tag:theconversation.com,2011:/africa/topics/undocumented-students-33545/articlesUndocumented students – The Conversation2020-06-20T14:14:27Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1411112020-06-20T14:14:27Z2020-06-20T14:14:27ZWhat the Supreme Court’s DACA ruling means for undocumented students and the colleges and universities they attend<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/343014/original/file-20200619-43229-c0ntug.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1350%2C725%2C3441%2C2400&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Many people with DACA status are in school.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/students-and-supporters-of-daca-rally-in-downtown-los-news-photo/1182036321">Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Editor’s note: The Supreme Court voted, 5-4, on June 18, 2020 that the Trump administration can’t immediately end the <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/2019/18-587">Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals</a> program, also known as DACA. <a href="https://scholars.org/scholar/sayil-camacho">Sayil Camacho</a>, a Vanderbilt University postdoctoral fellow who studies immigrants, answers four questions about how the decision will affect undocumented students and higher education</em>.</p>
<h2>1. What’s DACA, and what did the majority say in its ruling?</h2>
<p>President Barack Obama signed the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals executive memorandum on <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/18/us/DACA-dreamers-supreme-court-immigration.html">June 15, 2012</a> to provide <a href="https://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/daca-two-year-mark-national-and-state-profile-youth-eligible-and-applying-deferred-action">1.2 million undocumented young people</a> with two-year work permits and temporary relief from deportation. Since this program went into effect, approximately <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/10/6/16431524/daca-how-many">800,000 undocumented immigrants have obtained DACA status</a>, including about <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/06/18/880281963/sigh-of-relief-or-slippery-slope-advocates-and-opponents-react-to-daca-ruling">643,000</a> with it today. The permits are renewable <a href="https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/deferred-action-childhood-arrivals-response-january-2018-preliminary-injunction">120 days before the expiration date</a> as long as the DACA program is in place.</p>
<p>Studies have shown that DACA has <a href="https://immigrationinitiative.harvard.edu/files/hii/files/final_daca_report.pdf">improved the chances for undocumented people</a> to complete high school, go to college, attend grad school and get higher-paying jobs.</p>
<p>On Sept. 5, 2017, President Donald Trump declared that his administration would <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/statement-president-donald-j-trump-7/">phase the DACA program out</a>. Subsequently, <a href="https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/press-room/statement-uc-president-janet-napolitano-filing-supreme-court-brief-daca">several lawsuits were filed</a> challenging DACA’s termination. On June 28, 2019 the Supreme Court agreed to consolidate and consider three of these cases.</p>
<p>In this single ruling nearly a year later, a majority of the justices deemed the <a href="https://www.nilc.org/issues/daca/daca-litigation-timeline/">legal process</a> Trump used in his attempt to end DACA to be “<a href="https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/department-of-homeland-security-v-regents-of-the-university-of-california/">arbitrary and capricious</a>.” They ruled that his administration lacked a clear rationale for ending the DACA program.</p>
<h2>2. What does this mean for undocumented students?</h2>
<p>This ruling means that undocumented young people who have obtained permission to stay in the country through DACA – often called Dreamers – can keep their DACA benefits – including temporary work permits and relief from deportation. For undocumented students, this means that they can continue to work, stay in school, pursue careers and remain with relatives who live in the United States.</p>
<p>Today, an estimated <a href="https://futureofchildren.princeton.edu/sites/futureofchildren/files/media/immigrant_children_21_01_fulljournal.pdf">1.1 million undocumented children</a> live in the United States, according to data drawn from the Census Bureau. This number includes about <a href="https://www.migrationpolicy.org/news/nearly-100000-unauthorized-immigrants-graduate-high-school-every-year-new-mpi-analysis-finds">100,000 undocumented students</a> who graduate from high school every year. The most recent estimates indicate that approximately <a href="https://www.presidentsimmigrationalliance.org/pressrelease/new-report-more-than-450000-undocumented-students-enrolled-in-colleges-universities-in-united-states/">450,000 undocumented immigrants</a> are enrolled in colleges and universities, including some 45,000 pursuing advanced degrees.</p>
<p>The court battle over whether Trump had the power to end <a href="https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2019-11-12/timeline-on-daca">DACA in the way that he attempted to do it</a> also discouraged many undocumented people <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/immigration/news/2017/11/09/442502/thousands-daca-recipients-already-losing-protection-deportation/">from applying</a>. </p>
<p>But the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agency is <a href="https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/deferred-action-childhood-arrivals-response-january-2018-preliminary-injunction">still accepting and approving DACA applications</a> from anyone who needs to renew their status or is seeking protection from deportation.</p>
<h2>3. How has higher ed dealt with DACA?</h2>
<p>Many colleges and universities have special <a href="https://undoc.universityofcalifornia.edu/campus-support.html">resource offices or designated staff</a> trained to support undocumented students. Some schools are seeking to address issues that prevent them from affording college.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2020/03/03/college-promise-programs-can-make-college-more-affordable-undocumented-students">Targeted policies</a>, such as letting undocumented residents pay <a href="https://www.ncsl.org/research/education/undocumented-student-tuition-overview.aspx">in-state tuition</a>, giving the undocumented access to <a href="https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2019-08-29/how-undocumented-students-can-access-financial-aid-for-college">financial aid</a> and ensuring that undocumented applicants may apply for <a href="https://immigrantsrising.org/2020scholarships/">scholarships</a>, can make a big difference. </p>
<h2>4. Does this mean undocumented students no longer have to fear deportation?</h2>
<p>No. Regardless of their immigration status, undocumented students have to wake up every morning not knowing whether they can stay in this country. Trump and other officials in his administration have signaled that they intend to <a href="https://twitter.com/priscialva/status/1273694990565285893">renew their efforts to end this program</a>. For undocumented immigrants, obtaining DACA status has always involved trusting the U.S. government not to deport them when they <a href="https://youtu.be/_07xhidMQ_Y">came out of the shadows</a> and officially acknowledged their status.</p>
<p>The precise numbers are unclear, but studies indicate that there are between <a href="https://insights.som.yale.edu/insights/yale-study-finds-twice-as-many-undocumented-immigrants-as-previous-estimates">11 and 22 million</a> undocumented people in the United States. Without comprehensive immigration reform, they will continue to live in fear.</p>
<p>I hope that many colleges and universities will keep trying to meet the growing needs of their undocumented students, even if Trump <a href="https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article243627857.html">keeps trying to end DACA</a>. Some of the ways schools can do that is by paying DACA <a href="https://theconversation.com/proposed-asylum-fees-are-part-of-a-bid-to-make-immigrants-to-the-us-fund-their-own-red-tape-126890">application and renewal fees</a>, providing free on-campus legal aid and offering access to mental health counselors.</p>
<p>The DACA program was always intended as a <a href="https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2012/06/15/remarks-president-immigration">temporary policy</a> that might allow young people who arrived in the United States as children the opportunity to stay and build their adult lives here. Eventually, the undocumented – and everyone else in the United States – will need a longer-term solution.</p>
<p>[<em>You’re smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation’s authors and editors.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=youresmart">You can read us daily by subscribing to our newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/141111/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sayil Camacho has received funding from the Center for Growth and Opportunity at Utah State University to understand the population characteristics of Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees and the Scholars Strategy Network to conduct research on the experiences of DACA recipients for the National UndACAmented Research Project at the Harvard Graduate Shcool of Education. </span></em></p>At least for now, hundreds of thousands of students can stay in school without facing new hardships.Sayil Camacho, Postdoctoral Fellow at the Peabody College of Education and Human Development, Vanderbilt UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1084002018-12-20T11:34:01Z2018-12-20T11:34:01ZMore DREAMs come true in California: How tuition waivers opened doors for undocumented students<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251643/original/file-20181219-45400-rbx0ez.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Undocumented students took advantage of tuition benefits they called for through the 2013 California DREAM Act.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.sccollege.edu/StudentServices/AB540/PublishingImages/dreamact3.jpg">Santiago Canyon College</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>California decided to crack open the door to higher education a little more for undocumented students through the <a href="https://www.csac.ca.gov/california-dream-act">California DREAM Act</a>.</p>
<p>In a new <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.3102/0013189X18800047">study of the impact of this 2013 policy</a>, education researcher Samantha Astudillo and I discovered that it helped put undocumented students on equal footing with students who are U.S. citizens in terms of how many credits they take each semester.</p>
<p>The policy – which takes its name from students known as “Dreamers” – offers the students state grant aid and community college fee waivers. This financial aid is valued at <a href="http://californiacommunitycolleges.cccco.edu/Portals/0/Reports/2016-CCCCO-BOG-FeeWaiver-Report-final.pdf">US$550</a> a semester for community college students. Once California made the aid available to low-income undocumented students attending community college, those students completed about two more college credits in the first semester of enrollment than prior groups. That meant undocumented students completed an average of 7.5 credits, on par with U.S. citizen students who receive aid.</p>
<p>Our findings carry important implications for the estimated <a href="https://edtrust.org/the-equity-line/let-young-dreamers-continue-dream/">65,000</a> undocumented students who graduate from U.S. high schools each year. They also are relevant to states and advocates who are interested in expanding educational opportunity for members of this particular group, who often find themselves in legal limbo and with <a href="https://theconversation.com/heres-how-undocumented-students-are-able-to-enroll-at-american-universities-69269">limited options</a>.</p>
<h2>Why the findings matter</h2>
<p>The significance of our findings might vary, of course, based on one’s political views or vantage point.</p>
<p>For instance, this finding could be important from an economic standpoint if you think it’s a good investment for undocumented students to go to college to get the kinds of credentials that enable them to earn a living and contribute to the workforce. For those who see <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/12/18/tucker-carlsons-immigration-comments-lead-companies-pull-ads/2356151002/">immigrants as undesirables</a>, our study offers a counter-narrative – that many are just aspiring college students.</p>
<p>It should be noted that in-state resident tuition benefits for undocumented students have already lowered the cost of college for undocumented students in <a href="https://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/view/2809">17 states</a>. These states include California and Texas, which have the <a href="http://www.pewhispanic.org/interactives/unauthorized-immigrants/">largest</a> undocumented populations. Still, paying in-state tuition remains difficult for undocumented students from lower-income families. That is why the tuition and fee waivers may be needed to further expand opportunity.</p>
<h2>A closer look</h2>
<p>Our study examined the transcripts of more than 26,000 students entering a set of California community colleges between 2011 and 2014. We could identify students who were likely undocumented because the colleges we studied collected resident status information to determine financial aid awards. About 10 percent of the students in the data fell into this category. We base this on the fact that the students checked the “other visa” box instead of other options, such as U.S. citizen, permanent resident or international student visa, to indicate their status. Also, these students appeared in the local high school data.</p>
<p>We determined the impact of the California DREAM Act by comparing the outcomes of undocumented students to the outcomes of U.S. citizen students before and after the policy. Citizen students served as a “control” group since the policy change didn’t affect them.</p>
<p>Before the California DREAM Act, some undocumented students with higher GPAs than U.S. citizen students were not enrolling in college. The promise of aid made these high-achieving undocumented students more likely to enroll.</p>
<p>The promise of aid also apparently led undocumented high school students to improve their GPAs between 11th and 12th grade. For instance, Hispanic U.S. citizen students increased their GPA by 0.11 points between 11th to 12th grades. This figure held steady before and after the policy. But for undocumented Hispanic students, the average change grew from 0.08 before the policy to 0.11 points afterwards. This suggests that undocumented students might have started to see college as more of a possibility and worked hard in class as a result.</p>
<h2>The college try</h2>
<p>I believe our findings suggest that states with in-state resident tuition policies should replicate the California DREAM Act.</p>
<p>If such a proposed policy draws opposition from critics who think state resources should not be given to undocumented immigrants, then perhaps free community college programs, or <a href="https://theconversation.com/can-college-promise-programs-deliver-87850">“promise” programs,“</a> for local high school graduates may be a way to support all low-income students, <a href="https://edtrust.org/resource/can-undocumented-students-access-free-college-programs/">provided they are accessible</a> to undocumented students.</p>
<p>At the very least, the results of this study show that undocumented students have dreams of completing college. Decreasing college costs through targeted financial aid policy such as the California DREAM Act can help to make more of those dreams a reality.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/108400/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Federick J. Ngo has received funding from the National Science Foundation, the Spencer Foundation, and the Asian and Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund for other research.</span></em></p>When researchers took a close look at transcripts for thousands of California community college students, they discovered an encouraging trend in enrollment for undocumented students.Federick J. Ngo, Assistant Professor of Higher Education, University of Nevada, Las VegasLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/917382018-02-28T11:38:21Z2018-02-28T11:38:21ZWhy deporting the ‘Dreamers’ is immoral<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/208179/original/file-20180227-36680-1s5aobn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Immigrants and activists demonstrate in front of the Republican Party headquarters in Washington</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Luis Alonso Lugo</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>On Feb. 26, the U.S. Supreme Court <a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/02/26/588813001/supreme-court-declines-to-take-up-key-daca-case-for-now">refused to review</a> a federal judge’s order that the Trump administration continue the <a href="https://www.ice.gov/daca">Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.</a></p>
