By Katherine Mangan ~ Chronicle of Higher Education ~ February 20, 2018
Jorge Reyes Salinas was 10 when his parents brought him from his native Peru for what he thought would be a visit to Disneyland.
Fourteen years later, he is a student trustee for the California State University system, pursuing a master’s in communication studies at the Northridge campus, and dreaming of a law degree or a Ph.D.
What makes those dreams possible, he says, are the work permit and temporary protection from deportation he received under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA.
Reyes Salinas wants to give back to a country that provides opportunities his parents felt wouldn’t be available to him in Lima.
Those opportunities were thrown into jeopardy for Reyes Salinas and nearly 800,000 other undocumented immigrants whose families brought them to the United States as children when President Trump ended the Obama-era DACA program last year. The move is being challenged in the courts, and the president has given Congress until March 5 to come up with a legislative fix.
Last week, as four immigration bills were voted down in quick succession and the outlook for further congressional action seemed bleak, student leaders like Reyes Salinas implored their classmates to stay in college and not lose hope.
As president of the student body at Northridge and vice president of the California State Student Association, he helped win support for a center for undocumented students and a food pantry and better transportation options for a broader group of at-risk students. Now one of two student trustees who represent peers on the system’s 23 campuses, Reyes Salinas feels an added urgency to prove to policy makers that DACA students are worth protecting.
He spoke recently with The Chronicle about his priorities as a trustee and about both his worries and his hopes as a so-called Dreamer.
What has it been like watching national leaders try, and fail, to pass any kind of immigration bill that would address DACA?
Every day it feels like there’s a new obstacle. You feel sad or depressed because every time you get a little bit of hope, something else happens. President Trump said he has a “big heart” for Dreamers, and right now I would love to see his administration follow what he says. This is a chance for leadership to fix a broken system.
What impact do you think the continued uncertainty and fear are having on students’ education plans?
Across the system, through my role as student trustee, I get to go to different campuses and talk to students — especially undocumented students — and this is something that always comes up. They can never just focus on school and getting an education. Losing DACA is this thing that keeps replaying in your head. You never know what’s going to happen.
A lot of students with DACA are questioning whether they should continue their education. Say your DACA expires in about a year. Students who are sophomores or juniors are wondering if they should invest more money in their education or whether they should take this year off and work to save money for their families and their future because there’s so much uncertainty.
What are you hearing from other DACA recipients as the March 5 deadline for Congress to act gets closer? Even though two courts have temporarily blocked the president from ending the program, I imagine that date still looms large.
When Donald Trump was elected, we knew DACA was on the chopping block. But that deadline made it more real. It goes back to the anxiety students are facing. You’re bombarded by disturbing news stories every day. You feel guilty that you’re in school when you could be financially contributing to your family. Or you’re scared for your parents or siblings if they’re undocumented.
What worries me is that people will give up on their education. We’ve seen drops in applications to the California Dream Act during the Trump administration, because students don’t know if their information is going to be protected — or if it’s worth the investment if, in the end, they might not be able to use the degree in the work force.
How would you feel about a bill that gave DACA students a path to citizenship but made more undocumented people vulnerable to deportation?
We’re being used as a chip for trading. It’s painful. As a person whose parents brought me here as a child, it would be great if I could have a path to citizenship, but not if my parents or siblings have a higher chance of being deported.
This whole narrative harms the family structure. Lawmakers are asking DACA recipients to blame their parents for bringing them here when they were just trying to get their children a better life. Why do I deserve this, and they don’t? Why should I have to blame them for me to move forward? I think that’s wrong.
Tell me about how you ended up in the United States.
I was 10. It was like we were going to go to Disneyland and visit Los Angeles. The real reason for our coming wasn’t shared with me. I never regret the decision my parents made for me, but when we came here, I started learning the shadow I would have to live in.
When did you realize that, because your parents had overstayed their travel visas, your family could be subject to deportation?
It was in high school, trying to get enrolled in an advanced class through a community college. They asked for a Social Security number, which I didn’t have. I went back and asked my mom what I could do. My mom and dad didn’t know what options were available to us.
I started wondering what my life would be like after high school. What can I actually do in this country to not only benefit myself, but be part of society? I swallowed that pill of bitterness and tried to be realistic.
I started college in the fall of 2010 and didn’t get DACA until spring of my sophomore year. My first year, I was completely undocumented, so I worked 30 to 40 hours a week at a machine shop to pay for tuition because I didn’t qualify for any financial aid. I didn’t want to believe that there wouldn’t be a future ahead of me. What drove me to stay in school was that I knew no one would be able to take away my education.
What did it mean to you to finally get DACA protection?
Getting DACA was kind of a shock — being able to apply for a driver’s license and get a job on campus so I didn’t have to take the bus so far away. It gave me the confidence to join student government and to run for senator and the presidency to represent students who were mostly forgotten. It allowed me to become more civically engaged and to educate other students to be civically engaged, even though I do not have the right to vote.
What is your DACA status, and what would it mean to lose it?
I still have active DACA protection, including a work permit. Losing DACA would take away part of my life, something that has helped me grow. I went to school with taxpayer money, and I want to be in a position to give back. I have plans to get a law degree or Ph.D. to work in public policy and be able to repay a community that has given me so much.
As a student-body president and now a student trustee, you’ve focused on affordability and access. Why are those topics so important?
I want everyone to be able to afford a quality education. That’s an issue, as a student trustee, that keeps me up at night. There are students out there, regardless of their citizenship status, who have done everything right and met all of the requirements for admission to a university, and there’s no space for them. Or tuition is too expensive, and they don’t have the resources. Especially at CSU, which has a lot of students from working-class families, it’s really upsetting when we don’t have enough seats for them, or we’re not getting enough funding from the state to be able to educate them.
Traveling across the state, I’ve met students who are suffering from food insecurity or living out of their cars, but who are determined to continue their education. Those are the stories I share with legislators. I’m not just advocating for undocumented students. I’m advocating for all of these students who are working so hard to pursue an education.
What would you like to say to those who question whether resolving the uncertainty over DACA should be a priority?
Nothing was ever handed to us. We don’t get benefits from federal agencies. That’s a huge misconception, that people think we’re cutting in the line, or that we just didn’t bother to fill out a simple application to become a citizen. If it were that easy, why wouldn’t we have done it?
We’re not asking for a handout. We’re asking for an opportunity. Every DACA student is just asking for a chance to be able to give back and be part of society without having to hide in the shadows or be second-class citizens.
What would you say to fellow Dreamers?
I want them to not give up on their education, especially now. No one can take away our education. It’s something we’ve worked hard for. It’s something we’ve put time and tears into. It’s something we can say we own and can move forward with that.
Source: Katherine Mangan ~ Chronicle of Higher Education ~ February 20, 2018
