As the U.S. Congress battles over plans to revoke the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, students, faculty, and staff at Allan Hancock College are busy showing support for DACA recipients.
Members of Hancock’s Academic Senate presented a signed resolution formally opposing DACA’s elimination to the board of trustees at a board meeting on Oct. 10, according to Hancock spokesperson Jessica Sheaff. The College Counsel, Sheaff said, also approved the resolution as an affirmation of the Unity Resolution, which was passed in February by the board of trustees in an effort to promote diversity and support undocumented students.
The new resolution will be up for consideration at the board’s next meeting in November.
Hancock also joined several California community colleges in hosting DACA-centered events on Oct. 18 and 19 as a part of DACA Advocacy Week, which Sheaff said was a statewide initiative sparked by California Community College Chancellor Eloy Ortiz Oakley. Oakley said in a Hancock press release that the DACA program has protected more than 200,000 of California’s best and brightest.
Oakley’s office will receive $7 million to use for further supporting undocumented immigrants in California Community Colleges, according to the release. That’s just a fraction of the $30 million Gov. Jerry Brown promised to universities and immigration legal services about a week after President Donald Trump announced plans to rescind the DACA program on Sept. 5.
Two of Hancock’s student groups, the Dream Club and the AB 549 Working Group for Undocumented Students, hosted Hancock’s Foundation Knowledge Workshop on Oct. 18 and a Dreamers Transfer Workshop on Oct. 19. Both events ultimately aimed at providing undocumented Hancock students and their allies with helpful information and services, spokesperson Sheaff said.
“We wanted to show solidarity with all the community colleges to let the community and our students know that there is nothing to fear,” Sheaff said. “We’re here and we’ll continue supporting them in any way we can.”
At the Foundation Knowledge Workshop, where Congressman Salud Carbajal was slated for an appearance, attendees gathered for lunch and discussed ways to actively support undocumented students. Although a scheduling conflict prevented Carbajal’s presentation, a representative of his office, Diana Villanuera, explained the major bills currently circulating through the House of Representatives and the Senate that could protect DACA recipients.
Of those, Carbajal later told the Sun he’s most confident in the Dream Act of 2017, which would grant resident status to any immigrants without criminal history who have lived in the U.S. for four continuous years, arrived here before the age of 18, and who have completed certain educational requirements. The bill has 200 cosponsors, including Carbajal, and needs 218. Carbajal also said it has bipartisan support.
But Carbajal said DACA’s end on March 5, 2018, is looming, and Dream Act supporters have started a discharge petition, which Carbajal said would ensure that the bill would come forward for a vote. Without the petition, the majority party could refuse to consider the Dream Act and then it would die without a vote.
“I personally am pushing with all of my colleagues to advocate for it and make sure we can vote on the Dream Act,” Carbajal said. “We want this to be a clean bill that resolves this once and for all and provides certainty to all of these Dreamers living with fear and angst regarding their futures.”
While it is unclear how many DACA recipients attend Hancock, Associate Superintendent and Vice President of Student Services Nohemy Ornelas said there are 461 undocumented students currently enrolled. There are 535 Hancock students protected by AB 540, a California state law that allows eligible immigrants to pay in-state tuition at California colleges.
Ornelas, who also presented at the Foundation Knowledge Workshop, told the Sun in an email that Hancock is dedicated to helping students regardless of immigration status. Students, she said, can take advantage of provided financial aid and counseling services, as well as the AB 540 Working Group and Dream Club.
Hancock staff members participate in specific trainings on DACA, AB 540, and the California Dream Act, Ornelas said, and Hancock is part of the Central Coast Coalition for Undocumented Student Success, which aims to create social change to ensure educational equality for all students.
“Hancock is an open-access college open to all students,” Ornelas said. “We will continue to provide the educational and supportive services that are available to students.”
Staff Writer Kasey Bubnash wrote this week’s School Scene. Information can be sent to the Sun via fax, mail, or email at [email protected].