<p>It was back in September 2017 that <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/05/us/politics/trump-daca-dreamers-immigration.html">President Donald Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced</a> the end of the Obama-era program that shields hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children. <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/speech/attorney-general-sessions-delivers-remarks-daca">Sessions argued</a> that this program rewarded those who disobeyed the laws of the United States. The United States has an obligation to <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/speech/attorney-general-sessions-delivers-remarks-daca">“end the lawlessness”</a> of DACA, he argued, by winding down the program and, at the same time, making a case for the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/23/us/daca-dreamers-shutdown.html">deportation of the “Dreamers”</a> or those previously protected by DACA. </p>
<p>For now, the Supreme Court’s refusal to hear the case <a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/02/26/588813001/supreme-court-declines-to-take-up-key-daca-case-for-now">leaves the program in place</a>.</p>
<p>As a scholar, who has tried to understand <a href="https://phil.washington.edu/people/michael-blake">how morality should be applied to politics and law,</a> I do not agree with Sessions.</p>
<p>Respect for the law entails respect for moral values. Protecting the Dreamers isn’t about rejecting the rule of law. Rather, it reflects respect for the morality that the law proclaims. </p>
<h2>Can children be held morally responsible?</h2>
<p>The people covered by DACA came to the United States <a href="https://www.ice.gov/daca">when they were children</a>. Even if their entry into the United States was unlawful, the violation was committed by a child. The law of the United States affirms the common sense thought that children are unlike adults in the degree to which they morally responsible.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/208181/original/file-20180227-36689-iu4a6y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/208181/original/file-20180227-36689-iu4a6y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/208181/original/file-20180227-36689-iu4a6y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/208181/original/file-20180227-36689-iu4a6y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/208181/original/file-20180227-36689-iu4a6y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/208181/original/file-20180227-36689-iu4a6y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/208181/original/file-20180227-36689-iu4a6y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Dreamers came as children.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mollyswork/36982427456/in/photolist-Ym1BeA-JJKm8k-cJP653-8nrVuo-cJP5Xy-FYje5w-8noASe-23dz3oU-XmPKNb-YCLfBP-24ftkHU-244sjCL-YCLg1e-YnzxWs-22cHJxv-9skxBR-XoMUbp-Y2BtGj-9soxf7-Ym131w-GavK2Y-9skBuM-XmPC79-9skBqM-gs3EvG-Ym1mGE-24ftkUW-YCKuyD-Z1wrTU-8nsuwE-8nmsc6-YYrU5Q-FYjdXN-YCLbSV-cPEAeu-YqfwZr-Ym1jwN-cmcN8o-23dz4du-23dz3Z3-Y2BiEq-npKsn3-XoMZyt-23Fzof2-XoMYri-XmPK7m-XoNsHt-9soBGf-gs36Ju-8nnV38">Molly Adams</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The laws of the United States do not, for example, <a href="http://www.cs.xu.edu/%7Eosborn/main/lawSchool/contractsHtml/bottomScreens/Briefs/Restatement%2012.%20Capacity%20to%20Contract.htm">let children create binding contracts</a>. Children are not allowed to perform many actions open to adults: They cannot <a href="http://codes.findlaw.com/ny/penal-law/pen-sect-260-21.html">smoke tobacco, get tattoos, drink alcohol</a>, <a href="http://nysdmv.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/173/%7E/the-driving-age-in-new-york-state-and-the-graduated-licensing-law">drive automobiles</a>, nor <a href="http://www.elections.ny.gov/votingregister.html">vote in federal elections</a>. Nor are they liable to the <a href="http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/graham-v-florida/">same sorts</a> of criminal punishments as adults. </p>
<p>Their degree of culpability for criminal acts is generally taken to be lower than that of adults – and some punishments, such as the death penalty, <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/2011/10-9646">are taken off the table for children entirely</a>. </p>
<p>In the case of DACA, however, deporting the Dreamers would involve subjecting people to a significant punishment. And it would do so in response to an action people took when they were children. This is exactly the sort of action the law itself regards as morally inappropriate. </p>
<h2>Punishment and deportation</h2>
<p>One response to this argument against deportation might be to say that deportation is not, in fact, a punishment. It is simply refusing to provide a benefit - namely, the right to remain within the United States. The foreign citizen who is refused the right to migrate to the United States is inconvenienced – but that’s hardly the same as being punished. And, indeed, deportation is generally understood in law to be a <a href="https://www.law.upenn.edu/journals/conlaw/articles/volume13/issue5/Markowitz13U.Pa.J.Const.L.1299(2011).pdf">“civil penalty,”</a> rather than a punishment. </p>
<p>Even a civil penalty, though, is something whose imposition must be justified morally. The justices of the Supreme Court of the United States have sometimes emphasized that being expelled from one’s home involves the <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/149/698/case.html">destruction of much of what one values</a>. It is the destruction of all that one has built. </p>
<p>This fact was recognized early in the history of the American legal system. Founding father James Madison, in discussing the <a href="https://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Alien.html">Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798</a>, argued strongly against deportation. <a href="http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=lled&fileName=004/lled004.db&recNum=566&itemLink=r%3Fammem%2Fhlaw%3A%40field">He said</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“… if a banishment of this sort, be not a punishment, and among the severest of punishments, it will be difficult to imagine a doom to which the name might be applied.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The Supreme Court agrees. It recently reaffirmed its commitment to the thought that deportation, even if a mere penalty, is <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/09pdf/08-651.pdf">“a uniquely severe”</a> one.</p>
<h2>Residency and rights</h2>
<p>The DACA opponent might, in reply, argue that the morality of the law applies only to those people who are legitimately subject to the law. The laws of the United States might insist, in other words, that the United States has no particular obligations to those people who have entered into <a href="https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/illegal-immigrant">the political community, defined by its jurisdictional limits</a>, without any right. </p>
<p>Here, too, the law of the United States disagrees.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/208182/original/file-20180227-36696-1t42n01.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/208182/original/file-20180227-36696-1t42n01.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/208182/original/file-20180227-36696-1t42n01.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/208182/original/file-20180227-36696-1t42n01.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/208182/original/file-20180227-36696-1t42n01.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/208182/original/file-20180227-36696-1t42n01.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/208182/original/file-20180227-36696-1t42n01.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The law itself gives certain rights to the undocumented.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/131830793@N03/16989650198/in/photolist-rTjp6q-9ivJBr-SzAECv-RhWYzS-SzACjn-RauRDh-XUuX2L-85Ypi4-sYdpN-5AgqmS-4LxJF1-eutPcQ-Jwd66-4Ltwtn-4vpMvQ-7pBKdX-4LxJFQ-4Ltvjc-nXyyV3-4Ltvk2-8kub3D-RcstVR-Q9ptKe-spQNRh-RjAEBC-SzADDX-SzADqv-RhWZUf-RhWZ7U-RZMwQy-RhX3Ws-RZMwVU-N6xyS3-SkJRPU-Q9ptCa-Q9ptyc-Q6CbAC-Q9ptnR-RjAEFq-RjAEAW-Q9ptF6-RjAEHu-QNHXfs-RjAEx9-Q6CbGE-RjAEuU-RcstS4-Q9ptsk-Q6CbyJ-RjAEwh">David Davies</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The mere fact of being found within the United States – whether rightfully or not – <a href="https://www.nilc.org/get-involved/community-education-resources/know-your-rights/">provides one with significant rights</a> under the Constitution. The law itself gives the undocumented legal rights to bring claims in vindication of their constitutional rights.</p>
<p>Undocumented children, for instance, have a constitutional right to be provided with public schooling. The Supreme Court, in defending this principle, argued that all people within the state’s jurisdiction - <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/457/202/case.html">“even aliens whose presence in this country is unlawful”</a> – are guaranteed due process under the law.</p>
<h2>Morality and migration</h2>
<p>Yes, nothing in the law requires the opening of all borders. And it is true that the United States does not have an obligation to provide the right to enter or stay in the country to all who might desire that right. </p>
<p>However, the Dreamers are not like other people. The simple fact of where they are now provides them with constitutional standing denied to outsiders. </p>
<p>And, as emphasized earlier, whatever wrong they might have done in crossing into the United States, they did as children. The revocation of DACA, however, would announce that they are rightly subjected to a significant – indeed, a devastating – punishment, in virtue of an act committed in childhood. </p>
<p>Law is not the same as morality. <a href="http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674554610">But morality can sometimes look to law</a>, in determining where its deliberations might begin. If the deportation of the DACA recipients would violate the moral principles that underlie the American legal system, there is at least some reason to think that such deportation is morally wrong. </p>
<p>Contrary to Jeff Sessions, I believe that the United States would not respect the law best by deporting the Dreamers. It would respect it best by living up to the moral ideals that make the law worth following.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/91738/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Blake receives funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities.</span></em></p>Conservatives on migration claim that allowing the DACA recipients to stay shows disrespect for the law. The moral principles that underlie the American legal system, however, tell a different story.Michael Blake, Professor of Philosophy, Public Policy, and Governance, University of WashingtonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/908992018-01-30T23:22:46Z2018-01-30T23:22:46ZTrump’s path to citizenship for 1.8 million will leave out nearly half of all Dreamers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204118/original/file-20180130-38219-3uv3v7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Anxiously awaiting the State of the Union</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Susan Walsh</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Which “Dreamers” will be given legal recourse to stay in the U.S., and which ones will be left out?</p>
<p>This is the central question surrounding current debate in Washington over a group of undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children. The scramble for a solution has taken on greater urgency since the Trump administration announced that DACA would be phased out and ended in March 2018. That deadline is currently on hold due to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/immigration/daca-injunction-what-a-federal-judges-ruling-means-for-dreamers/2018/01/10/ecb5d492-f60c-11e7-a9e3-ab18ce41436a_story.html?utm_term=.bc7147a36ae9">a federal court</a> ruling – but a battle in Congress over the Dreamers’ fate closed the federal government for 69 hours earlier this month.</p>
<p>Some conservatives have <a href="https://theconversation.com/ahead-of-government-shutdown-congress-sets-its-sights-on-not-so-comprehensive-immigration-reform-89998">balked at the idea</a> of giving “amnesty” to any lawbreakers whatsoever. However, in a recent proposal, President Donald Trump has offered to provide a path to legalization for 1.8 million Dreamers who either received <a href="https://www.uscis.gov/archive/consideration-deferred-action-childhood-arrivals-daca">Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals</a> or were DACA-eligible. </p>
<p>What would that mean? </p>
<h2>Left out of DACA</h2>
<p>DACA is an Obama-era program that provided limited rights to undocumented youth who were brought to the U.S. as children and met certain requirements. Since its inception in 2012, DACA provided relief to <a href="http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/09/01/unauthorized-immigrants-covered-by-daca-face-uncertain-future/">close to 800,000</a> young undocumented immigrants. Recipients were temporarily shielded from deportation and provided with work authorization. </p>
<p>However, the Migration Policy Institute estimates that <a href="https://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/deferred-action-unauthorized-immigrant-parents-analysis-dapas-potential-effects-families">more than 3.6 million</a> unauthorized immigrants entered the U.S. before the age of 18. Their data show that slightly more than <a href="https://www.migrationpolicy.org/news/trump-immigration-plan-lopsided-proposal">1.8 million unauthorized immigrants</a> met the criteria for applying for DACA.</p>
<p><iframe id="tc-infographic-230" class="tc-infographic" height="575px" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/infographics/230/0383290ac53a9bb85bf4290bcbe95349d1676be3/site/index.html" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Why, then, did only about 800,000 actually receive it? </p>
<p>DACA only applied to undocumented immigrants who were younger than 31 as of June 15, 2012 and had come to the U.S. before age 16. They had to be in or have graduated from high school, had to have obtained a general education development certificate, or had to have served in the military. This left out some people.</p>
<p>Anyone with a criminal record of a felony or more than two misdemeanors or who posed “a threat to national security or public safety” was prohibited from receiving DACA. This left out others.</p>
<p>Additionally, some who were eligible did not apply out of fear that signing up might lead to them or their families being deported. Indeed, after Trump assumed office a number of DACA recipients were <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/10/us/daniela-vargas-detained-daca-released.html?mtrref=www.google.com&gwh=DF54DF259713EC1A373E92133D0298F9&gwt=pay">arrested and detained</a>. </p>
<h2>Trump’s proposal: Generous or not?</h2>
<p>President Trump’s latest <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/white-house-framework-immigration-reform-border-security/">immigration proposal</a> states that it would “provide legal status for DACA recipients and other DACA-eligible illegal immigrants, adjusting the time-frame to encompass a total population of approximately 1.8 million individuals.” The proposal appears to maintain the same requirements that existed for DACA.</p>
<p>Some supporters of the proposal have viewed the relief for that many undocumented immigrants as generous. However, the proposal would limit relief to about only one-half of Dreamers, ignoring the 1.8 million that never registered for DACA.</p>
<p>The Trump legalization plan would also only cover a minority of the total undocumented immigrant population – about 16 percent. According to the <a href="http://www.pewhispanic.org/interactives/unauthorized-immigrants/">Pew Research Center</a>, the total undocumented population in the United States is <a href="https://theconversation.com/counting-11-million-undocumented-immigrants-is-easier-than-you-think-67921">more than 11 million</a>.</p>
<p>Ultimately, the Trump proposal would leave roughly 9 million undocumented immigrants subject to deportation. </p>
<p>Millions of undocumented immigrants who have <a href="https://theconversation.com/deportees-in-mexico-tell-of-disrupted-lives-families-and-communities-90082">lived and worked in the U.S.</a> for years would not be eligible for legalization and face possible deportation. People with families – including U.S. citizen children – friends, jobs and communities in the United States will be affected. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/how-trumps-immigration-enforcement-could-affect-families-and-communities-69019">The fear</a> of removal <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-daca-affected-the-mental-health-of-undocumented-young-adults-83341">is real</a> and has had major health and other consequences on immigrant communities and families. </p>
