SMC Hosts Second-Annual Undocumented Student Week of Action
From Oct. 14-18, Santa Monica College's (SMC) Dream Program hosted its “Undocumented Student Week of Action” for the second year, with support from a number of organizations, including the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA).
SMC Dream Program Counselor Sergio Belloso explained that SMC participated “in [the] Undocumented Student Week of Action to provide support, encouragement, empowerment, and resources to undocumented students and strengthen allyship for students on campus.”
The Undocumented Student Week of Action kicked off with an open lab offering application assistance for California DREAM (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors) Act recipients, helping students to stay on track with paperwork into the fall semester. On Oct. 15, the Student Services Center hosted two workshops centered around mental health resources for undocumented students. The center also offered a CHIRLA presentation about policy updates for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and how student advocates can get involved.
Melody Klingenfuss, the host of the workshop and a statewide organizer for the California Dream Network — a group within CHIRLA dedicated to college activism — focused the seminar on the upcoming Supreme Court decision regarding the renewal of DACA.
During the presentation, Klingenfuss covered the impact of the Supreme Court decision by elaborating on best and worst case scenarios for DACA recipients. If the Supreme Court chooses to revoke DACA, recipients could be at risk of deportation or unable to use their license and other identifying documents.
However, it’s possible DACA could be amended to allow renewals, or even reverted back to its original form. The decision will be announced between January and June of 2020.
“We do not have access to the judges, the only thing we have is the ability to give information to the people who are affected or who know someone who’s affected,” said Klingenfuss. “The whole purpose is to activate [students], get them involved, and get them ready to join events and spread information.”
CHIRLA plans walkouts and marches in support of DACA renewals as the Supreme Court hearings draw near. Klingenfuss stated that long term organization goals revolve around the 2020 elections and census. “Those are our big plans — to mobilize the vote, and to get out the word for the census.”
On Wednesday, Oct. 16, SMC's Dream Program had a Week of Action Resource table in the quad to “provide more knowledge and information about the resources (available) for students,” explained Communications Professor Julie Chekroun. She was one of the many professors who helped greet students at this interactive touch point on campus.
Cherkoun explained that the table wasn’t just a resource for undocumented students, but it opened up doors for “students who are willing to become allies to the cause…because it’s not just something that affects a group of students, it affects all of us.”
Ernesto Rocha was the keynote speaker for the weeklong event. Rocha is part of the Community Coalition, an organization in South L.A. that works against violence and poverty trying to better social and economic conditions and influence change in public policy. Rocha has a TEDx Talk where he speaks about what it's like to be an undocumented immigrant.
The week concluded with an “UndocuAlly Training”, hosted by Nick Mata, Director of Special Programs for the DREAM Program.
The training included a panel SMC students who shared their experiences as undocumented students. The panelists also advocated for the DREAM Program to expand their team of counselors and establish a DREAM resource center on campus.
The training ended with group exercises in which attendees paired up and addressed hypothetical situations involving undocumented students; such as when a student misses a test for a green card interview, allowed staff and students to apply their training to better understand how to practice their allyship on campus.
SMC incorporated UndocuAlly training in Fall 2017, after a group of students requested that SMC have training offered to all staff and students. According to Mata, over 200 staff members have been trained since then. These trainings are optional and occur two to three times every semester.
“Students who participate in these events will hopefully get the sense that they belong at SMC and in higher education,” said Belloso. “There is hope regardless of the political climate in our country… SMC is actively trying to provide support to them.”