DACA Dreamers Find Support at SMC
Akemi Rico | Social Media Editor
Los Angeles is host to many people who came to the United States without legal documentation. Of these people, many of them were brought here as children. As the children mature into young adulthood, they face the reality of life without legal status. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program was created to provide undocumented immigrants protection from deportation and to allow them to have a work permit.
During the week of Oct. 15, some California community colleges held the Undocumented Student Action Week (USAW) as a way to highlight support available for undocumented students on their campuses. Events during this week included informational webinars, transfer application support, free immigration legal services, and student meet-ups.
The IDEAS Club (Improving Dreams, Equality & Access to Success) functions as a support group with a mission to provide a safe space for undocumented students and allies to make friends and find resources. The club held a meet and greet in the Santa Monica College (SMC) Student Equity Center during USAW to allow students a place to gather, share stories, and unwind.
Karen Lopez, journalism major at SMC, spoke on the importance of sharing the resources and teaching other undocumented students about the help they can receive through these programs. “If they’re not aware of the resources, and no one is telling them, then they will go through the same things we went through,” she said.
SMC student Berenice Limeta shared that she wishes to transfer to California State University Long Beach (CSLB), and that Lopez, a former CSLB student, helped her with learning about support for undocumented students available at that campus. “Find the DREAM resource center there and find your community. There’s lots of SMC students there,” Lopez said.
DREAM stands for the Development Relief and Education for Alien Minors, and is an act proposed by Congress that provides a path to citizenship for undocumented people who entered the country as minors.
Marisol Moreno is the faculty lead for the SMC DREAM resource center and faculty advisor for IDEAS. “[Students] form community and are helping each other. It’s very organic in supporting each other.”
IDEAS Club president Gabriez Hernandez said, “When I started coming to SMC, I didn’t know anybody [else] who was undocumented. I didn’t know who to go to, or who to talk to about my struggles.”
Moreno emphasized the importance of the comradery that is created in the club. “If they just stayed in the space of the news, on the status of DACA, or on the larger stalemate of immigration, one would be depressed, right? Which they could be, but they try to balance struggle with joy.”
During the meeting, there were snacks, board games, and a virtual Uno game. Hernandez led a circle where club members shared personal details about their lives, their studies, and the reasons that brought them to the club.
Ingrid Lopez is a linguistics and computer science major and SMC alumn who had transferred to UCLA. She was visiting the IDEAS club at SMC to encourage and support others with the transfer process. “I am very proud of being a transfer student,” she said. “I love SMC. It showed me where to come for resources. It prepared me for coming to UCLA, because I was able to ask about a DREAM center there.”
Fernando Delgado, health administration major said, “I’m a DREAMer. I was brought here when I was three and I pursued an education, for a better life in the future. I want to spread the word.”
The IDEAS club meets weekly at the Student Equity Center on SMC’s main campus, Tuesdays from 1:30 to 2:45pm.
Community college students can also access resources and activities through this list of Resources & Suggested Activities to Support Undocumented Students.