<p>All of this is only part of what Trump’s proposal is seeking to do. The proposal calls for great increases in immigration enforcement, including the appropriation of billions of dollars to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. It also calls for increased detention and immigration enforcement and the expansion of expedited removal of noncitizens apprehended in the interior of the country. Moreover, the Trump proposal seeks drastic reductions of family-based immigration and an end to “extended-family chain migration” as well as elimination of the diversity visa program. </p>
<p>Organizations ranging from the <a href="http://aila.org/publications/videos/quicktakes/quicktake-232-white-house-immigration-proposal">American Immigration Lawyers Association</a> to the <a href="http://www.maldef.org/news/releases/2018_1_25_MALDEF_Statement_on_Trump_Administration_Immigration_Plan">Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund</a> believe that Trump’s legalization program for a portion of the undocumented community is not worth the formidable costs.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/90899/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kevin Johnson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A scholar counts the winners and losers in Trump’s immigration proposal.Kevin Johnson, Dean and Professor of Public Interest Law and Chicana/o Studies, University of California, DavisLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/899982018-01-19T11:42:44Z2018-01-19T11:42:44ZAhead of government shutdown, Congress sets its sights on not-so-comprehensive immigration reform<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/202587/original/file-20180119-80197-1vw54m4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Senators meet with President Donald Trump to discuss immigration on Jan. 9, 2018.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Evan Vucci</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>For a moment, it looked as though 2018 might be the year that ended a three-decade streak of failure to pass so-called “comprehensive immigration reform.”</p>
<p>On Jan. 11, a <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/11/dreamers-deal-reached-but-trump-has-yet-to-sign-off-336501">bipartisan group of six senators</a> brought forth a plan for comprehensive reform that would include US$2.7 billion for border security, a pathway to citizenship for “Dreamers” brought to the country without authorization as children, a limit on those Dreamers sponsoring their parents for citizenship and a reallocation of “diversity visas” to immigrants with <a href="https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/temporary-protected-status">recently terminated</a> Temporary Protected Status visas.</p>
<p>Prospects for the deal have dimmed since President Donald Trump, who had previously expressed sympathy for Dreamers, <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/17/trump-credibility-capitol-hill-lawmakers-negotiating-342989">abruptly torpedoed it</a>. But the rudiments of a workable deal are still in place. If it ends up succeeding, it will be in no small part because it sidesteps the one issue that has deadlocked comprehensive reform since the 1990s: undocumented immigrants.</p>
<p>The only remotely viable path to a “comprehensive” deal, it seems, is to leave millions of undocumented immigrants who are not Dreamers out in the cold.</p>
<h2>The ‘amnesty’ stumbling block</h2>
<p>Americans of all political stripes, and their elected officials, have <a href="http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/09/30/on-views-of-immigrants-americans-largely-split-along-party-lines/">long agreed</a> that the U.S. immigration system is “broken.” Yet since the last major round of reforms in the 1980s and 1990s, efforts at “comprehensive immigration reform” spearheaded by presidents of both parties and enjoying bipartisan congressional support have gone nowhere. America’s foundational laws regarding immigrants have remained largely intact since Lyndon Johnson occupied the White House. They are the <a href="https://cis.org/Report/HartCeller-Immigration-Act-1965">Hart-Celler Act of 1965</a>, later amended by the <a href="https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/its-25th-anniversary-ircas-legacy-lives">Immigration Reform and Control Act</a> of 1986, and the <a href="https://immigration.laws.com/immigration-act-of-1990">Immigration Act of 1990</a>.</p>
<p>The main stumbling block has been hostility, mainly on the Republican side, to normalizing the status of millions of immigrants living in the country without permission. This hostility developed fairly recently, driven almost entirely by pressure to please a small but rabidly anti-immigrant base. George W. Bush largely escaped pressure to harden his relatively moderate positions prior to his election in 2000, and <a href="https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/stateoftheunion/2007/initiatives/immigration.html">actively pursued</a> comprehensive immigration reform as president. </p>
<p>But since then, serious GOP presidential candidates have increasingly had to toughen up on immigration policy in order to make it through to the general election.</p>
<p>The 2008 election witnessed the <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-appalling-last-act-of-rudy-giuliani">rebirth of Rudy Giuliani</a> – formerly a relatively tolerant mayor of a “sanctuary city” – as a border security hawk and illegal immigration hard-liner. More notable still that year was Sen. John McCain, who was <a href="http://content.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1818697,00.html">forced to back off</a> his longtime support for comprehensive immigration.</p>
<p>Donald Trump, of course, <a href="http://time.com/3923128/donald-trump-announcement-speech/">launched his 2016 bid for the GOP presidential nomination</a> by railing against drug smugglers, criminals and rapists he <a href="https://theconversation.com/more-mexicans-are-leaving-the-us-than-coming-across-the-border-51296">falsely alleged</a> are streaming into the U.S. illegally from Mexico. </p>
<p>Observers understand this hostility to “amnesty” in different ways. <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/anti-immigrant-rhetoric-anti-latino/">Some see it</a> as racially motivated, and tied to hostility against Latinos and other ethnic minorities. However, my colleague Morris Levy and I have <a href="https://cloudfront.escholarship.org/dist/prd/content/qt19m3r9c7/qt19m3r9c7.pdf">shown in our research</a> that much of it is tied to deep conceptions about the rule of law. By this logic, roughly one-third of Americans, according to our study, reject undocumented immigrants categorically. That is, they reject them solely on the basis of breaking the law, without regard to ethnicity or other characteristics.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-politics/article/mass-opinion-and-immigration-policy-in-the-united-states-re-assessing-clientelist-and-elitist-perspectives/1461C6DF33BE8E552DFFF1DC8A7993BD">We have argued</a> that this is why there is still no path to citizenship for the <a href="https://theconversation.com/counting-11-million-undocumented-immigrants-is-easier-than-you-think-67921">11 million or so</a> undocumented immigrants currently living in the U.S.</p>
<h2>Narrowing what ‘comprehensive’ means</h2>
<p>It’s no surprise then that, of late, the debate has devolved exclusively to address the fate of Dreamers. As some of our work indicates, Dreamers do not provoke the intransigent hostility that other undocumented immigrants do. They are less likely to be viewed as “law-breakers,” and more likely to win support on humanitarian grounds.</p>
<p>In effect, the vast majority of undocumented immigrants have been written out of immigration reform altogether. The more limited deal in circulation would give Democrats a “win” with respect to illegal immigration, even if it is less than the total victory they have long sought. The concessions they offer in return – limited funding for border security, some effort to limit so-called “<a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/01/07/576301232/explaining-chain-migration">chain migration</a>,” and the redirecting of “diversity lottery” visas to some immigrants previously on temporary status – <a href="http://thehill.com/homenews/house/294853-black-caucus-concerned-by-end-of-diversity-visas-in-senate-immigration-bill">are not uncontroversial</a>. However, none is likely to generate anything like the reaction “amnesty” produces among categorical opponents of illegal immigration.</p>
<p>Can those undocumented immigrants hope for reprieve down the line?</p>
<p>There is precedent for large-scale amnesty: The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 <a href="https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128303672">legalized nearly 3 million</a> undocumented immigrants in exchange for relatively weak enforcement provisions. But given the uniquely intransigent positions taken on both sides of the issue, it is hard to imagine another such bill in the offing any time soon.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/89998/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew Wright does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>If they pass a deal on DACA, it’s a win for both sides of the aisle and thousands of ‘Dreamers,’ but a loss for millions of undocumented immigrants.Matthew Wright, Assistant professor of government, American University School of Public AffairsLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/833412017-09-06T01:39:54Z2017-09-06T01:39:54ZHow DACA affected the mental health of undocumented young adults<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184820/original/file-20170906-31109-1f6hccs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A rally in support of DACA outside of the White House.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin</span></span></figcaption></figure><blockquote>
<p>“I am getting this wonderful education. I have a job. I fit in. At the same time, I feel at any moment that can change. I don’t think that most Americans live with that thought that anything can change [in] just one minute… My biggest fear is me getting deported or DACA being terminated and I go back to being here illegally.” –“Leticia”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>“Leticia,” a pseudonym, is now 21. She came to the U.S. from Mexico at the age of eight. She is just one of the many undocumented young adults we have met in the course of our research.</p>
<p>With President Donald Trump’s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/05/us/politics/trump-daca-dreamers-immigration.html?mcubz=0&_r=0">reversal of an Obama-era executive order</a> known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), Leticia’s worst fears seem to be coming true. It is now up to Congress to pass legislation that would grant “Dreamers” legal status. In the meantime, these youths’ dreams and aspirations are once again stalled, with another deadline and six more months of uncertainty, and thus, fear and anxiety.</p>
<p>Together, we have been researching <a href="http://politybooks.com/bookdetail/?isbn=9780745648316">the lives of immigrants</a> for <a href="https://www.rienner.com/title/Making_a_Life_in_Multiethnic_Miami_Immigration_and_the_Rise_of_a_Global_City">26 years</a>. Up until 2012, undocumented youth like Leticia found themselves with few options for making their aspirations a reality as they became adults. </p>
<p>This changed with DACA. The program granted certain undocumented youth temporary reprieve from deportation that could be renewed every two years, and identity papers such as driver’s licenses and <a href="https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/consideration-deferred-action-childhood-arrivals-daca">social security cards</a>. This gave recipients the ability to legally apply for a job or admission into institutions of higher education.</p>
<p>Since DACA passed, youth like Leticia have been able to further their education and obtain jobs and health insurance along with being granted many <a href="https://www.vox.com/2017/9/2/16244380/daca-benefits-trump-undocumented-immigrants-jobs">other rights</a>. Our research demonstrates that DACA has enabled youth and young adults not just to work toward building their own futures, but also to find peace of mind – something that, until then, was unfamiliar to them. </p>
<h2>Personal trauma and emotional well-being</h2>
<p>Participants in our studies commonly discussed chronic feelings of sadness and worry. Their mental health statuses were precarious prior to DACA. Most did not know they were undocumented until a caregiver told them, usually in late adolescence. To them, finding out about their undocumented status proved to be a source of <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07256868.2015.1072906?journalCode=cjis20">personal trauma</a>. Their status disrupted their dreams and eroded the trust they had placed in their families, friends and social institutions.</p>
<p>Some participants admitted that, prior to DACA, they had thought about suicide. Feeling hopelessness because of their undocumented status, a few had harmed themselves or even attempted suicide. According to news reports, at least one young Dreamer ended his own life <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/11/us/joaquin-luna-jrs-suicide-touches-off-immigration-debate.html?mcubz=1">as a result of this anguish</a>. </p>
<p>We found that one way that undocumented youth coped with feelings of isolation was to join immigrant organizations and to volunteer in immigrant advocacy activities. The social connections they developed in these groups fostered relationships that supported them in times of despair.</p>
<p>Then, DACA brought relief and improved their mental health. These youth shared with us that they were more motivated and happy after Obama’s executive order. As Kate, one of our participants, told us, DACA “has gone a long way to give me some sense of security and stability that I haven’t had in a very long time.” Even with DACA, these youth maintained their involvement in organizations to help “give back” to their communities. </p>
<p>Almost 800,000 youth trusted the government with their “fingerprints” and other personal information when they applied for DACA. In return, the two-year reprieve from deportation lifted the constant, everyday fear of existence that characterized their lives. These <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S027795361730148X">mental health gains</a>, in addition to the fruits of all of their hard work over the past five years, are now threatened.</p>
<h2>The road ahead</h2>
<p>These young adults are thoroughly vetted and are either well on their way to or already contributing in significant ways to their communities and the country. Alonso Guillen, to cite just one recent example, lost his life while rescuing <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/alonso-guillen-daca_us_59ad6849e4b0b5e531000f1c">victims of Hurricane Harvey</a>. Many have contributed to the U.S. economy – 5.5 percent of DACA recipients have started their own businesses and 87 percent are <a href="https://cdn.americanprogressaction.org/content/uploads/2016/10/21111136/2016-daca_survey_draft_updated-FINAL2.pdf">employed</a>. </p>
<p>With the demise of DACA, these youth may feel that the trust they placed in government has been betrayed. In our research, before Donald Trump was a presidential candidate, we often heard participants expressing fear that DACA may be temporary – but it was always hypothetical. One of our participants, “Mariposa,” said she was “on the list,” and worried that the U.S. government would know exactly where to find her if DACA should end.</p>
<p>If our research and the history of social activism of Dreamers tells us one thing, it is that these youth are resilient. The U.S. is their home, the only place they consider home, and where they want to stay and contribute. </p>
<p>Our work shows that being part of organizations that support immigrants is crucial to promoting a sense of <a href="https://academic.oup.com/socpro/article-abstract/64/2/298/3231982/Emotional-Challenges-of-Undocumented-Young-Adults?redirectedFrom=fulltext">social and emotional well-being</a>. These organizations, at least, may continue to provide spaces where youth can come together and feel like they belong. Meanwhile, Dreamers can only hope Congress can find a solution that will help them trust once again in America’s institutions.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/83341/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth Aranda receives funding from the National Science Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth Vaquera receives funding from National Science Foundation.
