With the new presidential administration’s strict stance on immigration potentially affecting undocumented students and their families, the San Diego Community College District is taking precautions to educate students on their rights when dealing with the Department of Homeland Security agencies.
The district’s Undocumented Support Services, in collaboration with Higher Education Legal Services, — a program of Jewish Family Service — hosted a virtual presentation on Feb. 19.
The Department of Homeland Security recently started to change many immigration approaches from the previous administration. According to Acting DHS Secretary Benjamine Huffman, federal agents can make arrests in previously protected areas, stating, “Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest.”
This shift has the potential to impact the United States’ 409,000 undocumented students (American Immigration Council) and their families.
The event helped many local students respond to these issues, covering actions to take when confronted by an agent from U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the differences between types of warrants, and the district’s new Administrative Policy, AP 3415.
The new policy on Jan. 29 protects the district’s undocumented students through new rules limiting access to areas and files for federal agents. The policy also outlines what employees can interact with these agents and what they are allowed to say to those officials. It remains unclear if federal agencies will act within the guidelines of the rules set out by the district.
Emily Ortlieb, one of the event’s representatives from Higher Education Legal Services, echoed this uncertainty stating that there have been no cases yet to show if the federal agencies will respect the district’s policy but that it “symbols that they will encounter some kind of resistance from the district” if they attempt to make enforcement actions at the schools.
The event also covered resources that the students and their families have available to help them in these tumultuous times including the San Diego Rapid Response Network. SDRRN is a system set up to respond to local immigration enforcement activities and provide services like asylum shelter, legal assistance, and translation services.
Wednesday’s virtual workshop was not designed just for undocumented individuals. Instead, it was designed to educate undocumented students, students with undocumented family members, and allies on the issue.
The importance of helping people was a big part of the event. Marisa Garcia Perez, a representative from Jewish Family Service, emphasized the importance of supporting students, saying, “supporting students regardless of their status is helpful and never wrong.” when she was asked about helping to create a safer environment for undocumented individuals around campus.
As immigration laws keep changing due to the new laws being challenged in court, the Undocumented Support Service will continue the virtual workshop for all allies with future scheduled events being held on Thursday, March 20 and Wednesday, April 16.
