27th Professional and Student Development Conference
Friday, April 19, 2019 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS, CHICAGO
ILACHE Statement on the Repeal of DACA
Today, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that DACA has six months while Congress works on immigration legislation and some form of the Dream Act.
With a stroke of a pen, he put at risk the dreams and aspirations of thousands of young people who were brought to this country as children and who are seeking a college education and other opportunities to improve their current situation as well as that of their families and communities. These students want basic human fundamental rights and access to higher education, which should be afforded to all regardless of immigration status. Undocumented students now find themselves victims of a political game and respectability politics leaves so many people out of proposed policy solutions.
Let us be clear. The removal of DACA harms these students and puts their families at risk for deportation and detention. It is not what this country says it stands for. We are a nation of immigrants. The country was built by immigrants and continues to be made strong by their contributions. This despicable act is not only bad for DACA students and their families; it is bad for the country. Economists predict that Trump’s action will cost the United States approximately $200 billion in the next decade, which is over 1% of the 2016 GDP. The decrease in tax revenue would result in a $60 billion loss to the yearly national budget (Cato Institute). The action taken today by Trump to end DACA hurts us all.
What we need in this country is bipartisan support for comprehensive immigration reform. We need leaders with experience, vision and courage to work on a fair and just immigration system. Senators Durbin and Graham have proposed the 2017 DREAM Act, a bipartisan bill as a temporary solution. Legislators need to work with this administration to pass this legislation. Grandstanding and carrying out political vendettas will not serve our country in the short or long term. ILACHE will continue to support and work with legislators who defend the rights of undocumented students and their families.
ILACHE will be organizing a resistance campaign to urge our legislators and Trump to do the right thing. We will keep our members informed of our actions and solicit your help. We will continue to send out updates and post information on our website on what you can do to assist in this battle for justice.
In these troubling times we, the Latinx community, must stand together and mobilize efforts to resist the decisions of this administration that harm our community. We must be relentless in this effort. We also must work in coalition with others on decisions that affect the well-being of our country. There will be many battlefronts where our participation will be needed. In this charge, we must not falter or lose hope. ILACHE calls on Washington and Trump to restore DACA and begin the work of immigration reform to guarantee protection for the immigrant community.
Latinos were among those stunned to learn the results of the past election. An unqualified, clownish, and sexist reality TV host will ascend to the White House. Trump manipulated longstanding resentments and economic insecurities, blaming immigrants, Blacks, the LGBT community, and those in Latin America for the dislocation of US workers and deteriorating economic and social conditions. Racism and right-wing nationalism, central to Trump’s campaign, will become official ideology evidenced by the appointment of Breitbart’s Steve Bannon as Trump’s chief strategist.
Not surprisingly, Trumps’ empty promise to address the economic insecurities of the middle classes and “Make America Great Again,” is quickly spiraling into a billionaire boondoggle with the installation of the financial elite or their representatives to major posts: the fumbling Rick Perry to a department he threatened to eliminate and whose name escaped him during presidential debates (Energy Department); Andrew Puzder, an anti-union CEO to the Department of Labor, and Betsy DeVos, an enemy of public education, to the Department of Education. The most extreme sector of the Republican rightwing will become key figures in the new administration.
The tendency of the mainstream media will be to attempt to normalize Trump’s regime, prioritizing access and industry profits rather than act as a check on power and hold Trump accountable to some semblance of truth. The Korean American journalist Jay Caspian Kang predicts major mainstream outlets will soon begin reducing their “identity politics writers” for those who can represent Trump well to the general public (Kang Blog). In addition, Washington loyalists and a growing segment of the political establishment will uphold the validity of a tattered democratic system. Their defense of the status quo is meant to inspire acquiescence and political conformity exactly when what is necessary is active resistance.
Soon more public dollars will begin shifting toward private concerns, supporting corporate and banking interests at the expense of the general good. Tax cuts for the wealthy will increase pressures to cut healthcare, privatize Medicare, and reduce Social Security benefits. Increased military spending will swell the national debt and lead to reductions in social spending including unemployment and food stamps while limiting attempts to stimulate job creation. Continuing federal reductions in aid to the states will result in less support for education and local calls to reduce minority initiatives.
Latinos have much at stake and more to lose. The future of DACA is unclear. However, a Trump administration will undoubtedly act as a deterrent to access for undocumented students. Increased deportations will result in more divided families. Financial assistance to college students will diminish while profit-oriented approaches to education will weaken commitment to neighborhood schools and limit postsecondary access to those with fewer resources. More students will be caught in the vice of spiraling educational costs and the long-term negative effects of college debt.
What is necessary is not conformity but leadership, organization, and popular mobilization. ILACHE is our voice in higher education. It is through our collective actions that we must continue to promote our agenda of access, equality of opportunity, and community advancement. ILACHE seeks to collaborate with others who reject Trump’s message of xenophobia and hate. The election signals the need to expand our alliances and build broad coalitions that can advance a democratic and inclusive vision of social justice.
We ask that you become an active member of our educational community. This is not a time to retreat but to double our efforts in support of students, families, and communities.