She volunteers for KIND (Kids in Need of Defense). </span></em></p>Research shows that for many young people, discovering they were undocumented led to significant mental distress. After DACA they found peace of mind.Elizabeth Aranda, Professor of Sociology, University of South FloridaElizabeth Vaquera, Director of Cisneros Hispanic Leadership Institute, George Washington UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/746602017-04-11T01:51:54Z2017-04-11T01:51:54ZSan Francisco is using a Montana sheriff’s playbook to sue Trump on sanctuary cities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/164700/original/image-20170410-8876-pmh9o5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A rally outside of City Hall in San Francisco in January.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Jeff Chiu</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>San Francisco is suing <a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-san-francisco-trump-20170131-story.html">over</a> President Donald Trump’s <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/01/25/presidential-executive-order-enhancing-public-safety-interior-united">executive order</a> against “sanctuary cities.” A federal court hearing is set for April 14, and a decision is expected soon after.</p>
<p>The order, signed in January, defined “sanctuary jurisdictions” as any that “attempt to shield aliens from removal from the United States.” It lists several actions the federal government may take, including denial of federal funds and other “appropriate enforcement action.” Attorney General Jeff Sessions <a href="http://www.latimes.com/politics/washington/la-na-essential-washington-updates-attorney-general-jeff-sessions-1490639931-htmlstory.html">repeated</a> the threat in March. </p>
<p>According to San Francisco’s <a href="https://www.sfcityattorney.org/2017/03/08/herrera-asks-court-block-trumps-unconstitutional-executive-order-targeting-sanctuary-cities/">lawsuit</a>, the order “commandeers state and local governments in violation of the 10th Amendment to the Constitution.” In other words, the federal government intends to enlist the help of the <a href="https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/csllea08.pdf">765,000 or so</a> law enforcement officers who work for state and local governments to enforce federal immigration laws. This is cheaper for the federal government than hiring more agents, but it is costly to unwilling state and local governments. That’s the “commandeering” problem at the heart of this legal challenge.</p>
<p>San Francisco’s challenge to President Trump’s immigration policies draws on an unlikely precedent: a Montana sheriff’s challenge to federal gun control policy. More cities are <a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/03/28/521771752/sanctuary-cities-promise-legal-fight-after-sessions-threatens-funds">considering</a> similar challenges. The city of <a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/03/30/522030259/seattle-sues-trump-administration-over-sanctuary-city-threat">Seattle</a> has filed suit. In my work on constitutional law, I study how <a href="https://ssrn.com/abstract=2945405">principles of federalism</a> established by deep red rural counties against a liberal national policy agenda are now serving deep blue urban cities resisting a conservative national policy agenda.</p>
<h2>Federalism: Reconciling red and blue states</h2>
<p>In these legal challenges, red and blue states agree on at least one thing – the federal government’s powers are limited under the Constitution. This principle might save what <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-12-30/can-this-political-union-be-saved">some</a> <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2017/01/03/how-federalism-can-help-save-the-failing-marriage-between-the-red-and-blue-states/?tid=a_inl&utm_term=.c457542c1062">commentators</a> have called a “bad marriage” between increasingly polarized red and blue states. Our federal system of government allows diverse state <a href="https://ssrn.com/abstract=2686299">policy agendas</a>. Under federalism, state and local <a href="http://www.harvardlawreview.org/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/vol_12401gerken.pdf">dissenters</a> retain some power to govern themselves. This can help soften the blow of <a href="https://ssrn.com/abstract=2660484">national political victories</a> for losing parties.</p>
<p>San Francisco’s <a href="https://www.sfcityattorney.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Complaint.pdf">case</a> against Trump cites a lawsuit filed in rural Ravalli County, Montana in the first year of President Clinton’s term. Clinton lost the county in a <a href="http://sos.mt.gov/portals/142/Elections/archives/1990s/1992/1992gen.pdf?dt=1480457264103&dt=1480523087997&dt=1483636395345&dt=1484090685147&dt=1484090818653&dt=1484091059850&dt=1484092785123&dt=1484668556665&dt=1484676687552&dt=1485286813335&dt=14">landslide</a>, though not as badly as Trump <a href="http://www.sfelections.org/results/20161108/">lost</a> San Francisco. In his first term, Clinton signed the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993, or the “<a href="https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-103hr1025rh/pdf/BILLS-103hr1025rh.pdf">Brady Bill</a>.” </p>
<p>The law requires background checks for handgun purchases. The law required local law enforcement officers to run the background checks until the federal system was up and running. That did not sit well with <a href="http://missoulian.com/a-lawman-s-life/article_a3042a3b-77c6-5a5f-ae88-5b50e8a3ea26.html">Jay Printz</a>, an old-school Montana sheriff who eventually would join the National Rifle Association’s board of directors. The Brady Bill’s mandate conflicted with <a href="http://leg.mt.gov/bills/mca/title_0450/chapter_0080/part_0030/section_0510/0450-0080-0030-0510.html">Montana law</a>, which prohibited Printz from regulating firearm purchases.</p>
<p>So, he sued. He took his case all the way to the Supreme Court and <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/521/898/case.html">won</a>. In a 5-4 opinion authored by the late Justice Antonin Scalia, the court held that the “Federal Government may neither issue directives requiring the States to address particular problems, nor command the States’ officers, or those of their political subdivisions, to administer or enforce a federal regulatory program.” </p>
<p>It relied on the <a href="https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/amendments/amendment-x">10th Amendment</a> to the United States Constitution, which states: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” The justices interpreted the Constitution as reserving control over state officials to the states alone. The ruling prohibited federal <a href="https://ssrn.com/abstract=2244191">commandeering</a> of state officials like Sheriff Printz by enlisting them to enforce federal law.</p>
<p>It also meant that as long as the federal government is not coercive, making an offer the states can’t refuse, it can persuade them with the promise of federal funding. For example, in 1987, South Dakota challenged the federal government’s withholding of a small share of highway funding if the state did not raise its drinking age to 21. The Supreme Court <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/483/203/case.html">allowed the spending condition</a> as a “relatively mild encouragement” to follow federal policy. Yet, it warned that at some point, “pressure turns into compulsion.” </p>
<p>The Supreme Court <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/567/11-393/opinion3.html">found</a> the government reached that point in 2012, when it struck down the Affordable Care Act’s expansion of Medicaid. Under the act, holdout states were faced with losing around 10 percent of their total budgets if they refused to accept the Medicaid expansion.</p>
<p>In the Affordable Care Act case, the court extended the reasoning of the Printz case to federal spending programs. In a metaphor Sheriff Printz might appreciate, Chief Justice Roberts wrote that the threat of losing so much federal funding was “a gun to the head.” It was as good as commandeering the states themselves. Two of the more liberal justices joined Chief Justice Roberts and the four more conservative justices in a 7-2 decision on the issue.</p>
<h2>From rural county to sanctuary city</h2>
<p>San Francisco now <a href="https://www.sfcityattorney.org/2017/03/08/herrera-asks-court-block-trumps-unconstitutional-executive-order-targeting-sanctuary-cities/">argues</a> that if the Brady Bill’s requirement that Sheriff Printz conduct background checks is unconstitutional, then President Trump’s sanctuary city policy is too. Making federal funds conditional on compliance with federal immigration enforcement, San Francisco argues, would be “a gun to the head.”</p>
<p>Federalism allows for people in the states to reach local compromises that cannot be reached at the national level in the current political climate. Other state and local governments may seek sanctuary from federal <a href="http://vanderbiltlawreview.org/articles/2009/10/Mikos-On-the-Limits-of-Supremacy-62-Vand.-L.-Rev.-1421-2009.pdf">drug</a> laws, for example. The anti-commandeering rule lets people in the states resist some federal mandates, or even the threatened loss of federal funds.</p>
<p>Today, a conservative administration in Washington is ruling over a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/elections/results/president">center-left plurality</a> in the states. One consequence is the appointment of conservative <a href="http://www.npr.org/2017/03/16/519501771/judge-gorsuchs-writings-signal-he-would-be-a-conservative-on-social-issues">Supreme Court justices</a>, who typically <a href="https://ssrn.com/abstract=2945405">support</a> states’ federalism arguments. Given these shifts, we can expect more liberal jurisdictions to find common ground with Sheriff Printz’s resistance in years to come.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/74660/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anthony Johnstone does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Twenty years ago, a sheriff won a lawsuit against a federal gun control law. Today, San Francisco is betting the same argument for state’s rights will stop Trump from defunding sanctuary cities.Anthony Johnstone, Professor of Constitutional Law, University of MontanaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/737382017-03-14T00:21:31Z2017-03-14T00:21:31ZHow unaccompanied youth become exploited workers in the US<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/160615/original/image-20170313-9600-eld6r0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An unaccompanied minor from Guatemala, in Hamilton, Ohio.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/John Minchillo</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Trump administration has released a series of executive orders targeting immigration at the U.S. southern border. Central American families and children traveling alone <a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.cbp.gov_newsroom_stats_southwest-2Dborder-2Dunaccompanied-2Dchildren_fy-2D2016&d=DwMFAg&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=rVAinUTJntj020hapSs8-g&m=LV8HtwVZw7B-ODBDmEqceNRFo_THA">represent</a> nearly half of all unauthorized migrants apprehended by Customs and Border Protection. The criminalization of immigrants at the U.S. southern border disproportionately affects Central American children and youth. </p>
<p>Nearly 153,000 unaccompanied Mexican and Central American <a href="https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/usbp-sw-border-apprehensions">children</a> have been apprehended at the U.S. southern border since 2014. Of those detained by Customs and Border Protection and processed by the Office of Refugee Resettlement, 60 percent have been reunited with a sponsor, typically a parent. The other 40 percent are placed with a nonparent sponsor. </p>
<p>With the guidance of a parent or guardian, these youths might obtain financial, legal, health and social support. Others who enter without detection and remain unaccompanied when they arrive in the U.S. are financially independent and may never gain access to formal resettlement services. Recent <a href="https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/pages/attachments/2017/01/31/caseprocessingpriorities.pdf">orders</a> by the Trump administration that prioritize unaccompanied child migrants for deportation heighten the vulnerability of immigrant children in the U.S.</p>
<p>Since 2012, I have conducted in-depth observations and interviews with undocumented immigrant youth who arrived in Los Angeles, California as unaccompanied minors and have remained without a parent throughout their settlement in the U.S. I use pseudonyms for confidentiality as research participants are migrant youth living and working in the U.S. without authorization.</p>
<p>Pundits and scholars tend to frame immigrant youth as students and adult migrants as workers. However, being unaccompanied at settlement requires youth to become <a href="http://poverty.ucdavis.edu/policy-brief/exploitation-poverty-and-marginality-among-unaccompanied-migrant-youth">financially independent</a> and take up low-wage occupations to make ends meet.</p>
<p>My ongoing research shows that unaccompanied migrant youth face labor exploitation and suggests that Trump’s orders exacerbate the precarious work conditions of unaccompanied immigrant youth workers in the U.S. </p>
<h2>Workplace violence</h2>
<p>Undocumented working youth migrate to Los Angeles in hopes of working to support their families who remain in their home countries. They come to the U.S. with low levels of education and English language fluency.</p>
<p>Romero arrived in Los Angeles from Guatemala at the age of 15 and immediately began looking for work in downtown LA garment factories. In an interview, he recalled: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“The bosses would tell me, ‘do you have experience?’ I would say yes. And they would say, ‘you are a child still. Go to school.’ But I thought, ‘yes I would like to go to school but no one is going to [financially] support me. Just me. Who else? It’s me by myself.‘”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Unaccompanied minors like him enter industries such as garment production, service, construction and domestic work. Youth working in the garment industry often <a href="http://poverty.ucdavis.edu/policy-brief/exploitation-poverty-and-marginality-among-unaccompanied-migrant-youth">make</a> a median of US$350 in wages per week for more than 60 hours of work.</p>
<p>Undocumented youth garment workers spend hours in dimly lit factories where shop owners often leave doors and windows locked throughout the work day to remain discreet and avoid workplace inspection. The <a href="http://www.labor.ucla.edu/publication/dirty-threads-dangerous-factories-health-and-safety-in-los-angeles-fashion-industry/">lack of ventilation</a>, heat and loud noises from factory machines, and strenuous work schedules physically and mentally exhaust youth who are then unable to attend school due to <a href="http://www.youthcirculations.com/blog/2015/9/9/fast-fashion-slow-integration-guatemalan-youth-navigate-life-and-labor-in-los-angeles">headaches, eye tension and back pain</a>.</p>
<p>Much like with their <a href="http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520288782">adult coworkers</a>, economic necessity and fear of removal from the workplace and the country keep undocumented migrant youth workers quiet in cases of exploitation, and docile and efficient on the job. For example, three young workers at the same factory told me the story of a young Salvadoran woman who was pushed to the shop floor by the factory manager for incorrectly sewing the seams on a batch of dresses. They sorrowfully recalled their inability to help her out of fear of losing their jobs.</p>
