Cal Poly’s undocumented students worry Trump could throw them out
About 200 students gathered at Cal Poly on Thursday to support undocumented students as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office, with the fear that a federal program that supports educational opportunities could be stricken.
The rally took place as part of “National Educators Coming Out Day,” organized by the nonprofit group United We Dream, the largest immigrant youth-led group in the nation. Its mission is to address inequities, speak out against hate, and overcome obstacles faced by immigrant youth.
Cal Poly has 176 known undocumented students, many of whom have lived much of their lives in the United States. They are supported by programs such as the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, passed through an executive order by President Barack Obama.
A lot of undocumented students are very nervous, some are terrified about what’s happening.
-Jane Lehr
chair of Cal Poly’s Women’s & Gender Studies program“A lot of undocumented students are very nervous. Some are terrified about what’s happening,” said Jane Lehr, chair of Cal Poly’s Women’s & Gender Studies program. “They’re concerned about the potential for the loss of the DACA program, maintaining work permits and deportations. We’re here to stand beside them and support them.”
Obama started the DACA program in 2012 for those who arrived in the U.S. before the age of 16. The program doesn’t provide a pathway to citizenship, but it does exempt deportation and allows temporary work permits and included scholarship and loan opportunities for higher education.
Trump may choose to eliminate DACA once he takes office. Some state programs help undocumented students with financial aid for their education.
Cal Poly President Jeffrey Armstrong vowed his support for Cal Poly’s undocumented students at the rally, and Keith Humphrey, Cal Poly’s vice president for student affairs, announced that the campus would officially open a resource center to help undocumented students, called the “Dream Center,” in winter quarter of 2017.
“I spoke to one of our graduates this morning,” Armstrong said. “She’s in an engineering position. She’s doing really well. She was without a job for a month and a half this summer due to a glitch in DACA. ... She as well as a lot of other people are nervous. But I said, ‘We all stand behind you.’ We stand behind our students and our graduates.”
We all stand behind you. We stand behind our students and our graduates.
-Cal Poly President Jeff Armstrong on support of undocumented students
Humphrey said, “We are so excited to create a welcoming and safe space for all of our undocumented students.
“We look forward to welcoming you all at our grand opening sometime next quarter.”
Students and faculty signed pledges they held up for a group photo saying, “I’m an unafraid educator.”
Casey McCullough, an AmeriCorps VISTA worker assigned to Cal Poly, works on behalf of undocumented students at the university.
She said Cal Poly students aren’t required to inform the university about whether they’re undocumented or not, and more than the 176 identified students may exist, possibly about 200. Her program helps those students navigate obstacles.
“We really wanted to raise visibility for undocumented student to show them there’s a network of allies, as well as to raise visibility to the greater Cal Poly campus community to say that there is an active group on campus that is fighting for the rights of undocumented students,” McCullough said.
This story was originally published November 10, 2016 at 5:22 PM with the headline "Cal Poly’s undocumented students worry Trump could throw them out."