On Wednesday September 6th, the Women’s Center sponsored an information session on DACA through their program, Current. The session, held in the Women’s Center’s office on the 4th floor of Maloney, was an intimate gathering of students from various backgrounds at BC who genuinely wanted to learn more about DACA and how to get involved. As college students, it can be hard to stay informed, especially with the plethora of issues going on in the world today but what is going on with DACA affects thousands of people our age who are just trying to get an education like us.
For those of you who may be as confused as I was when I initially heard about DACA, DACA is an executive order signed by President Obama in 2012 that stands for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. The policy by allows immigrants who entered the United States illegally as children to work and live in the United States for two years at a time without being deported. However, President’ Trump’s recent decision to end DACA, pending Congress’ decision to format it into law within 6 months, will affect 800,000 dreamers and put them at risk for deportation. Despite the fact that DACA does not lead to a direct path to citizenship, it at least allows undocumented immigrants to work legally in the U.S. With the removal of DACA, thousands of people will now leave in fear and anxiety including potentially some of our fellow Eagles.
Two weeks ago, President Obama released a power statement calling the decision cruel and self-defeating. President Fr. Leahy released a brief statement of members of the community affected by DACA that reads as follows ““Boston College is committed to supporting all of its students. The DACA program has benefited students at Boston College, and they have contributed greatly to the life of our community.” As Fr. Leahy alludes to, the DACA program is something has benefited members of the BC community and that it why it’s important to stay up to date on what is going on. It’s often difficult to recognize the impact of decisions made by the government but this is something that hits close to home for many members of our community. If you want to support keeping DACA in place, text resist to 50409 to send a fax to your senator in Congress. For more ideas check out this article with a list of resources.
Sources:
http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/04/politics/daca-dreamers-immigration-program/index.html
https://www.bc.edu/bc-web/bcnews/campus-community/announcements/daca-support-statement.html
http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/05/politics/obama-full-statement-daca/index.html
Cover Photo: http://www.businessinsider.com/daca-dreamers-homeland-security-information-2017-9