<p>In early February 2017, the <a href="https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/statement-secretary-kelly-recent-ice-enforcement-actions">Department of Homeland Security</a> conducted “a series of targeted enforcement operations” in workplaces and neighborhoods across 12 states that led to the arrest of 680 immigrants. Raids in today’s immigrant destinations, including Los Angeles, increase the hostility that workers must navigate in already precarious occupations. Research shows that deportation can have <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10826-013-9848-5">detrimental mental health effects</a> on children and lead to <a href="http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520283404">financial hardship</a> among families. In 2008, the largest workplace immigration raid <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/17/AR2008051702474.html">in U.S. history</a> impacted hundreds of Central American workers, including minors. These actions can further mental health and financial instability in the lives of child migrants.</p>
<h2>Overcoming and giving back</h2>
<p>In the last four years, I have encountered youth who have been entangled with drug and alcohol addictions, experienced bouts of homelessness or toiled in depression and anxiety as they searched for ways to cope. Far from being the “bad hombres” Trump describes, youths’ desires to overcome these circumstances permeated our conversations and organized their daily lives.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/160617/original/image-20170313-9641-143va8s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/160617/original/image-20170313-9641-143va8s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/160617/original/image-20170313-9641-143va8s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160617/original/image-20170313-9641-143va8s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160617/original/image-20170313-9641-143va8s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160617/original/image-20170313-9641-143va8s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160617/original/image-20170313-9641-143va8s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160617/original/image-20170313-9641-143va8s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An unaccompanied minor from Honduras at a youth league soccer game in the Bronx, New York.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Mark Lennihan</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In fact, many see their tenacity in enduring workplace violence as a marker of their commitment to their families and communities. “I didn’t come here with a bad intention. I didn’t come here to be a burden,” says 22-year-old Berenice who arrived from El Salvador at the age of 17. A 19-year-old Salvadoran man explained,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“People say Central Americans are gang bangers but we all come here with a dream. We want to help our families. There aren’t jobs over there and we come here to work. We are not selfish. We want to help.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>These young people participate in various community organizations such as <a href="http://cmsny.org/publications/canizales-support-and-setback/">churches</a>, book clubs, <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01419870.2015.1021263#abstract">support groups</a> and recreational sports teams. </p>
<p>A 25-year-old Guatemalan man who has lived in the U.S. for nine years said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“What is important here is that we stay united and we support each other. We all want to be helped and to also help. Like in my case, the way someone lent me a hand, I want to lend it to others. That’s how I overcame [my trauma].”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Young people construct moral identities based on work, participating in the local economy, giving back to their local community via organizational involvement and community service. They also demonstrate a commitment to their transnational community. A 24-year-old man who arrived in Los Angeles at age 16 gave up attending English classes at an adult language school to remit a few extra dollars to his family abroad after his youngest brother expressed a desire to migrate to the U.S. to attend school. “No quiero que venga a sufrir aca,” he said, “I do not want him to come here to suffer.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/73738/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephanie L. Canizales receives funding from the National Science Foundation, the John Randolph Haynes Foundation, and the American Sociological Association. </span></em></p>Many children who cross the U.S. Mexico border illegally remain undetected and must fend for themselves on the other side.Stephanie L. Canizales, Ph.D. Candidate, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and SciencesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/739482017-03-07T03:14:19Z2017-03-07T03:14:19ZTrump’s immigration executive orders: The demise of due process and discretion<p>The U.S. <a href="https://www.uscis.gov/laws/immigration-and-nationality-act">immigration code</a>, passed by Congress in 1952, rivals the tax code in its level of complexity. </p>
<p>In January, President Donald Trump signed <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/executive-orders">three executive orders</a> on immigration that have made matters more complicated for immigrants and the lawyers and advocates who fight on their behalf.</p>
<p>As an immigration lawyer and teacher, I have spent countless hours helping those in need and educating my community, which includes residents, educators, professors, international students and scholars, along with local government about the contents of the orders, and the <a href="https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/3468386/Read-the-memos-signed-by-DHS-Secretary-Kelly-on.pdf">guidelines</a> released by the Department of Homeland Security in February and how they will be implemented.</p>
<p>Specifically, the two orders on <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/01/25/executive-order-border-security-and-immigration-enforcement-improvements">deportations</a> and <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/01/25/presidential-executive-order-enhancing-public-safety-interior-united">enforcement</a>, both signed on Jan. 25, reveal that the government is making three major changes.</p>
<p>First, the orders are making virtually every undocumented person a priority for deportation.</p>
<p>Second, they seek to maximize existing programs that allow deportation of individuals <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers2.cfm?abstract_id=2486821">without basic due process</a>. This includes the right to be heard by a judge, present evidence or challenge a charge of deportation.</p>
<p>And third, pursuant to its Feb. 20 memorandum, DHS has rescinded most documents that offered guidance on <a href="http://elibrary.law.psu.edu/fac_works/129/">prosecutorial discretion</a>.</p>
<p>Prosecutorial discretion in immigration law refers to the choice made by a government official or agency to enforce or not enforce the immigration law against a person. It has been the <a href="http://www.beyonddeportation.com">central focus of my research</a>, and is a critical component in our immigration system. Officials must choose whom to prioritize for removal because they have limited resources. The government has also recognized other compelling reasons why a person might deserve to not be deported. For example, a person without papers who has lived in the United States for several years and has family ties, steady employment or community leadership may temporarily be protected from removal.</p>
<p>Do Trump’s executive orders signal an end to this practice?</p>
<h2>Everyone is a priority</h2>
<p>DHS has rescinded the <a href="https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/14_1120_memo_prosecutorial_discretion.pdf">2014 Johnson Priorities Memo</a>, which provided a framework for determining who is a priority for immigration enforcement and articulated the factors that should be considered when making decisions about whether to deport someone.</p>
<p>For example, the memo instructed DHS to consider amount of time spent living in the United States and “compelling humanitarian factors such as poor health, age, pregnancy, a young child, or a seriously ill relative.”</p>
<p>Now, the government is taking a hard-line approach to immigration enforcement, without explicit consideration for a person’s circumstances. The orders list specific parts of the 1952 immigration statute that target those eligible for deportation for reasons related to crimes or misrepresentation. But enforcement officials will also now target deportable immigrants who:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>have been convicted of any criminal offense;</p></li>
<li><p>have been charged with any criminal offense that has not been resolved;</p></li>
<li><p>have committed acts that constitute a chargeable criminal offense;</p></li>
<li><p>have engaged in fraud or willful misrepresentation in connection with any official matter before a governmental agency;</p></li>
<li><p>have abused any program related to receipt of public benefits;</p></li>
<li><p>are subject to a final order of removal but have not complied with their legal obligation to depart the United States; or</p></li>
<li><p>in the judgment of an immigration officer, otherwise pose a risk to public safety or national security.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>DHS guidance does not stop with this priority list. It goes on to suggest that any person without documents might be a priority. It repeatedly states: “All of those in violation of the immigration laws may be subject to immigration arrest, detention and, if found removable by final order, removal from the United States.” </p>
<p>Arguably, an undocumented parent living in the United States for several years and taking care of children who have formal or permanent immigration status, or United States citizenship, could be targeted as a person “in violation of the immigration laws,” whereas before this same person would have more clearly been eligible for prosecutorial discretion and not been labeled as a priority. Similarly, a student who overstays her visa and then jaywalks may be treated as an enforcement priority because jaywalking constitutes a chargeable offense.</p>
<p>The cumulative effect is fear that everyone is a priority. </p>
<p>Despite major changes to enforcement, the guidance from DHS suggests that individual <a href="https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/17_0220_S1_Enforcement-of-the-Immigration-Laws-to-Serve-the-National-Interest.pdf">prosecutorial discretion</a> may be exercised on a case-by-case basis, and preserves three policies relating to enforcement. </p>
<p>One pertains to “<a href="https://www.ice.gov/ero/enforcement/sensitive-loc">sensitive locations</a>” and instructs DHS to avoid enforcement in places like schools, places of worship and hospitals. </p>
<p>The second is a guideline on granting parole to certain arriving asylum seekers after a “credible fear” interview has been conducted. When an asylum seeker is “paroled,” she is released from detention and able to pursue her asylum claim outside of custody. </p>
<p>The final memo that is still intact is the <a href="https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/consideration-deferred-action-childhood-arrivals-daca">Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals</a>. DACA enables qualifying noncitizens who entered the United States at a young age, often referred to as “Dreamers,” to apply for protection from deportation and work authorization. </p>
<p>While I see the preservation of these guidelines as positive, the overriding message of the executive orders and implementation memos is one of speedy enforcement without discretion or due process.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/73948/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia is affiliated with the Samuel Weiss Faculty Scholar and Director of the Center for Immigrants' Rights Clinic at Penn State Law; Board of Trustees, American Immigration Council; Member, American Immigration Lawyers Association; Member, National Immigration Project; and Member, American Constitution Society.</span></em></p>Trump’s orders on deportations and immigration enforcement signal a hard-line approach without consideration for important factors in the lives of migrants.Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia, Samuel Weiss Faculty Scholar and Founding Director, Center for Immigrants' Rights Clinic, Penn StateLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/727172017-02-23T02:40:47Z2017-02-23T02:40:47ZHow undocumented immigrants negotiate a place for themselves in America<p>Once undocumented immigrants and asylum seekers arrive on American soil, they run the risk of being stopped by law enforcement officials who are charged with investigating their status. A Feb. 17 <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/memos-signed-by-dhs-secretary-describe-sweeping-new-guidelines-for-deporting-illegal-immigrants/2017/02/18/7538c072-f62c-11e6-8d72-263470bf0401_story.html?utm_term=.57fcb92100ab">memo</a> released by the Department of Homeland Security reveals how great this risk will be under President Donald Trump. </p>
<p>The department is planning to hire thousands of additional enforcement agents and has widened the scope of immigrants who are a priority for deportation. It also calls for an <a href="https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/3468386/Read-the-memos-signed-by-DHS-Secretary-Kelly-on.pdf">expansion</a> of the 287(g) program that designates law enforcement officers as immigration officers, which poses a series of questions that are as of yet unanswered. What kind of training will they receive? Will they speak more languages than English? What are their competencies in areas such as cross cultural communications?</p>
<p>My research has indicated that many, if not most, encounters between noncitizens and police focus solely on the violation or crime, rather than immigration status. But accusations about arresting officers <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers2.cfm?abstract_id=2343710">violating</a> noncitizens’ rights through, for example, excessive force and abuse have raised questions about who is targeted, and why some migrants are arrested and <a href="http://jmhs.cmsny.org/index.php/jmhs/article/view/32">others let go</a>. </p>
<p>The stakes are extremely high for immigrants – especially at the borders and during traffic stops. Officers exercise discretion as to how to treat each case. The risk now is that officers’ decisions are being informed by a White House that <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/donald-trump-richard-gere-refugee-terrorist-definition-semantics-berlin-film-festival-the-dinner-a7574821.html">claims</a> undocumented people and asylum seekers are unwanted because they are criminals or terrorists. Research <a href="https://works.bepress.com/eryo/12/">shows</a> that exposure to anti-immigration laws can easily trigger negative racial attitudes within the population and among officers of the law. As the research of historian of ideas <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/issue/9396">Marc Angenot</a> has suggested, the social discourse is modified by proclamations coming from powerful voices, such as governments. So a version of reality that describes vulnerable migrants as criminals can affect what is said about migrants, and thus affect how an officer will choose to enforce the law.</p>
<p>Following up on my recent book, <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Undocumented-Immigrants-in-an-Era-of-Arbitrary-Law-The-Flight-and-the/Barsky/p/book/9781138849488">“Undocumented Immigrants in an Era of Arbitrary Law</a>,” I’m focusing my new research on how language is at play during “first encounters” between migrants and officials in the U.S. I’m interviewing officers and officials on the front lines to learn how language and communications affect whether and how they will enforce federal immigration rules, statutes and regulations.</p>
