The campus community is banding together in the wake of Tuesday’s announcement from the White House regarding the rescindment of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA. A candlelit vigil to stand in solidarity with those affected is scheduled for Friday at 4:30 p.m. by the bell tower.
The Obama-era policy that offers protection to undocumented immigrants who were brought to the US as children is an avenue for 800,000 young people to live and work and be educated in the United States legally, and is a policy that keeps numerous Pilots on The Bluff.
The vigil is a joint effort between Diversity and Inclusion Programs, Campus Ministry, the Health and Counseling Center, and the Latino student group known as Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán, or MEChA.
Coordinator for Diversity and Inclusion Programs Yuri Hernandez Osorio, an organizer of this vigil, said Tuesday that despite the looming unknown, she stands with Dreamers.
“We don’t know (what is going to happen), but we’re here together,” Hernandez Osorio said. “We’re here in solidarity with you and we’re gonna do our very best, (even though) we don’t have all the answers.”
Junior Sitara Nath, who lobbied for immigration reform alongside her fellow students at Senator Ron Wyden’s office last spring, encourages community members to persevere.
“For our students and for the thousands of young adults across the country whose lives have and will be drastically affected by the revocation of DACA, I hope every member of the UP community will continue the fight,” Nath said.
