CSUN On Point

Thousands of Central American migrants are traveling more than 2,500 miles to get to the United States, because for many, running away from their country is their only chance at survival. More than 7,000 Central American migrants stay in temporary shelters in border cities like Tijuana and Mexicali, where the shelters are overflowing. Hondurans, Guatemalans and Salvadorians are continuing to flee persecution, violence and poverty, even though they know arrival at the border doesn’t guarantee safety or freedom.

“There’re so many different factors going on [in Central America],” journalist Todd Miller said. “There’re so many people talking about not being able to make ends meet, and economic deprivation.”

But Central American migration to the north has always existed.

“This is not something new,” immigration attorney Raul Godinez said. “I think, with this administration’s focus on border control, there is more attention and publicity to the issue.”

In the past year, the so-called migrant caravan has made national news, and President Trump has been very vocal, in speeches and on social media, about the situation. Before the midterm elections, Trump ordered troops to Texas to stop what he called “an assault” by a caravan from Central America. In June 2018, Trump ordered border authorities to separate children from their parents at the border, a policy he eventually was forced to withdraw. Still, the family separations reportedly continue.

The White House says more than 2,600 children were detained, but reports from various agencies say more than 5,000 children were separated from their families, and some remain in government custody.

Corruption is one of the many reasons why the migrants say they feel unsafe in their home countries. Mexican Interior Minister Olga Sanchez said she understands, and wants to bring order to the borders, and provide the migrants with humanitarian aid, and the respect and dignity they deserve.

Immigration activists said they hear stories about the dangers of migrating to the U.S. all the time. “And what makes it worse, is the stories you don’t hear, because the person is too overwhelmed to tell you,” Godinez said.

“It can weeks or months of pushing to get the full details of it,” attorney Nathan Osorio said. “A lot of times they are going to give you a little bit [of their stories], and once they feel a little comfortable, they can process it more.”

But for many migrants, their hopes for life in the U.S. will not be met.

“We say that they encountered a narrative of hate, of racism, and discrimination,” CSUN Central American Studies Department Chair Professor Douglas Carranza said. “[This is] a narrative that must be changed… this country here was founded on a different principal: a list, that is evolving towards a more just society that would include everyone. But now we have a narrative of hate that has been elevated… and that [narrative] has ramifications in every aspect of our society.”

Moderator: Karissa Preciado

Producer: Coraima Hurtado

Anchor: Enrie Amezcua

Social Media Editor: Darya Hariri

Reporters: Gloria Alas, Enrie Amezcua, Chris Farias, Jamontae Hickman, Coraima Hurtado, Karissa Preciado

Video: Abril Preciado and Jose Duran

As the battle over Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) intensifies in Congress, so does the fear of many LGBTQ immigrants, whose chances of being deported to a country that may not support their lifestyle are increasing.

Experts say that out of the 800,000 dreamers in the United States, around 75,000 identify as LGBTQ. Dreamers are children who were brought to the United States without documentation at a young age. Some 36,000 of those are DACA recipients, many of them living in California.

The White House announced in September that DACA would end for many dreamers on or before March 5, 2018.

“Many people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer, are not only LGBTQ, but also undocumented and people of color, and not just brown, but also black,” said Ronnie Veliz, executive director of Somos Familia Valle. “So, it is very important to us to understand that, within the immigrant population, the LGBTQ population is present, with papers and also without documentation. It affects everyone’s dreams, because it does affect also mixed status families, those who know the United States as their only country from a very early age.”

What happens to the LGBTQ dreamers who come out in the United States, and then are deported to an intolerant nation?

In more than 70 countries, same-sex relations are criminalized, and out those 70, ten have a death penalty for those in the LGBTQ+ community. Many DACA recipients come from countries that can be dangerous for LGBTQ+ people. Countries like Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador are the most common for asylum seekers.