<h2>From translating to interpreting</h2>
<p>There are an estimated <a href="https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-trumps-new-plan-affects-the-11-million-undocumented-immigrants-in-the-u-s/">11 million undocumented migrants</a> in the U.S., including those living in mixed-status households. This suggests that officers will have to make tough choices about enforcement. Language, among many other factors, can play an important role in these decisions. Most undocumented migrants speak Spanish, but even in a single language there are issues of accents, intonations and inflection. A Spanish speaker trained in Spain may have great difficulty understanding a Cuban speaker, for example, and given how crucial are these first encounters, the resulting misunderstandings could be very damaging.</p>
<p>When a person with a viable asylum claim enters the U.S., or when an undocumented person is stopped by a police officer, the first challenge that the migrant faces is to simply make him or herself understood in English. In some cases, the officer has foreign language training, which can help. But even if there is adequate linguistic skill, communication issues are more than just the <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016726811400105X">rendering</a> of one language into another.</p>
<p>An immigration lawyer I interviewed indicated to me: “There is a cultural barrier. For instance, Guatemalans tend to be very deferential, so they do not want to answer any question directly. Many of their answers begin with: ‘Thank God that…’ and then just continue along beginning at a point that is two years before anything happened. [Even] for a translator it’s very difficult, because they want to just go all over the place, and the answer has nothing to do with the question.”</p>
<p>In such a situation, the officer has to fill in a lot of the missing details in order to understand key facts.</p>
<p>The hesitations of this Guatemalan immigrant may be interpreted as the logical unfolding of a complex intercultural interaction. Or, they could be seen as evidence that he is nervous because he is harboring criminal intentions. This is where the transmission of information moves from translation to interpretation, from a purely linguistic act to a kind of negotiation. </p>
<h2>Negotiating meaning</h2>
<p>An unaccompanied minor seeking entrance to the U.S. through its southern border may invoke gang violence in Central America as the reason for his flight, and thus appeal to humanitarianism and international law. </p>
<p>A crop-picker who is pulled over by a police officer in a farming community might act with deference and respect, indicating family values and obedience to the law. Or, she might try to emphasize how much she is needed by the farmer who has employed her, and how important her labor is to the community and for the country.</p>
<p>Sociologist <a href="http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674510418">Pierre Bourdieu</a> argues that linguistic interactions are like negotiations inside of a kind of marketplace. As such, the meaning of an utterance isn’t determined by a simple substitution of one meaning for one word. Rather, he says, utterances are negotiated, bartered, bought and sold as though they were goods.</p>
<p>An officer can choose to examine these wares and weigh their value. He can ask for more information about their origin, or even buy them.</p>
<p>Trump has been marketing utterances about securing our borders, and blocking certain types of migrants from entering the U.S. What can migrants say to officials who are threatening to arrest and deport them? </p>
<p>What if they have grounds for staying, but don’t possess the linguistic wares required to effect the appropriate negotiation? Finally, how is a vulnerable migrant supposed to communicate all of the necessary facts of his case in a place that is hostile to his very presence?</p>
<p><em>The project involved interviews with all parties to the vulnerable migrant issue, including incarcerated migrants. In compliance with Vanderbilt University’s Institutional Review Board plan set forth in the project, all interviewees’ identities are kept confidential.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/72717/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert F. Barsky receives funding from Vanderbilt University</span></em></p>What happens when an undocumented immigrant meets a law enforcement officer? Communication plays a major role in these high-stakes interactions.Robert F. Barsky, Professor of English and French Literatures, and Professor of Law, Vanderbilt UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/704672017-01-26T00:44:51Z2017-01-26T00:44:51ZTrump’s policies will affect four groups of undocumented immigrants<p>On Jan. 25, Donald Trump signed a sweeping <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/01/25/presidential-executive-order-enhancing-public-safety-interior-united">executive order</a> on immigration, expansively defining the “criminal aliens” he intends to target. He has eliminated old immigration enforcement priorities. Now, discretion will be exercised by immigration agents with little guidance from the executive branch beyond sweeping anti-immigrant pressures.</p>
<p>However, terms like “criminal aliens” and “illegal immigrants” gloss over the various immigration statuses and histories of millions of individuals. We’d like to offer a more nuanced description of the individuals who may be targeted by President Trump’s immigration enforcement plans.</p>
<p>Our discussion is informed by our research. Since 2014, we have <a href="http://www.russellsage.org/research/reports/navigating-liminal-legalities-along-pathways-to-citizenship-immigrant-vulnerability-and-role-mediati">followed the lives</a> of some 50 Southern California immigrants, many of whom either lack or never had legal status in the United States. Each of these individuals has a different story of how and when they came to the United States. Some are related to U.S. citizens and some are not. They have had unique experiences studying, working and living in this country. </p>
<p>And now, these differences could play a major role in how individual immigrants are impacted by the new administration’s enforcement of immigration laws. </p>
<h2>Immigrants with criminal convictions</h2>
<p>Administrations <a href="https://www.ice.gov/doclib/secure-communities/pdf/prosecutorial-discretion-memo.pdf">prioritize</a> the removal of some immigrants over others because immigration enforcement resources are limited. Since the mid-1990s, previous administrations have focused on removing immigrants with <a href="https://theconversation.com/trumps-immigration-policies-will-pick-up-where-obamas-left-off-70187">criminal convictions</a>, regardless of whether they have legal residency. </p>
<p>Trump’s order prioritizes anyone who has been charged with a crime, whether or not convicted. This includes anyone who has committed “acts that constitute a chargeable criminal offense,” whether or not the person has been convicted, charged or even arrested. It also suggests that the Administration intends to rely much more heavily on state and local law enforcement for making such enforcement determinations.</p>
<p>Trump has pledged that his administration will rapidly deport 2 to 3 million “criminal aliens.” His <a href="https://www.donaldjtrump.com/policies/immigration">website</a> cites a 2013 Center for Immigration Studies <a href="http://cis.org/sites/cis.org/files/Deportation-Numbers-Unwrapped.pdf">report</a> for this figure. Immigration scholars have suggested the actual number is significantly lower. For example, in 2015, the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute <a href="http://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/understanding-potential-impact-executive-action-immigration-enforcement">reported</a> there are 820,000 unauthorized immigrants with criminal convictions in the U.S. Many were charged with misdemeanors or unlawful entry. </p>
<p>This is unsurprising. Research from <a href="http://socpro.oxfordjournals.org/content/56/3/447.abstract">criminologists</a> shows that immigration actually lowers the rates of violent crimes. </p>
<p>Trump, however, has signaled that the category of “criminal aliens” may be much broader than individuals convicted of serious crimes. It may include individuals arrested, but not convicted, or individuals with unsubstantiated gang affiliations. But even this incredibly broad definition of criminal aliens does not cover all immigrants.</p>
<p>There are three other broad groups of individuals who generally fall outside of this priority deportation category.</p>
<h2>Immigrants who arrived as children</h2>
<p>About <a href="https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Resources/Reports%20and%20Studies/Immigration%20Forms%20Data/All%20Form%20Types/DACA/daca_performancedata_fy2016_qtr4.pdf">750,000</a> young people qualified for the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which grants two years of permission to work and protection from deportation to certain undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/154331/original/image-20170125-23851-poib7n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/154331/original/image-20170125-23851-poib7n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/154331/original/image-20170125-23851-poib7n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/154331/original/image-20170125-23851-poib7n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/154331/original/image-20170125-23851-poib7n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=558&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/154331/original/image-20170125-23851-poib7n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=558&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/154331/original/image-20170125-23851-poib7n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=558&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mexican farm worker Maria Amalia Ruiz shares ‘Faces of DAPA/DACA+’ exhibit.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Edwin Tamara</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In order to qualify for DACA, the children must have arrived in the United States before June 15, 2007, completed high school or its equivalent and have a criminal record that is clear of anything more than minor misdemeanors. </p>
<p>Most individuals who received or were eligible for DACA will not likely be among those prioritized for enforcement. Trump <a href="https://www.donaldjtrump.com/policies/immigration/">pledged</a> to rescind DACA immediately. But, after being elected, he <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-daca-dreamers_us_58481963e4b0d0df18372021">expressed sympathy</a> for these young people and suggested he might be willing to find a solution to their problems. </p>
<p>If DACA were rescinded, those young people, who are culturally Americans, would face numerous challenges, including unemployment, the inability to go to college and the risk of deportation. To alleviate these burdens, senators Dick Durban and Lindsey Graham introduced the <a href="https://www.nilc.org/issues/daca/faq-bridge-act/">BRIDGE Act</a> in December 2016. This legislation would provide DACA recipients and similarly situated young people with “provisional protected presence” – temporary permission to remain in the country but no path to citizenship.</p>
<p>In the current highly polarized political context, it’s unclear if the bill will have majority support in the House, and President Trump has made no promise to sign it.</p>
<h2>Immigrant parents of Americans</h2>
<p>Another <a href="http://www.migrationpolicy.org/news/mpi-many-37-million-unauthorized-immigrants-could-get-relief-deportation-under-anticipated-new">4 million</a> immigrants would potentially have qualified for the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA) program, or an expansion of DACA known as DACA+. President Obama announced these programs in 2014.</p>
<p>DACA+ broadened the DACA Program to allow more young people to qualify. <a href="https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/ExecutiveActions/EAFlier_DAPA.pdf">DAPA</a> would have enabled undocumented parents of U.S. citizens or lawful permanent resident children to qualify for permission to work and a temporary protection from deportation with two conditions: They had to be in the country continuously since Jan. 1, 2010, and not be convicted of any disqualifying crimes. </p>
<p>But, due to a <a href="https://theconversation.com/deadlocked-what-a-nine-word-decision-means-for-five-million-undocumented-immigrants-61550">lawsuit</a>, the programs were never implemented.</p>
<p>Trump promised to immediately rescind DAPA and DACA+, and he may do so before their legality is resolved in court. With the possible exception of those who have committed minor misdemeanors, individuals who would have been covered by these programs likely will remain a low enforcement priority.</p>
<p>Some undocumented parents of U.S. citizens might qualify for residency through their children. However, they will still face steep barriers to legalization. For example, wait times for these <a href="https://www.uscis.gov/family/family-us-citizens">family visas</a> stretch for years. Even when visas become available, those who have spent more than one year in the country without lawful status face a 10-year bar on being able to enter the country legally. Many cannot afford legal counsel to assist in this process. And some of these individuals may have missed prior immigration court hearings and been ordered deported without being present.</p>
<h2>Workers and recent arrivals</h2>
<p>A third group consists of several million adults who are not parents of U.S. citizens or permanent residents, do not have criminal records and are currently working in the country. These individuals are unlikely to be a named priority for deportation. But if the new administration engages in an enforcement strategy of high-profile workplace raids, as were common under <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/02/us/illegal-immigrants-raids-deportation.html?_r=0">President George W. Bush</a>, these individuals could still be vulnerable.</p>
<p>Even if they are not apprehended and deported, it seems unlikely that they will receive authorization to work in the United States or legal protection from deportation. </p>
<p>Immigrants who have recently entered the U.S., such as unaccompanied minors fleeing violence in Central America, had already been prioritized for removal by the Obama administration. Trump’s promises to stiffen border enforcement will likely ensure their continued prioritization for deportation.</p>
<h2>Other factors</h2>
<p>The groups identified above are further affected by legal histories that can create opportunities or barriers. </p>
<p>For example, close relatives of U.S. citizens, certain crime victims and those with a well-founded fear of persecution in their country of origin may be able to qualify for visas or asylum. On the other hand, those who failed to attend an immigration court hearing, left and reentered the country without authorization or previously claimed to be U.S. citizens may be at heightened risk of deportation.</p>
<p>Trump’s rhetoric about building a wall with Mexico also suggests that immigrants from Mexico are perceived to be a problem, even though Mexicans constitute a <a href="http://www.pewhispanic.org/2016/09/20/overall-number-of-u-s-unauthorized-immigrants-holds-steady-since-2009/">declining</a> share of the unauthorized population. Individuals perceived to be Mexican nationals therefore may be particularly at risk for enforcement efforts, including those that target individuals based on their racial or ethnic <a href="http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/422/873.html">appearance</a>.</p>
