Immigrant Students at CCNY Tackle Legal Uncertainty with Advocacy and Education

In Alexa’s home, immigrant rights have been an ongoing conversation, and early on she learned about her family’s precarious legal status. Her parents came to the U.S. from Mexico in the 1990s seeking a better life and Alexa was born in the U.S. “Having these conversations growing up was definitely a lot harder, me being the oldest of three kids,” said Alexa.  But it also shaped the City College of New York (CCNY) international relations major in an important way. “It was also preparing for me to take over if anything happens, and I have to be the adult in the situation,” she said.

Alexa began advocating for undocumented immigrants on the CCNY campus as a member of the CCNY Dream Team. This student-led organization works to support, educate, and unite immigrant, first-generation, and allied students. Alexa’s advocacy has taken on new urgency in light of President-elect Donald Trump’s December 9th statement in an interview suggesting that his administration might consider deporting entire families with mixed immigration status to prevent family separations.  

Trump’s election promises of mass deportations prompted Alexa and the Dream Team to step up their advocacy to educate first generation Americans and immigrants on campus, and in the city.  “Being first-gen in a country, you don’t know where to look for help. You don’t know who to ask for help because you don’t know who you can trust,” she said.

During the 2024 election cycle, Alexa believes both parties focused more on the border instead of finding solutions to address the needs of immigrants who already live in the United States. Eleven million immigrants without status were living in the United States as of 2022, according to the Pew Research Center, even before the number of  border crossings surge in 2023 and early 2024. Many, she explained, “Are trying to seek status but they can’t because of either ridiculous waiting periods or they don’t have enough to make a case or not knowing what rights they have. There’s more to immigration than just the border.”

A business administration major and member of the CCNY Dream Team, was concerned about his status and asked us not to use his real name, came to the United States on an F1 International Student Visa at 19. He attributes growing anti-immigrant policies, both on the political left and right, to economic dissatisfaction. “When people are not happy with the economy, they blame immigrants. They say that they’re taking all the jobs and sucking resources out of the government.”

Another CCNY Dream Team member, who didn’t want to be identified, came to the United States when he was two. His mother worked as a nurse back in their native Thailand, but has become a staple of the Thai community in Queens for her much-loved pork skewers and coconut desserts she sells at the market. “I, my mother, and my father are all undocumented so we had to have these talks to prepare for what happens if we get asked about our status,” he said. “I need to consider my status in basically every part of life; I cannot be a part of certain jobs and internships. So I’ve grown to be a huge advocate of immigrant rights.”

Though the Delayed Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program was designed to give work authorization to people like himself brought to the United States as children, Trump tried to kill the program in 2017 and it ended up in the Supreme Court. By the time he turned sixteen, DACA stopped accepting new applications so he was unable to apply. “I was in the final stages of getting it done, getting my biometrics in, when the DACA program got paused,” he explains, “New applicants cannot get DACA, but current applicants can get it renewed.” 

He is concerned about President-elect Trump’s pledge to remove immigrants.  “This unchecked power for police to stop anyone on the streets and question/verify their status is scary,” he explains, “I would definitely be more wary of police and federal workers around.” 

Although he can’t vote, he hopes that those who can realize the importance of electing responsible local officials. “The more we make people realize the importance of voting across the board, not just for the presidency, the more likely we will have progress,” he said.

That’s why the Dream Team is working harder than ever. “We’re going to create our own support system for our community: The Dream Team, the Immigration Center, and CUNY schools individually,” said the international student studying business. 

The Dream Team is preparing “Know Your Rights” workshops to arm their members with information about how to protect themselves for possible Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or police actions. “Knowledge is power and knowledge is everything,” first generation American citizen Alexa said.

Stay tuned for Spring 2025 Dream Team updates via instagram.