After months of promising
to deport millions of people if he were elected, Donald Trump is about to
become president, and he could begin to carry out those promises as soon as
Jan. 20. In classrooms and on campuses across the nation, undocumented
immigrants, from preschoolers to college students, are terrified. Immigrants
with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status and visa-contingent
educators are also worried that changing immigration policies could jeopardize
their safety.
The AFT is corralling
resources to help.
During
a telephone town hall Nov. 22, AFT President Randi Weingarten assured call
participants—teachers and school staff, college faculty, healthcare
professionals, public employees and students, some who are themselves
undocumented immigrants—that the AFT will "do everything in our power to
stop any kind of action against our immigrant families, our Muslim families,
our Latino families and especially our undocumented students." Then she
turned quickly to specifics and, together with leading immigrant advocates,
outlined practical advice as well as actions the union will take to protect
immigrant families living in uncertainty.
The
AFT will:
· * Support cities such as Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San
Francisco and others as they reaffirm sanctuary status for immigrants and in
some cases establish municipal ID programs to protect immigrants with no
identification from being detained unnecessarily.
· * Help members establish and maintain sanctuary status in schools,
colleges and communities.
· * Provide guidance and resources for teachers, staff and faculty
to support and prepare undocumented students and their families for changes in
immigration law—including basic "know your rights" advice on how to
handle an Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid and what to do if family
members are detained.
· * Provide lesson plans to address the social, emotional and mental
health needs of all children and promote diversity and inclusion.
· *Urge the government to reaffirm that children cannot be barred
from enrolling in public schools based on their immigration status or their
parents'.
· * Participate in a national week of mobilization, education and
action Jan. 9-14 spearheaded by United We Dream and other immigrant advocates,
and in a day of action Jan. 19 organized with the Alliance to Reclaim Our
Schools.
Resources
for educators are already available at the AFT's Share My Lesson and on the AFT's immigration page.
On the call, Weingarten
said the need for action is urgent; AFT educators and students face real
threats. Among their fears: the dismantling of the 2012 DACA program, which
grants undocumented immigrants who meet certain criteria a two-year, renewable
work authorization and protection from deportation. More than 740,000
individuals, many of whom are now teachers, nurses, lawyers, adjunct faculty
and college students, have benefited from the program and are contributing to
their communities—so much so that dismantling DACA would cost $433 billion in
gross domestic product over a decade, according to a Center for American
Progress estimate.
Other
fears include night raids by armed immigration agents, and family separations
as some are deported and others left behind. Undocumented and
"DACAmented" college students are afraid that after years of striving
to become educated, productive Americans, they will be forced back into the
shadows or deported to violent places where they have no family or friends and
don't speak the language.
DACA
students have been at the forefront of immigration advocacy, calling themselves
"undocumented and unafraid." But for many, that confidence has been
shaken: "The level of despair has gotten to a point that we have received
reports of young people who have taken their own lives," reported Cristina
Jiménez, executive director of United We Dream, the largest immigrant youth-led
organization in the country. The group offers a range of services for
undocumented youth and families, including a bilingual support hotline:
844-363-1423.
Marielena
Hincapié, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center, also had
practical advice for the town hall participants, with answers to commonly asked
questions: Should undocumented youth apply for DACA now? No. Apply for renewal?
Yes. Travel abroad? Only if you return before Jan. 20. A new NILC website has more specific
answers, and Hincapié urged participants to share it widely.
"We have to hope for
the best but prepare for the worst," said U.S. Rep. Zoe Lofgren
(D-Calif.). She is especially concerned for young people who shared their
personal information with the government when they applied for DACA status.
Lofgren has asked President Obama to pardon them or purge their information
from government records.
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