Trumped Dreams
Following one of the most divisive political campaigns in modern American history, President Elect Donald Trump now faces scrutiny and resilience among segments of the population who opposed him from the start. Throughout the campaign, Trump targeted undocumented Latino immigrants, women, Muslims, and people with disabilities, and he now prepares to be president for the various groups of people he attacked.
“A lot of us are very confused and very scared about what’s going on,” said Dreamer and CSUN student Chris Farias.
“Because of Trump’s dangerous rhetoric, people feel they can say things that normally they would have been more in check about,” said CSUN Asian American Studies professor and EOP Faculty Mentor Coordinator Glenn Omatsu.
“Before I didn’t know about DACA [when I was growing up], I didn’t think I was going to go to school,” Farias said. “In the community that I’m from, you’re kind of taught you’re not going to make it… [DACA]… was my way out. I didn’t want to be different I wanted to be included.”
President Obama’s administration established the American immigration policy known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, in 2012. It gives certain undocumented immigrants eligibility for a work permit and a renewal for a two-year period of deferred action from deportation.
The DREAM Act is a legislative proposal giving undocumented immigrants the opportunity to achieve legal status in the United States through academics or the military. Both of these programs have been fundamental in establishing the rights of thousands of undocumented immigrants.
“What we have to do is use inspiration from students themselves who are fighting,” Omatsu said. “In 1942, [when] Ralph Lazo was a high school student at Belmont high school, his Japanese-American friends were sent to concentration camps. He, as a Mexican American, felt it was wrong, but as … a high school student, he didn’t have enough power [to change policy], but what he did was on his own: he registered himself to be of Japanese ancestry, so he could go to the camps with his friends, because he felt it was an injustice. I think actions like that need to be encouraged in our society.”
California politicians are already laying the groundwork for combatting policies against immigration reform, environment protection, and workers’ rights being floated about Trump and his administration. California is home to a lot of undocumented immigrants, and many young immigrants are now worried about their status as students in the United States. Students who are protected by DACA and the DREAM Act have raised concerns about what could happen to their student status because of Trump’s proposal to combat all forms of immigration. On top of that, some students who may be protected by DACA and the DREAM Act are fearing the ramifications of Trump’s proposals on family members and friends, who aren’t protected by any of these legislations.
“This is our time to show the media and Trump that we are together, and we’ll fight for what we deserve,” Farias said. “It’s a bummer to be seen as a criminal, who doesn’t want to go to school, who isn’t intelligent, but we are and we really need to stick together.”
With pending questions and concerns surrounding president-elect Trump and his immigration policies and their effect on DACA, the DREAM Act, and non-protected immigrants alike, students are looking for ways they can defend these policies that have protected them from being deported.
Anchor: Alicia Dieguez
Moderator: Nick Torres
Producer: Susana Guzman
Social Media Editor: Jaclyn Wawee
Reporters: Alicia Dieguez, Thomas Gallegos, Ebony Hardiman, Ke-Alani Sarmiento, Jaclyn Wawee