Graphic by Nick Youngston, Creative Commons License. Via Pix4Free
As the threat of deportation of undocumented immigrants looms large, students in the City College community are learning how to protect themselves and their families from potential worst-case scenarios.
During a recent Thursday club hour session, about twenty students gathered in a Colin Powell School conference room around a Zoom screen for a “Know Your Rights” workshop. Make the Road NY, an immigrant rights advocacy group, led the talk.
They provided up-to-date information about legislation, executive orders, legal advice about how to act if stopped by an Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Officer, and gave students a booklet called a Deportation Defense Manual.
Dr. Deborah Cheng, the Director of Fellowships Programs and the Office of Student Success at the Colin Powell School, organized the event in conjunction with the Immigrant Student Center and Leadership for Democracy and Social Justice. She said that she responded to the uncertainty about students’ status under the Trump administration. “There was a request from our student advisory committee for more information and a space for students to talk to each other,” she explained.
Students seemed grateful that school officials stepped up. A first-generation student, who worries about her family’s status, asked us not to use her name. But she said, “The current presidential administration doesn’t want schools or churches or hospitals to support undocumented people. So having a school showcase these resources is really important.”
Angelo Cabrera, the new director of the Immigrant Student Center, began working at CCNY less than a week ago. But he said that hopes the center will be a resource for all students, no matter their status.
His office helps students apply for the NYS DREAM Act, federal and state student aid, the Excelsior Scholarship, and other resources. In an age of heightened fears, Cabrera urges students to come together and reject the fear mongering from Washington. “That’s the whole purpose of the current administration,” he said, and encourages students to move forward, adding, “We need to be stronger. We need to continue our lives.”
The strategy to arm immigrants with knowledge of their constitutional rights appears to be working. This week, Tom Homan, the Trump administration’s border czar, complained in a CNN interview that the pace of deportations is not swift enough, partially because activists have been so successful. “They’ve been educated how to defy ICE, how to hide from ICE,” he explains to journalist Dana Bash. “I’ve seen many pamphlets from many NGOs: ‘Here’s how you escape ICE from arresting you.’‘Here’s what you need to do.’ They call it ‘Know Your Rights.”
Tags: activism advocacy Advocates Angelo Cabrera CNN Colin Powell School DACA Dana Bash Deborah Cheng deportations Director of Fellowships Programs ICE Immigrant Student Center Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Know your rights Make the Road NY Office of Student Success Tom Homan TPS undocumented students
Series: Immigration