On September 1, 2017 the fraternal leadership of the country's largest Latino serving collegiate fraternities penned a letter to their national memberships calling on them to get involved in the protection of undocumented minors in our communities in the wake of rumors that the Trump Administration might move to remove the DACA protections in the coming days.
DACA, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy enacted under President Obama, was enacted to protect from deportation undocumented immigrants who entered the country, often without choice, when they were children. Currently around 800,000 people from our communities are protected under DACA.
However, with an impending litigation deadline of September 5, The Trump Administration appears to be reading itself to declare all of those DACA recipients, illegal aliens under federal law, and marked for deportation.
Given what the President Trump has said as president and as a candidate the danger of ICE raids in classrooms around the country is very real. And all student groups should be ready to confront and resist such actions against fellow students.
The letter, which is signed by the leaders of Lambda Theta Phi, Lambda Sigma Upsilon, Nu Alpha Kappa, Omega Delta Phi, and Phi Iota Alpha, represents a renewed effort by the organizations to "leverage our privilege" for the cause and "speak out for those that are under attack."
Here is the letter:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PARSIPPANY, NJ — For the past five years, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) has provided undocumented young individuals (or dreamers), especially college-going students, to live and work in the United States without fear of deportation. The US Federal Government is expected to make an announcement shortly that would remove these protections which would have a profound impact in our communities and the economy at-large. United in our mission and purpose as men’s fraternal organizations, we must never forget the power we have when we stand united in our purpose and fight for our communities.
The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is the executive order by former US President Barack Obama which provides individuals, that came to this country as undocumented minors, protection from immediate deportation along with the ability for work authorization, which has led too many other opportunities. The termination of DACA will leave nearly 800,000 individuals without work but more importantly, it could make these individuals a top priority for deportation by the US Federal Government. Many of these people are also involved within each of our organizations.
We ask our members to come together and use our united organizational platform as a way to support all undocumented individuals. Our organizations have members, or families of our members, that may be undocumented and/or a DACA recipient. This is a time that WE must leverage our privilege to speak out for those that are under attack because of their documentation status. We ask that if you are able to, take action to #DefendDACA with one or more of the options below.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Together we can be a strong collective voice to #DefendDACA and empower one another to support our undocumented young people and keep our families together for a better America.
- Find peaceful and nonviolent organizations in your area that provide a safe environment to peacefully assemble to protect undocumented folks while fighting against rhetoric that often dehumanizes our undocumented communities.
- There are two (2) documents linked below that were created by FWD.us so you and your university/college can identify ways to get involved with supporting undocumented individuals, including those with DACA.
- There are hundreds of immigrant rights and service organizations across the country that provide immigrants with access to numerous and needed resources. To locate an organization in your state, please find one from the Informed Immigrant online at www.informedimmigrant.com/organizations/.
- Contact the White House at (202) 456-1414 and urge the President to keep DACA until there is a permanent solution.
- Sample script: “Hello my name is _____________ and I am calling on the President to keep DACA in place until there is a permanent solution. If terminated, nearly 1 million young people could lose their work permit, and could be vulnerable to enforcement. Please do the right thing and keep DACA in place.”
- Call your Senator and House Representatives and implore them to support the 2017 DREAM Act (S. 1615). Contact your Congressional leaders by going online to dreamers.fwd.us/. Additional advocacy tools and a script can also be found on the website.
- United We Dream, the largest immigrant youth-led organization in the nation, provides tools and resources for its affiliates and supporters, to help with your advocacy and direct service work! Information can be found online at unitedwedream.org/toolbox/.
United In Purpose to Defend DACA,
Joseph Gonzales, Lambda Sigma Upsilon
Jarrod Cruz, Lambda Theta Phi
Jason Navarro, Nu Alpha Kappa
Tony Pagliocco, Omega Delta Phi
Francisco Lugo, Phi Iota Alpha
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