“The risks are not only to be deported to a country that doesn’t even have marriage equality,” Veliz said. “…Keep in mind that marriage equality hasn’t stopped the famous videos of the killing of trans and queer people. It’s not just being deported to a country where you’re going to be killed, and mentally, psychologically, and spiritually abused, but it is also a fact that there are centers and corporations making profits from detaining immigrants.”

Although dreamers face an even greater risk of detention and deportation now, it is important to remember they can still exercise their rights. Practicing those rights before an encounter with an immigration officer, can prepare them.

“Immigrants, whether documented or undocumented, have rights and constitutional rights,” said Julia Vazquez, Southwestern School of Law Professor and the director of CSUN’s Student Legal Clinic. “Everybody should practice his or her rights ahead of time…if you don’t feel comfortable exerting your rights, [remember] the number one right that everyone has is the right to remain silent, and folks should exercise that.”

The DACA program has provided security, opportunity  and hope to recipients. They had the ability to obtain driver’s licenses, enroll in college, and legally secure jobs.

“It’s shameful we are now seeing the cycle of scapegoating, not only [against] immigrants,” Vazquez said. ” Now that we have the language, and more of a platform to really understand, that not every immigrant experience is equal, like people of color, like LGBTQ, and that when you combine those, [these groups] are going to be doubly oppressed by a system of laws that are failing to protect even the most privileged of that group.”

On December 8, in a 5 to 4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled the Trump administration does not have to turn over legal documents connected to its decision to end the program. The Court said it would consider the matter further.

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Producers: Morgan Ball and Minerva Medrano

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Since the Trump Administration entered the White House, the federal government has promised to deport undocumented immigrants from the U.S., sending them back to their birth country. This situation has left many Dreamers afraid of the very real threat of deportation for themselves or their loved ones, despite the reassurance that a sanctuary city, like Los Angeles, has to offer.

“A Dreamer would be somebody who would be eligible for the DACA program, which is Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals,” said Adan Garcia, a representative from Santa Rosa Immigration Services.

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, is essentially an immigration benefit program that provides work permits to qualified immigrants.

“The DACA program gives you a work permit if you meet the requirements for it,” Garcia said, “and the requirements are that you have entered the country before your 15^th birthday, [and] that you have also entered the country on or before June 2007….[they also] take criminal record into account.”

The program applies only to young people under these very specific circumstances, and ignores many other undocumented family members who are living and working  and going to school in the U.S.

The Dream Center at CSUN, located inside the University Student Union, is a major resource for undocumented students, including the many people who don’t meet the DACA requirements.

One of the most common issues that the Dream Center deals with are “families that have young kids, especially that are born in the U.S.,” said Jesus, a representative from the CSUN Dream Center, who didn’t want his last name to be used.”The fear of [the parents] being deported, and no one being able to take care of their kids, we’ve had a lot of that.”

Many undocumented immigrants who live in LA, and are not protected by DACA, feel fortunate to live in a sanctuary city. Although there is no legal definition, a sanctuary city is considered “essentially whether a city is willing to cooperate with the federal government when it comes to immigration,” Garcia said. But despite the fact that undocumented immigrants with a clean criminal record are generally protected in sanctuary cities, many of them are still living in fear and paranoia.

“Many people fear their immigration status,” said Lady Pineda, a translator at Hermanda Mexicana Transnacional. “They think that any other day ICE might come to their door, knock, and you know, separate their families.”

“I don’t think anybody should be afraid,” Garcia said, “maybe a little cautious, but it doesn’t seem that the deportation rate has gone up.”

But many Californians say they believe that deportation is something that no active member of a society should have to fear.

“The Dreamers are not criminals,” CSUN student and Dreamer Ivan Salinas said. “We are just trying to fit in. We are trying to be Americans.”

Moderator: Abril Preciado

Producer: Yesenia Burgara

Anchor: Amber Partida

Social Media Editors: Malcolm Finney and Julie Nesbitt

Reporters: Shelby Charlene, Yesenia Burgara, Malcolm Finney, Julie Nesbitt, Amber Partida, Curtis Poindexter and Abril Preciado