<p>It is still unclear how priorities set by Trump will trickle down to the officers who are actually carrying out enforcement practices. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and Customs and Border Protection agents who felt constrained by Obama’s policies and programs may feel more empowered to engage in aggressive and racially targeted enforcement efforts.</p>
<p>The new Department of Homeland Security secretary, retired General <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/john-kelly-homeland-security-chief-confirmed/">John Kelly</a>, has no legal training. He could either serve as a check on overly zealous enforcement efforts or devise policies that facilitate them.</p>
<p>Trump’s focus on deporting “criminal aliens” and his suggestion that he might offer reprieve to certain immigrant youth suggest there could be some continuity between his <a href="https://theconversation.com/trumps-immigration-policies-will-pick-up-where-obamas-left-off-70187">enforcement priorities</a> and those of Obama. But the new president’s emphasis on mass deportation promotes <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-trumps-immigration-enforcement-could-affect-families-and-communities-69019">fear</a>. This, in turn, may make noncitizens less likely to apply for naturalization, attend school, seek medical care or challenge violations of labor laws. </p>
<p>Despite fear, however, some immigrants have expressed renewed commitment to activism. As one interviewee told us, “The struggle continues.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/70467/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Susan Bibler Coutin research on this topic was supported by funding from the Russell Sage Foundation, the National Science Foundation's Law and Social Science program (Award #1535501), and the UC Irvine Schools of Law and of Social Sciences,</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jennifer Chacón receives funding from the National Science Foundation. The research that is referenced in the article is funded by grants from the the National Science Foundation & and UC Irvine Schools of Law and of Social Sciences.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sameer Ashar receives funding from the National Science Foundation and Russel Sage Foundation. He also works with various community grassroots groups that advocate for the rights of immigrants in California.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephen Lee receives funding from the Russel Sage Foundation and National Science Foundation. He is also a member of the nonpartisan American Law Institute. </span></em></p>A team of legal scholars breaks down the factors that will determine which immigrants are most vulnerable for deportation under the new administration.Susan Bibler Coutin, Professor of Criminology, Law and Society and Anthropology, University of California, IrvineJennifer Chacón, Professor of Law, University of California, IrvineSameer Ashar, Clinical Professor of Law, University of California, IrvineStephen Lee, Professor of Law, University of California, IrvineLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/692692016-11-24T20:13:34Z2016-11-24T20:13:34ZHere’s how undocumented students are able to enroll at American universities<p>President-elect <a href="https://www.donaldjtrump.com/policies/immigration">Donald Trump has vowed</a> to deport millions of undocumented people, beginning on his first day in office. In response, students and faculty from <a href="http://fusion.net/story/371117/undocumented-students-leading-fight-for-sanctuary-campuses/">100 campuses</a> around the United States have launched a campaign to demand that their universities become “sanctuaries” for undocumented students. </p>
<p>About <a href="https://thinkprogress.org/why-so-few-undocumented-immigrants-make-it-through-college-d07d30136e5#.dcuohfo9b">30,000 undocumented students</a> enroll in higher education each year. Of these, fewer than 2,000 will graduate. Many of these students face financial difficulties. In addition, they lack mentoring and support.</p>
<p>We are sociologists at the University of California, Merced and are currently working on a research project on undocumented students’ access to higher education. Our students and faculty too are demanding to be a “sanctuary campus.” </p>
<p>Many at this time also want to know how undocumented students are able to attend university if they do not have legal status.</p>
<p>There is a complex web of federal and state laws that both prevent and facilitate undocumented students’ access to higher education. In most states, students do not have to <a href="http://www.thenyic.org/node/3491">disclose</a> their immigration status or provide a <a href="http://www.collegeconfidential.com/dean/college-advice-for-undocumented-student/">Social Security number</a> when applying for university. </p>
<h2>Policies vary by state</h2>
<p>Immigration policy is under the purview of the federal government. States, however, can pass laws that make them more or less friendly to undocumented immigrants.</p>
<p>In 1975, the Texas Legislature <a href="https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/plyler-v-doe-public-education-immigrant-students">passed a law</a> that permitted school districts to deny undocumented children access to education. A group of students from Mexico challenged the case, and in 1982, the case reached the Supreme Court. </p>
<p>In a landmark judgment, <a href="https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/plyler-v-doe-public-education-immigrant-students">Plyler v. Doe</a>, the Supreme Court decided that the Equal Protections Clause requires local school districts to ensure that all children in the United States have access to K-12 education. Plyler v. Doe, however, does not apply to higher education. </p>
<p>In fact, when it comes to higher education, <a href="http://www.ncsl.org/research/immigration/tuition-benefits-for-immigrants.aspx">three states</a> explicitly bar undocumented students from enrolling in universities: Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina. </p>
<p>Alabama and South Carolina bar undocumented students from all public institutions of higher education. Georgia bars undocumented students from enrolling in the five most selective public institutions.</p>
<p>Most states, however, have no policies with regard to access to higher education for undocumented students. This is made possible as there is <a href="https://professionals.collegeboard.org/guidance/financial-aid/undocumented-students">no federal law</a> that requires students to prove they are lawfully present to be admitted into a post-secondary institution in the U.S. Undocumented students <a href="http://www.thenyic.org/node/3491">do not have to disclose their status</a> and they do not have to provide a <a href="http://www.collegeconfidential.com/dean/college-advice-for-undocumented-student/">Social Security number</a> when applying.</p>
<p>In those states that have no official policies, undocumented students often must pay out-of-state or even steep international rates for public education. This makes access to higher education difficult.</p>
<h2>Providing financial support</h2>
<p>In contrast, there are <a href="http://www.ncsl.org/research/immigration/tuition-benefits-for-immigrants.aspx">20 states</a> that not only allow undocumented students to attend institutions of higher education, but also permit those students to pay in-state tuition. </p>
<p>The 20 states, subject to change, that have this policy are California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah and Washington. </p>
<p>In these 20 states, undocumented youth who graduate from high school within the state and meet other residency requirements – such as having graduated from high school within the state – are eligible to pay in-state tuition in the state’s public universities. The availability of in-state tuition facilitates access for undocumented college students by making it more affordable. </p>
<p>However, even though most undocumented students come from low-income families, they are not eligible for federally funded programs such as loans and Pell Grants. A Pell Grant is a <a href="https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/types/grants-scholarships/pell">federally subsidized grant</a> for low-income students that does not have to be repaid. The lack of federal grants and loans presents an important barrier to access to higher education for undocumented youth.</p>
<p>Currently, only five states offer financial aid to undocumented students: California, New Mexico, Texas, Minnesota and Washington. In the remaining states, undocumented youth have to fund their education themselves, or rely on a very limited supply of private scholarships. <a href="http://www.thedream.us/">TheDream.US</a>, a national scholarship fund, for example, provides highly competitive scholarships to undocumented students to attend <a href="https://mydocumentedlife.org/2016/11/15/the-dream-us-scholarships-open-to-undocumented-students-with-daca-or-tps/">university</a>.</p>
<h2>Private universities make their own decisions</h2>
<p>There are no laws that prevent undocumented students from attending private universities. These universities, however, tend to be even more costly than public universities, and are unaffordable for most undocumented youth.</p>
<p>Some private universities offer a small number of scholarships to undocumented students that enable them to access higher education, but the demand far outpaces <a href="http://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/lessons-local-level-dacas-implementation-and-impact-education-and-training-success">supply</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/147242/original/image-20161123-19696-47fexs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/147242/original/image-20161123-19696-47fexs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/147242/original/image-20161123-19696-47fexs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/147242/original/image-20161123-19696-47fexs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/147242/original/image-20161123-19696-47fexs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/147242/original/image-20161123-19696-47fexs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/147242/original/image-20161123-19696-47fexs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Statue of John Harvard at Harvard University.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/davepeterson/2206731767/in/photolist-4n15tr-drFNfs-dtw3FT-cGrAkf-8WHHro-gwSCPz-bpDLL-oxpwLv-qtoM1D-zH62-hngc1g-JG94Y-nE85eK-9Xa1it-8ovzZM-95C7u6-kDMGp-az3XDL-8ovzVn-3EW6Qg-6ff4so-cyV8FG-5bmdB7-bnMc2n-4v2KzQ-cFi4aN-dc5Sbq-2kUKt3-a11dtq-48ziVT-PHa1e-fjMRxS-dCBHdo-JGfwt-5pYpAn-gmvDnx-4v2JLS-uqDZs-86ySzV-7XizTN-8Pmf8m-mVaikP-kDMGo-dHe2hs-777FW7-oa1r4G-4Jn8Ns-fEfuMB-2M3er-roBdJX">Dave Peterson1</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The most selective universities in the country, such as Harvard, Princeton and Duke, offer <a href="http://getmetocollege.org/financial-aid/info-for-undocumented-students/school-policies-towards-undocumented-students">need-based scholarships</a> to all admitted students, including those who are undocumented. Here, the main obstacle is admission. The acceptance rate at Harvard, for example, is 6 percent. At Duke, it is <a href="http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/lowest-acceptance-rate">12 percent</a>. Although there are no estimates of undocumented students in private universities, it is estimated that <a href="http://www.undocuscholars.org/assets/undocuscholarsreport2015.pdf">200,000 to 225,000</a> are enrolled in colleges nationally.</p>
<p>Other, less selective colleges do not offer full financial aid to all admitted students. For example, Bard College, which accepts one-third of all applicants, offers much more limited <a href="http://getmetocollege.org/financial-aid/info-for-undocumented-students/school-policies-towards-undocumented-students">financial aid</a> packages for undocumented students. At Bard College, similar to many other colleges, undocumented students must apply as international students. </p>
<p>Most private universities consider undocumented students to be international students, which often means they have to pay higher tuition than domestic students. A few, however, have changed their policies and now consider undocumented students to be domestic students, both in their <a href="https://mydocumentedlife.org/2016/09/14/colleges-that-accept-undocumented-students-as-domestic-students/">admission criteria</a> and financial aid policies.</p>
<h2>The case of California</h2>
<p>The state with the largest number of undocumented immigrants in the country is <a href="http://www.pewhispanic.org/2016/09/20/overall-number-of-u-s-unauthorized-immigrants-holds-steady-since-2009/">California</a>. Nearly two and half million of the estimated <a href="http://www.pewhispanic.org/interactives/unauthorized-trends/">11 million</a> undocumented migrants in the United States live in California. The Golden State also has some of the most favorable policies toward them. </p>
<p>A series of immigration policy reforms in California known as the California Dream Act provides access to higher education for undocumented students. Governor Gray Davis signed <a href="http://ab540.com/What_Is_AB540_.html">AB 540</a> in 2001, a bill that granted undocumented students in-state tuition eligibility.</p>
<p>One decade later, Governor Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bills, <a href="http://www.laney.edu/wp/ab540/california-dream-act-ab-130-131/">AB 130 and AB 131</a>, which granted scholarships from nonstate or private funds and allowed eligible undocumented students to apply for state financial aid.</p>
<p>Without financial aid, and especially without access to in-state tuition, college attendance remains out of reach for most undocumented students. </p>
<p>Our research group recently interviewed 35 undocumented students at the University of California in Merced and found that the annual household income was less than US$25,000 for 22 of the 35 students. </p>
<p>In-state tuition at UC Merced is over $13,000. In addition to tuition, students must also cover their living expenses, supplies and books. The total cost of attendance at UC Merced for a student who lives at home is estimated at <a href="http://financialaid.ucmerced.edu/cost-attendance">$25,825</a>, more than what most of these families earn in a year. </p>
<p>It is clear their parents would not be able to afford to pay tuition, much less to pay room, board, books and other costs associated with college attendance. Even with state financial aid, students struggle to get by. </p>
<h2>What can change under Trump</h2>
<p>On June 15, 2012, President Obama created a new policy for children of immigrant parents, known as the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (<a href="https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/consideration-deferred-action-childhood-arrivals-daca">DACA</a>). This policy temporarily protects undocumented youth from deportation, and provides them with a Social Security number and a work permit.</p>
<p>To qualify, undocumented immigrants must have been under the age of 31 on or before June 15, 2012; have arrived in the United States before the age of sixteen; and be currently enrolled either in school or in the armed forces or already have completed high school. DACA does not provide any additional benefits when applying to college. </p>
<p>DACA does allow many undocumented college students to supplement their parents’ meager income by getting part-time employment. </p>
<p>President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to <a href="https://www.donaldjtrump.com/policies/immigration">rescind</a> all of President Obama’s executive orders. If this happens, youths who currently have DACA would eventually lose their work permits as well as access to employment in the formal economy. DACA has had a <a href="http://immigrationimpact.com/2015/06/15/3-years-in-its-increasingly-clear-that-daca-benefits-all-of-us/">noticeably positive impact</a> on its beneficiaries. It has opened up better economic opportunities and allowed recipients to obtain driver’s licenses, and even open their first bank accounts. </p>
