By Nikole Jaramillo
Some beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) at Edgewood College feel the administration doesn’t offer them enough support.
Edgewood College is a small campus where some students find it difficult to get to know each other.
The small portion of undocumented students on campus also find it difficult to connect with each other. Edgewood graduate and DACA recipient Lupe Salmeron said this makes it important for the main administration to step in.
“Throughout my nearly four years on campus, I have received no support from the main administration,” Salmeron said. “I have sought out help and support from professors and staff I felt comfortable with and whom I knew I could confide in and count on.”
Salmeron said that it is due to these supportive faculty and staff members that she remained on campus.
“In order for undocumented students to feel supported by the entire administration and not just by the same group of staff and faculty, the administration needs to be more vocal about their support for undocumented students,” she said.
The Trump administration announced the termination of the program in 2017. Previous Edgewood president, Scott Flanagan, sent letters in support of DACA students. Salmeron said more can still be done, including providing special training for all faculty.
“Other campuses have implemented these types of training to help their faculty and staff gain awareness and develop an understanding of undocumented students’ experiences,” she said, “as well as learn about resources, best practices and how to be an ally for this student population.”
Information session
Yesnia Villalpando-Torres, Edgewood College graduate and DACA recipient, also said Edgewood’s DACA student population is little known. For that reason, she organized an information session for DACA beneficiaries.
Villalpando-Torres, of Dane County’s Immigration Affairs Office, worked with Edgewood to host the event Jan. 26. The Immigrant Justice Clinic through UW-Madison Law School and the Community Immigration Law Center also participated and offered free services for recipients.
The general information session detailed the current state of DACA and possible outcomes of the Supreme Court case, such as the possibility of the total termination of the program. Attorneys offered renewal assessments and discussed the potential for recipients to take pathways to citizenship or residency.
“There’s a lot of uncertainty”
The program is currently in limbo pending a Supreme Court decision on whether the program is being terminated. No new applications are being accepted, but current recipients can still renew their work permits and relief from deportation.
The Supreme Court’s decision may change that.
“There’s a lot of uncertainty,” said Villalpando-Torres.
For further support from main administration, Salmeron suggested Edgewood provide more funding opportunities for undocumented students because they cannot receive financial aid.
She said that she is aware of the DREAMER Educational Scholarship, which is designed for undocumented students. However, she said it can support only a few students.
“Providing more funding opportunities for undocumented students would help us feel more supported and it would increase our ability to stay enrolled in school,” she said.
Staying educated
For the Edgewood community, both Villalpando-Torres and Salmeron emphasized the importance of staying educated and being aware of the presence of these students, especially with the upcoming elections and pending the Supreme Court decision expected in June.
“I completely understand on a personal level what it means to have a community that’s supportive,” says Villalpando-Torres. “You are not any more or less human. Status does not define us.”
To DACA recipients, Villalpando-Torres stressed the importance of keeping track of expiration dates and renewing on time.
“DACA is not a permanent solution, regardless of the Supreme Court’s decision,” she said. “We need a long-term solution.”
For more information on DACA and resources, contact the Dane County Immigration Affairs Office at 608-242-6260.
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