.

Please don't add to the cycle of troubles.

Please study these things carefully. If you do, I believe you will find out about that tragic story, a story most media and political figures do not talk about and even in many cases do not know about.

Good wishes with your ambition for equal rights, an ambition I support and am working towards.

Please don't use your equal rights to join an institution which deprives others of equality in their lands!

Sincerely,

Joseph Maizlish

On 4/6/2013 10:01 AM, Kiana C. wrote:

Dear Joseph,

Nearly a month past their deadline, Senator Jeff Flake and the Gang of 8 have still failed to come through on their promise to introduce a comprehensive immigration reform bill.

As they continue to deliberate, families, DREAMers and those looking to serve this country like me are left in an agonizing waiting period. I am an Arizona resident and enrolled in ROTC. One day I plan on joining the Marines and serving my country proudly. However, many of my friends who have that same dream are not able to accomplish it because of their immigration status.

Senator Flake and my friends and family have something in common. Senator Flake you have spent your life working to serve this country and the people of Arizona. My friends and I have the same dream of serving our country in the most brave and honorable way possible.

We cannot afford to wait any longer for immigration reform. Click here to tell Senator Flake and the Gang of 8 that we need a bill that will keep families like ours together!

Senator Flake, you know the full promise that the young DREAMers of this country hold for its future if they are given a chance to give back and serve. Please, stand up and fight for families, Friends and DREAMers like mine.

Please ask Senator Flake and the Gang of 8 to introduce legislation that keeps all families together.

Thank you,

Kiana C., AZ

P.S. If you haven’t read my story yet, click here to read it on KeepingFamiliesTogether.net.