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VOLUME 114 ISSUE 67

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2020 Published by Campus Communications, Inc. of Gainesville, Florida

Not officially associated with the University of Florida

DACA students rely on others to vote

UF Muslims have concerns for safety, policy

STUDENTS FOR BERNIE

DACA RECIPIENTS AND INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS WEIGH IN ON PRIMARIES

78 PERCENT OF MUSLIM AMERICANS APPROVED OF PRESIDENT OBAMA

By AJ Bafer Alligator Contributing Writer

Michell Hernandez and Saira Gonzalez do not exist. The two are undefined in UF’s eyes, marked down as resident aliens despite not being residents. Their status as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients has left them feeling confined, they said. Students like them are affected from the get-go, Gonzalez said. Preview is exciting for most, but hard for undocumented students who know they could be pulled aside and told something is wrong with their documentation, or that they are not eligible for financial aid. “The things that most students experience, we are very isolated in,” Hernandez said. Hernandez, a 22-year-old microbiology and cell science senior, is the co-president of immigrant rights group UF Chispas. Gonzalez, an 18-year-old anthropology sophomore, is the group’s assistant membership director. They immigrated from Mexico at 1 and 3 years old, respectively. Hernandez and Gonzalez are two of 2.2 million temporary lawful residents in the U.S., according to Pew Research. Their status permits their residence in the United States even though they are undocumented, but makes them unable to vote in the upcoming Florida primary election on March 17, further setting them apart from fellow students. Still, like many other students who won’t be able to cast a ballot, their history has them invested in the election, where they try to make their voices heard. Civic duty Hernandez and Gonzalez have lived in the United States their entire lives, first applying for DACA at 16 years old. The program allows undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children to be granted residency, renewable every two years. It is estimated that half of eligible recipients are in high school or college, according to the Hechinger Report. DACA was rescinded in 2017, and

SEE CAN’T VOTE, PAGE 6

Florida’s winning streak snapped SPORTS/SPECIAL/CUTOUT Story description ﬁnish with comma, pg# by FSU

The Gators dropped their ﬁrst game of the season on Tuesday night losing to Florida St. 2-0, pg. 11

By Samia Lagmis Alligator Staff Writer

Although black voters appeared to favor former Vice President Joe Biden on Super Tuesday, younger black voters brought a different perspective to the polls, according to The Guardian. In search for a candidate who will address problems that specifically affect the black community, many black voters including Dabo, have aligned with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders for president. Dabo said she supports Sanders because of his promise for an easier pathway to citizenship, which she hopes will benefit her Senegalese parents, who have lived in the U.S. for more than two decades. She said her mother always talks about how difficult it is for her to find work and travel because of her immigration status. “She loves to travel, and she’s kind of just stuck in the states,” Dabo said. “She can’t go anywhere because she wouldn’t be able to come back.” Dabo also believes in affordable and equal access to healthcare. She trusts that Sanders’

As a Muslim, Wafaa Ateyah said she felt most vulnerable during the 2016 presidential election. Weeks after President Donald Trump’s initial proposal of a ban on predominantely Muslim countries, Ateyah was riding on an RTS bus from campus to the Oaks Mall when someone got on, pointed at her and mouthed the words “f--you.” She stayed silent. Ateyah, a 22-year-old EgyptianAmerican UF alumna and associate research coordinator in the university’s psychology department, said this wasn’t the ﬁrst time she realized her faith had become a target. For her, these challenges as a Muslim woman have only worsened under Trump’s administration. Even pumping gas in her car while wearing a hijab has become a source of anxiety, Ateyah said. With more than one million registered Muslim voters in the U.S, the group is expected to be a deciding factor in the 2020 elections, according to a press release from The Council on American-Islamic Relations, America’s largest Muslim civil liberties organization. The organization added that they believe the election season is continuing to fuel anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant hate. They believe it was rise as Election Day approaches. Only 16 percent of Muslim Americans approve of Trump as president, according to a 2019 survey from The Institute of Policy and Understanding or ISPU. This number dropped drastically from 2016, when surveys showed that 78 percent of Muslim Americans approved of then-President Barack Obama. “Whether it’s the stares that you’re going to get, or just the verbal attacks that you’re going to get or even in your place of worship,” Ateyah said that she’s experienced

SEE BLACK VOTERS, PAGE 6

SEE MUSLIM, PAGE 6

This series of stories is a part of The Alligator’s coverage on how minority communities and UF students feel about the 2020 presidential primary election, candidates and policy. Read current and future coverage of these issues online at bitly://ifa.news/2020. Nushrat Nur // Alligator Staff

Will Hudgins, a 19-year-old UF computer science freshman, and Sophia Prendiville, a 19-year-old UF mathematics freshman, take a photo with a cutout of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in front of the Reitz Union.

What do black UF students want from presidential candidates? Older black voters appeared to favor former Vice President Joe Biden on Super Tuesday By Samantha Chery Alligator Staff Writer

When Khadijah Dabo votes, she’s voting for three people instead of one. Dabo, the daughter of Senegalese immigrants who are unable to vote in U.S. elections, said she wasn’t necessarily raised with a “roadmap” of American politics. Rather than parties, her parents raised her on principles: to be respectful, openminded and honest. But when she goes to the polls, she has herself and her parents to think about. She said these values have helped shape her political views, which have increasing importance. “It affects them,” Dabo, a 20-year-old UF health science sophomore, said. “If they were deported, where would that put my family?” It’s personal questions that could compel Dabo to vote more liberally or conservatively. Eighty-four percent of black voters are either Democratic or lean toward the party, while about 8 percent at least somewhat identify as Republicans, according to the Pew Research Center.

Food trucks are coming to campus See what’s coming today, pg. 5

First Alachua coronavirus case conﬁrmed

UF is also asking professors to prepare to go online, pg. 4

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