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T H E I N D E P E N D E N T D A I LY AT D U K E U N I V E R S I T Y
MONDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2018 DUKECHRONICLE.COM
ONE HUNDRED AND FOURTEENTH YEAR, ISSUE 14
In legal limbo Duke’s Dreamers reflect on a year of uncertainty
Story by Matthew Griffin Contributing Reporter
Photo by Bre Bradham Contributing Photographer
Beginning a new school year can be filled with anxiety for many, but last year two Duke students also had to grapple with the fear that they might not be allowed to stay in the country. Junior Axel Herrera Ramos and sophomore Salvador Chavero Arellano have protected status through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. DACA is an Obama-era executive order that allows undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children to remain in the United States that came under seige from President Donald Trump last fall. Those with the protected status, also referred to as Dreamers, can apply for forms of identification such as driver’s licenses and social security numbers that are unavailable to undocumented immigrants. “[DACA] was definitely a game changer,” said Arellano, who moved from Mexico to the United States with his family when he was one year old. “I’ve been able to have a social security number, work, pay taxes and just be able to contribute to society.” Herrerra came to the United States from Honduras at the age of seven and received protection under the program in 2014, which allowed him get a driver’s license and work during high school and college.
Herrera had been well aware of the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration, witnessing firsthand ICE raids on fellow immigrants. “It was definitely a hard day,” Arellano said. “It was just barely two weeks into my freshman year of college; I should be worried about my classes and my schedule and not have to worry about whether I’m going to be allowed to stay in the country or not.” Reality soon set in for Dreamers at Duke and
In September 2017, President Donald Trump rescinded DACA. A year later, the future of the program remains tied up in the courts.
‘A hard day’: Trump rescinds DACA In September 2017, President Donald Trump rescinded Obama’s executive order, which protected around 800,000 Dreamers from deportation at the time. The administration argued that the initial order was unconstitutional and gave Congress until March 5 to pass legislation that would extend protections for Dreamers. Since then, the program has been the subject of a prolonged legislative and legal battle— and is still in limbo. Only current DACA recipients can re-apply for protection at the moment. Neither Herrera nor Arellano was surprised by the Trump administration rescinding DACA. “It wasn’t a moment of shock,” Herrera said. “It was like, shit, this might be happening.”
elsewhere: they would have to fight to protect their right to remain in the United States. Herrera remembered attending a rally in downtown Durham and witnessing fellow Dreamers’ reactions. “There were like three at first, and then the first person went up, the second person went up, and by the end I was the second to last of ten,” he recounted. “There was nothing to lose at that point.” Meanwhile, the Duke administration wasted no time in restating their commitment to protecting the Dreamers who study and work here. “We stated that we were going to do whatever we could through legislative work, through legal work, to make sure sure that [students’ and workers’] rights under DACA were held intact or reinstated,” said Christopher
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Simmons, associate vice president in the office of government relations. Simmons noted that Duke pushes for a variety of legislation in Washington, and that immigration is a particularly important part of the University’s agenda. President Vincent Price issued a statement in support of DACA after Trump’s announcement, and administrators met with the school’s Dreamers. The University has also signed amicus briefs in support of DACA recipients at Duke who have lawsuits currently going through the courts. “It was all just to assure us that the University is doing everything it can both here and in D.C.,” Arellano said. Reassurance was not all that Duke had to offer its Dreamers. Two days after the Trump administration’s announcement, a member of university administration called Herrera to offer him funding to travel to Washington and argue in favor of a legislative solution. Herrera took the offer and ran with it Herrera—the co-president of Duke’s Define American chapter, an organization that allows immigrants to share their stories—and 12 other members of the organization traveled to Washington in November 2017 to meet with members of Congress. The group lobbied for the Succeed Act, which would have given DACA recipients conditional permanent residence for five years and a path to citizenship after 15 years. “Frankly, the students telling their stories is probably some of the best stuff that we can do to further our agenda in getting bipartisan legislation,” Simmons said. “When you hear their stories, when you talk to them, I think it’s really hard for people not to want to help them.” So far, the bill has been stalled after it was introduced to the Senate.
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