It’s always nice to show support on the different social media platforms by using a filter or hashtag, but at times little do we see taking place aside from that. Going a step forward is to research the topic and see what your stance on the issue is and what the immediate steps are to help create a movement outside of social media.
What is DACA and who are the Dreamers? According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services , the Deferred Action For Childhood Arrival aka DACA was enacted on June 15th, 2012, and consisted of granting certain illegal immigrants brought to United States as children to receive renewable work permits and the opportunity to go to college, all while meeting certain stipulations. After the enactment of DACA the recipients were named Dreamers and have identified as such ever since.
According to the U.S. Department Of Homeland Security, as of September 5th, 2017 DACA was rescinded and no more applications are currently being accepted. What this means is that any permits that expired any time after that date cannot be renewed and after March 5th, 2018 DACA will completely expire for all recipients. Right now, President Donald Trump has sent this to Congress and they have up until the date DACA fully expires to create another migratory reform to take its place.
For this reason, I went around campus and spoke to different Dreamers and listened to their stories. The process was quite emotional and moving, as some of the responses I got were not what I was expecting. I definitely wanted to know more about their stories, but the main thing I wanted them to share is what they would like to see us non-dreamers do. The answer was simple - they want us to get involved outside of the social media platforms.
But what does this mean? Well, some of the suggestions they gave me was to contact enators directly, leave voicemails and make their voices be heard from people who are not Dreamers, but still care about them. Go to the peaceful protests on campus and outside of campus. One of the ways that I was able to get in contact with some of the Dreamers was by sitting with them at a protest in campus. This doesn't mean you have to do the same thing, but at least showing up would express your concern and support for them. Write about their situation in a productive way to get more people involved, rather than creating an argument that does not provide any solutions or involvement. Lastly, speak up if you see someone being mistreated because of their legal status. This doesn't mean you need to argue with the person, just make the campus security or any sort of power source know what's going on.
These are the things we forget to do at times, but ultimately this is what Dreamers want to see us do if we truly support them as a community. It might not seem like much, but as one of the Dreamers told me, this is their fight and we are here to aide them and be their voice when they're not being heard. This goes a longer way than just sharing your profile picture with a filter. If you can and have the resources to do so, go a step forward and listen to what the Dreamers of the community have to say and support them.