Undocumented Latino students: Every day, this student, whom we will call Ernesto since his real name is not disclosed due to his immigration status, drives 75 miles between his home, the university, and other places related to his educational work.
Since he closes the door to his house, he looks around, searching for any sign that could put him in danger, and then he drives. He tries to follow all the traffic laws carefully. He doesn’t talk on the phone, and doesn’t listen to music. His attention is on the road.
“It’s something I always wanted in my life, a car. After much effort, my father gave it to me, and he’s still paying for it. But that freedom I felt during the first few days of driving disappeared. Now, it’s a stressful situation,” he says.
Ernesto is a brilliant student, one of those who always gets good grades, is a student leader, and campaigns in favor of undocumented students. However, despite all this, he has not been able to obtain the federal protection of DACA, and now, with the ongoing immigration operations, he is at risk of arrest and deportation.
“Everything is very confusing. I grew up with the progress made in the fight for the rights of undocumented people, but now there is a lot of fear. I’m scared for my family, for myself, I get frustrated, I get angry. After many years of having the courage to speak openly about my immigration status, now I am afraid. My peers are the same, they don’t want to share their stories. This second term of Trump (the U.S. president) has had more impact,” says this young graduate student.
Ernesto is part of an organization of undocumented students who seek recognition and equal opportunities for development in California. Since they have been excluded from federal protections and immigration benefits, they believe California has the responsibility to act.
Last year, Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed an initiative presented by Assemblymember David Alvarez that would have provided job opportunities in the UC system.
In the veto message, Newsom stated that he opposed the bill due to its potential to put state employees in violation of federal law, which bans employers from hiring undocumented immigrants. He added that a federal judge should assess the bill’s legality before proceeding.
In January, the UC Board of Regents stated it would not proceed with a plan to hire undocumented students, citing concerns that violating the federal statute could put UC’s undocumented students at risk for deportation or civil penalties and threaten its grants and federal contracts.
The regents’ plan came as a response to the “Opportunity for All” movement, led by students and faculty at UCLA starting in October 2022. The group supports the novel legal theory that the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act— which makes it illegal for employers to hire undocumented immigrants—does not apply to state entities.
“We will reintroduce it next month, now is the time for lawmakers to show which side they are on. If California is pro-immigrant, they must prove it and approve this legislation,” he says.
Ernesto mentions that the impact of immigration operations has changed their lives. In their meetings, they want to move forward with a response strategy, but it is impossible not to talk about the way they go through their daily lives.
“Personally, many times I regret not being quieter, I’m always giving interviews, campaigning. I reproach myself for not having been more hidden. But you also realize you have to fight and know that everything has a human cost. It’s not just me; it’s also my family, whom I put at risk,” he says.
Despite this situation, they keep fighting, they have no other choice, and they have to do their part to fight for themselves and their communities.
“I reflect on it every day. How is it possible that I could lose all of this?” he says, referring to his family, his home, his professional development through his studies, and his activism.
“We go to different places, spread information, outline a rapid response strategy, like how they can access food. Everything is dangerous, and we know we are risking it every day.”
He also tries to go out at night, it feels like he’s living through the pandemic again. He only goes out when necessary, nothing more. He used to enjoy exploring parks, but now, he doesn’t feel safe even at the university.
“We’ve asked universities to hire more lawyers to help, and they’ve responded that they will do so when they get private funding. They don’t want to compromise their budget to do it,” he adds.
For him, the solution should be community-based, helping each other. When asked about the support they receive from politicians and organizations, he responds disillusioned: “We get it, occasionally they post a tweet or publish a post on social media.”
But he says none of this will defeat them.
“As we say in our meetings, hope doesn’t just come to us, we have to build it. We have to have hope. We’ll reintroduce the initiative in Sacramento and meet with Senator Alex Padilla to see what the next steps are. We have to do something, I’ve never seen my parents so scared. We can’t stay paralyzed by fear,” he says.
Many organizations are distributing red cards in the communities with information on how to be more protected from Immigration.
Ernesto laughs.
“At one meeting, a colleague told us, ‘They think these red cards are vouchers against deportation.’ Organizations and politicians are waiting for the communities to organize by themselves, to save themselves on their own. This absence of work from organizations is the reason we have Trump. If they had pressured Democrats more when they were in charge in Washington, we wouldn’t have gotten to where we are. But they didn’t. We’ve been treated like a political game,” he affirms.
Meanwhile, his life and the lives of thousands of immigrants remain in limbo. Will they be able to sleep at night?
Gavin Newsom vetoes a first-in-the-nation attempt to employ undocumented students
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