SMC Students React to DACA Supreme Court Hearing
On June 15, 2012, the Obama administration announced the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which defers undocumented individuals under a certain criteria from deportation and offers those individuals eligibility for a work permit. DACA is not a path to citizenship, but rather a temporary fix. It is valid for two years, and subject to renewal by the recipient.
In Sept. 2017, the Trump administration rescinded this program, claiming the Obama administration had implemented it under “unlawful and unconstitutional means,” spurring a “humanitarian crisis” in which DACA recipients go on to become part of “violent gangs”. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) stopped accepting new DACA applications in Sept. 2017, and current DACA recipients have had to rely on renewals ever since to remain a part of the program.
The Supreme Court heard cases for and against DACA’s rescission this past Tuesday. Arguments against DACA’s rescission mainly considered the legality behind the Trump administration’s desicion to rescind the program. Theodore Olsen, an attorney on behalf of the private respondents, argued that the “decision required the government to provide an accurate, reasoned, rational, and legally sound explanation,” in which they “utterly failed to do so,” according to an official transcript.
The Supreme Court decision is expected no later than June 2020, according to National Immigration Law Center. If the Supreme Court rules in favor of the rescission, there could be drastic repercussions for roughly 700,000 DACA recipients, including many undocumented students.
President of the IDEAS club, Karla Herrera (Valentin Contreras / The Corsair)
Several Santa Monica College (SMC) students were amongst the hundreds of students found protesting in the DACA march in downtown Los Angeles or in Macarthur Park on the day of the oral hearings.
Other students, like Brenda Islas, a DACA recipient and co-chair of SMC IDEAS club, could be found reflecting on DACA in SMC’s Extended Opportunity Program & Services' (EOPS) office, which happens to host the school's DREAM (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act) program. Islas opened up on what this day meant for her.
“Our entire future lies within this one hour that the attorney fighting our case has,” said Islas. “I was so aware that this is real, this could be taken away.”
Although undocumented students can attend school without DACA, the absence of certain benefits may second-handedly affect student progress.
“Without [DACA], students will have to live in daily fear if they will be deported,” said Nick Mata, SMC’s Director of Special Programs. “Without the work permit, students will be forced to work in low-paying, hidden jobs that often are not the safest environments. Or they won’t work at all. Also, it would limit their ability to apply for internships.”
A majority of recipients of a DACA-sourced work permit reported positive career shifts, including getting their first job, receiving better pay, and having jobs better aligned to long-term career goals, according to a survey by U.S. Immigration Policy Center (USIPC) at UC San Diego.
IDEAS Co-Chair, Brenda Islas (Valentin Contreras / The Corsair)
Even with these benefits, IDEAS President Karla Herrera still feels like she has to “work harder than her peers.”
“I feel like they know you're kind of temporary. Not only is your permit [for] two years, but you don't know what's going to happen with DACA,” Herrera explained. “There was a point where I was scared that DACA was going to be rescinded, so I started working two jobs…and I was going to school full time...I was placed on academic probation, because I was failing three of my classes.”
Islas elaborated on the financial hurdles in an undocumented student’s education.
“A lot of the time, we don’t even apply for federal funding. FAFSA is not a thing for us,” Islas explained. “If I were to go to school in North Carolina, like I wanted to go, I would have to be international tuition because they don’t consider me a resident… Even if you’ve been here your whole life, you have to pay international tuition.”
There aren’t only circumstantial repercussions of the DACA rescission, but emotional ones as well. In talking about her identity, Herrera used the Spanish quote “Ni de aqui, ni de alla”, which translates to “Neither from here, nor from there”.
Islas shared a similar sentiment. “This is the only country I’ve ever known...It’s part of me, but claiming that title, saying that I’m fully American, I don’t think I’m there yet,” explained Islas. “I don’t fully identify as Mexican either, because I wasn’t raised in Mexico, I wasn’t fully immersed in the culture. I got some bits and pieces I inherited from my parents and the family I have here, but it was never the full experience.”
SMC student Katie Barkun (Valentin Contreras / The Corsair)
For Polish student Katie Barkun, it’s difficult to think about traveling back to her country of origin.
“I study art history, which has a lot of history of Europe. It hurts me that I cannot visit there even though that’s what I study,” Barkun explained. “But if I ever go back there, I won’t be able to come back here. What if I don’t like it there? What if I decide that this is actually my home?”
Herrera remains hopeful in spite of the supreme court hearings.
“We're lucky. If you're 20 or older, you got lucky,” said Herrera, sympathetic with high school students who no longer have the opportunity to apply for DACA. "I don’t want to take it for granted, because I know it can be taken away at any moment.”