<p>A repeal of DACA would also negatively affect undocumented youths’ access to university as it would affect their ability to work and thus afford university.</p>
<p>However, as president, Trump would not be able to directly change state laws governing access to higher education. Those laws were passed by state legislatures and could only be overturned by the state legislatures themselves or by the Supreme Court, if they were determined to be unconstitutional. </p>
<p>In Kansas, for example, the in-state tuition law has come under attack nearly every year <a href="http://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article1111646.html">since the law passed in 2004</a>. However, these attacks have been unsuccessful at repealing the law.</p>
<p>As president, Trump could threaten to take away federal aid from states or even from universities that allow undocumented students. However, as the sanctuary movement builds, and as more and more campuses sign on, there would be, we believe, strong resistance to any efforts to restrict access to higher education for undocumented youth.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/69269/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Twenty states not only accept undocumented students in higher education institutions, but also provide them with financial support.Tanya Golash-Boza, Professor, University of California, MercedBenigno Merlin, Ph.D. Student, University of California, MercedLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/691002016-11-23T11:05:23Z2016-11-23T11:05:23ZWhat’s the history of sanctuary spaces and why do they matter?<p>In the wake of the election of Donald Trump as president, faculty, students and alumni across the country are pressuring their administrations to declare “<a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/11/15/growing-movement-calls-universities-limit-their-cooperation-federal-immigration">sanctuary campuses</a>” for undocumented students, workers and their families.</p>
<p>Trump has said he would repeal the <a href="https://www.dhs.gov/deferred-action-childhood-arrivals">Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA)</a>. Under the program, those who came into the U.S. without documentation can apply for deferred action on their immigration status if they were under the age of 31 on or before July 15, 2015. These individuals are then allowed to work legally for two years, subject to renewal.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/nov/20/daca-dreamers-undocumented-immigrants-republicans">More than 700,000</a> immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally before the age of 16 have obtained temporary relief from deportation. In 2015, <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/immigration/news/2015/07/09/117054/results-from-a-nationwide-survey-of-daca-recipients-illustrate-the-programs-impact/">65 percent</a> of DACA recipients were in college or graduate school. </p>
<p>These students risk deportation if Trump follows through on <a href="http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/nov/01/priorities-usa-action/pro-clinton-pac-says-trump-wants-deport-millions-i/">his threat</a> to “immediately terminate President Obama’s two illegal executive amnesties.” “Sanctuary campuses” could provide limited protection for such students. This would mean, at a minimum, that universities could refrain from offering information to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).</p>
<p>I am a literary scholar who writes about the literature and law of sanctuary in medieval England. Historically, sanctuary seeking demonstrates a moral duty – and even a legal obligation – to protect the vulnerable.</p>
<h2>A place of ‘fearsome mercy’</h2>
<p>In medieval England, from at least the 12th to the 16th centuries, <a href="http://ahr.oxfordjournals.org/content/117/2/585.extract">sanctuary was defined</a> as a legal procedure within both canon law (the law of the church) and secular common law. It was a last resort for those accused of crimes, often under chase by the community. </p>
<p>However, once fugitives <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/law-and-history-review/article/sanctuary-and-the-legal-topography-of-pre-reformation-london/C13738C3E51943A1A7D55FB26040EF24">crossed the threshold</a> into the churchyard, the community that had failed to capture them was legally required to keep them safe and even feed them for up to 40 days.</p>
<p>Sanctuary protection granted accused felons mercy from the king of England. When they “fled to the church,” fugitives avoided trial and either mutilation or execution. Sanctuary could also protect noblemen from political retribution – King Henry III’s right-hand man, Hubert de Burgh, kept his life by <a href="http://www.brepolsonline.net/doi/abs/10.1484/J.NML.5.103449">seeking sanctuary three times</a> after losing his government post. </p>
<p>Sanctuary delayed legal decision, which enabled people to <a href="http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198204404.003.0004">negotiate alternatives</a>. Sometimes the fugitive turned out to be innocent, or as in Hubert’s case, publicly declared obedience and reconciled with his king.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/147041/original/image-20161122-10997-1417e4b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/147041/original/image-20161122-10997-1417e4b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/147041/original/image-20161122-10997-1417e4b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/147041/original/image-20161122-10997-1417e4b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/147041/original/image-20161122-10997-1417e4b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/147041/original/image-20161122-10997-1417e4b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/147041/original/image-20161122-10997-1417e4b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Churches provided a safe sanctuary in medieval England. The Church of St John the Evangelist, Elkstone, Gloucestershire.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/hunky_punk/8064948246/in/photolist-dhEY8Q-eybjym-opd4mt-oFG52x-8bHXDb-oGm94c-n42kbF-gp81Tp-n428iz-8dSw3W-8dPgGR-fYqT54-aB1yyy-YuXHY-pfwydG-8dSveU-bCAen8-sKA2A-GmhqSq-7KXNkX-n44q4p-nrWRiY-fEoK9T-goL95U-7EtxsP-ntFe8i-8dSwbo-n42n5R-bAcZme-8hfxfu-bni7Gy-aB1uZJ-5xb6YU-bni7VJ-gaHfs4-8cmjaC-8bEFL2-bAcZg6-8hcmjZ-7RFpJm-azZvVZ-fEoHyV-wp4doN-x4syiu-sa8BJm-GUxHYC-58kkvS-4NeZqh-dgLAn6-EXTbq">Spencer Means</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Yet the upshot of most medieval sanctuary cases was what one scholar has called “<a href="http://press.princeton.edu/titles/10507.html">fearsome mercy</a>.” After 40 days, fugitives usually had to confess their crimes and give up everything they owned, travel barefoot to the nearest port and live in exile for the rest of their lives. </p>
<p>Such sanctuary practices <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=BB8M4Nge0HAC">saved lives</a>, both by providing time for negotiation and by allowing people to go into exile rather than stand trial. But more than that, they had a symbolic value: In providing such bare-bones safety, medieval sanctuary marked people’s vulnerability and made protecting them a sacred duty.</p>
<p>Although sanctuary for felons was outlawed by James I in 1623, the use of sanctuary to claim protection for vulnerable people continued into the 19th and 20th centuries. </p>
<h2>Protest in the U.S.</h2>
<p>Rather than providing a procedural exception within the law, sanctuary in the U.S. maps out a history of protest against unjust laws.</p>
<p>For slaves on the <a href="http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/underground-railroad">Underground Railroad</a> (a network of routes and houses used by 19th-century slaves to escape the South) and later, for organizers during the civil rights movement, churches <a href="http://www.pbs.org/godinamerica/black-church/">provided sanctuary</a> space for organizing meetings.</p>
<p>Such sanctuaries could be dramatically breached, as in the case of the <a href="http://ervin062.web.unc.edu/reactions-to-civil-rights/using-religion-to-pose-and-defend-an-argument/">bombing</a> of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. The church offered a safe space for civil rights activists, but that sense of safety was shattered when a bomb planted in its basement killed four young girls. That tragic event exposed the violence of American racism and led to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/147043/original/image-20161122-10962-er5f96.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/147043/original/image-20161122-10962-er5f96.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/147043/original/image-20161122-10962-er5f96.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/147043/original/image-20161122-10962-er5f96.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/147043/original/image-20161122-10962-er5f96.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/147043/original/image-20161122-10962-er5f96.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/147043/original/image-20161122-10962-er5f96.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The 16th St Baptist Church, Birmingham, Alabama.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/34639903@N03/3676834906/in/photolist-c6ZH2W-6AUJVh-81cz5z-9HgZr-z83uS4-3jnRpS-Hehn2-ajPxrP-ajSjcL-zeba8-3bKLjz-9bV6W2-qbzWML-8Rt3Ga-cetNuo-9c7ZAd-bzW5vH-bzWfCB-8ZdXqP-dUrRiM-bn2wfd-9adSX-jBahdA-5DzssZ-8tPSBA-Cx3ft1-pfU9Z5-5QBTwo-CPWmxX-HEuthK-9bYb4S-PZjqA-84hk8i-5XPsH5-5QNNFM-2ChFb-8ZdFXz-8ZdFWP-4XEyTg-9B9LVQ-aeCDo-4wt9Ub-Ambfu-jKxVx-JQdAd-8YAsWy-qp3D2C-zebaf-JQdAs-z8QA1">iamNigelMorris</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Later, in the <a href="http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/central-americans-and-asylum-policy-reagan-era">sanctuary movement of the 1980s</a>, churches helped refugees from the U.S.-sponsored Central American wars enter the country. The refugees were provided shelter, medical care, employment and legal representation. </p>
<p>The administration of President Ronald Reagan had supported rebels in Nicaragua and El Salvador during the Cold War years as a way to resist socialist uprisings. This led to many human rights violations and an influx of refugees into the U.S. </p>
<p>The Reagan administration, however, refused to admit the atrocities that were being committed by the Central American governments. Instead, the administration labeled refugees from those countries as <a href="http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/central-americans-and-asylum-policy-reagan-era">“economic migrants”</a> and denied them entry into the U.S. That prompted religious activists, lawyers and migrants themselves to organize in open opposition to the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). </p>
<p>The sanctuary movement broke the immigration law in order to show that Central American immigrants were fleeing a U.S.-sponsored war. The Justice Department initiated several “<a href="http://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1040&context=yjlh">sanctuary trials</a>” against activists for criminal conspiracy and for aiding “illegal aliens to enter the United States by shielding, harboring and transporting them.” </p>
<p>In the last trial a 71-count criminal conspiracy indictment was started against 16 U.S. and Mexican religious activists in Arizona in January 1985. The sanctuary movement, however, turned the publicity surrounding the trial into a condemnation of the Reagan administration’s war in Central America and its treatment of refugees. </p>
<p>Although most of the defendants in these trials were convicted, none was sentenced to jail time. The legislature <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1525/pol.1995.18.2.119/abstract">eventually turned</a> in favor of harboring Central American refugees. In 1990 Congress passed legislation to grant Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to people in need of safe haven. </p>
<p>Sanctuary has continually sought to make American law more just – even by working around or against the law. Sanctuary was instrumental in ending slavery and segregation at home, and in exposing human rights violations abroad. </p>
<h2>Why does this matter now?</h2>
<p>Today, there are practical limits to what colleges and universities can do without breaking the law. Just as the medieval law of sanctuary provided only bare-bones physical survival, so too universities can legally provide only limited resistance to deportation. </p>
<p>Still, in concrete terms, <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScxWHBH3FPtGLvmHfELyUIZbKAYpPcEDLekf5X8cJ51tzQowQ/viewform?c=0&w=1&fbzx=-3175740853793154600">sanctuary campuses</a> could restrict campus police inquiries, provide counseling services for undocumented students, refuse to offer information about such students to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and set up online courses for deported students. </p>
<p>More than this, sanctuary campuses could recognize the vulnerability of their students and claim a moral right to protect them. Campuses could declare themselves free of <a href="http://www.indystar.com/story/news/2016/11/16/iupui-walkout-what-sanctuary-campus-movement/93989838/">bullying and hostility</a> on the basis of immigration status, race, religion or sexuality.</p>
<p>I believe making such declarations could help counter recent campus attacks. In the wake of Trump’s election, colleges and universities have already been key sites of symbolic <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/10/us/post-election-hate-crimes-and-fears-trnd/">violence</a> against immigrants and minorities. For example, racist hate messages about lynching were sent to black students’ cellphones at the <a href="http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20161112_Racist_messages_target_black_freshmen_at_UPenn_with__lynching_.html">University of Pennsylvania</a>; a <a href="http://www.whec.com/news/swastika-and-trump-graffiti-appear-on-suny-geneseo-campus/4316435/">swastika and Trump’s name</a> were painted on a wall at State University of New York College (SUNY) at Geneseo; a student at San Diego State University <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/muslim-women-wearing-hijabs-assaulted-just-hours-after-trump-win-n681936">was harassed</a> for wearing a hijab as her car was stolen; a student at Baylor was <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2016/11/14/a-baylor-student-was-shoved-and-called-the-n-word-this-is-how-the-school-responded/">shoved off the sidewalk and called the n-word</a> by someone claiming to “make America great again.” </p>
<p>Campus communities have already countered symbolic violence with symbolic protection. At Baylor University, the student who was shoved off the sidewalk was <a href="http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/Baylor-University-rallied-around-student-who-said-10615535.php">escorted to class</a> the next day by a crowd far larger than necessary to keep her safe. </p>
<p>In declaring sanctuary campuses, administrators have a rich symbolic opportunity. When universities publicly resist attacks on immigrants, religious minorities and people of color, that speaks to their core purpose. </p>
<p>Universities are, by definition, sanctuaries. To declare them sanctuary campuses would emphasize that they are spaces where students and faculty are free to think in innovative, critical and varied ways without harm to one another.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/69100/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth Allen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Students and faculty are demanding universities declare themselves sanctuary campuses. Historically, sanctuary offered both legal and moral protection for the vulnerable.Elizabeth Allen, Associate Professor of English, University of California, IrvineLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.