“Vivan los estudiantes! Viva!” Through rain and biting cold, protesters marched throughout the UTRGV Edinburg campus last Tuesday to raise awareness of the Supreme Court hearings to decide the fate of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
“We’re here to show support, to show that we care about them, that we love them, and that we’re with them, no matter what happens,” said Denisce Palacios, an international business and political science senior.
About 40 people carried handmade posters and chanted their discontent with the possible end to DACA as they walked through the campus, their number growing as other students joined them.
DACA is a program allowing certain individuals who were brought to this country as children to receive protection from deportation as well as work authorization, according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website.
Then-President Barack Obama signed the executive order in 2012 and since then, over 700,000 people have benefited from DACA, allowing them to work and attend school, according to SCOTUSblog.com.
However, President Donald Trump’s administration decided to end DACA in 2017. Last Tuesday, the Supreme Court began hearing oral arguments on several legal challenges to the decision.
Araceli Gallegos, an undeclared sophomore and march organizer, said the program opened up opportunities for her, but when Trump decided to end DACA, it closed them.
“I know that without DACA … I wouldn’t be here next to you,” Gallegos said. “So, I want the DACA program to stay, but not only that … I want more, because I know people from home who don’t have DACA, who couldn’t go, who couldn’t graduate, [and] who cannot go and be educated in college like I am. … I think that needs to change, and I think that needs to change right now.”
Terence Michael Garrett, a political science professor whose specialties include immigration policy, said that from what he has read and kept up with, it looks as if the Supreme Court is going to decide to uphold Trump’s executive order, eliminating Obama’s for DACA.
“It looks likely that they will uphold President Trump’s executive order,” Garrett said in a phone interview last Wednesday. “But the question is going to be the implementation. How are they going to be able to do this logistically because we’re talking about individuals who’ve been here, basically, all their lives. It’s going to be tough.”
He said the Supreme Court will not issue a verdict until June; however, based on the composition of the court, the majority being conservative and the fact the last two picks were Trump appointments, he suspects they will uphold what the Trump administration wants.
“It’s terrible,” Garrett said. “I disagree with it. Back in 2001, they should’ve passed a law, bipartisan, but they didn’t, and it’s been an issue ever since. … This is going to be really, really tragic for a lot of people [and] families.”
Rebecca Gadson, UTRGV associate vice president for Student Life and dean of students, said the university community celebrates having diverse members and would help to offer support to students, regardless of citizenship, status or nation of origin.
Gadson said the UTRGV community will work to ensure students understand the opportunities to pursue higher education.
She said if students have questions as to whether their pursuit of education at UTRGV may be impacted by the Supreme Court’s decision regarding DACA, they can reach out to the Office of the Dean of Students and the Center for Diversity & Inclusion and Dream Resource Center.
“We can help to relay information and connect them to the opportunities there are to finance and support their continued education at the university,” Gadson said.
At the end of the march, several participants spoke in front of a small crowd in front of the Student Academic Center, some voicing their opposition to ending the program and others saying the marchers were inspiring and the act of protesting gave them hope.
Sara Stapleton-Barrera, an attorney and Democratic hopeful for Texas Senate District 27, participated during the march, and said the individuals she saw protesting were inspiring and courageous to her.
Mikael Sanchez, an environmental science and philosophy freshman and participant, said America needs to redefine what it means to be a citizen.
“You shouldn’t have to be born here in order to reap the benefits of democracy,” Sanchez said. “If you live here, if you work here, then you deserve a piece of the pie, just as much as anyone else.”
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