When the Supreme Court goes back in session on Nov. 12, one of the major items on their agenda is determining the fate of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, under which 700,000 children of undocumented immigrants, known as "Dreamers," have been provided protection from deportation.
How did this get to the Supreme Court? The undoing of Obama's DACA program was one of President Trump's 2016 campaign trail promises. But after Trump ordered his administration to stop the renewal of work permits for DACA recipients in 2017, his order was blocked by lower federal courts. (Before his blocked 2017 order, Trump also ordered the Department of Homeland Security to stop taking new DACA applications, which they did.) In defense of the blocked order, administration officials claimed that former President Obama's conception of DACA in 2012 was illegal, due to lack of congressional approval. Justices will soon hear arguments on three cases that have made their way to the Republican-majority Supreme Court.
Given the conservative-majority Supreme Court, the fate of many undocumented individuals is now uncertain, as a ruling that DACA's creation was unlawful would mean the end of the program — and the erosion of DACA's protections for recipients. But even as we wait to find out what's next, we can support those in our communities who need it the most. Mashable turned to immigration experts and advocates for advice on how best to do that.
1. Become an ally
Carlos Guevara, a senior policy advisor for immigration at UnidosUs, a nonprofit advocacy organization formerly known as National Council of La Raza, cites proper allyship as the first step toward helping others. He also notes that the current conversations we're having around immigration, including the DACA cases in the Supreme Court, will ultimately touch everyone.
"This is an issue that impacts all Americans," Guevara said. "We're talking about an entire generation whose outlooks are at risk. We're going to be calling on them to be our future taxpayers. It's in our national interest to protect them."
Guevara says that allyship starts with educating yourself, and then taking direct action. He recommends doing things that illustrate public support, like submitting comments on regulations that might be harmful to undocumented communities, as well as educating others about such regulations.
Cynthia Garcia, a deportation defense coordinator at United We Dream, the largest youth-led immigrant community in the nation that fosters immigrant campaigns at a local, state, and federal level, also has a number of entry-level to-dos for those new to undocumented allyship.
At United We Dream, Garcia often hosts "Know Your Rights" events for undocumented folks, and she encourages community leaders to do the same. She also recommends attending local grassroots group meetings or learning how to record and report incidents between undocumented individuals and law enforcement agencies that might be trying to deport them.
United We Dream lists a wide variety of resources and tools — like how to make your city a sanctuary or mental health tips for undocumented youth — on its website. Familiarizing yourself with the resources makes knowing when and where to offer help much easier. Garcia, for instance, has the migrant crisis hotline number, which she can use to call United We Dream volunteers when witnessing law enforcement incidents, memorized by heart.
In doing deportation defense work, Garcia and others at United We Dream found that family members often did not know when their loved ones were being detained. In response, United We Dream developed a mobile app called Notifica that gives undocumented immigrants a help button to press if it appears that an encounter with law enforcement, including ICE, is likely to occur. The button notifies those in the individual's "deportation network" — which can be set to include family members, legal advocates, and other helpful contacts — of the individual's location, as well as a link with next steps for assistance.
Incorporating allyship tools like these into daily life could ultimately save others, said Garcia.
2. Where you have privilege, use it to be vocal and help others
"It's an understatement to say that these are unprecedented times," Guevara said, in reference to the current state of immigration policies in the U.S., in which, he says, anti-immigrant voices have found high positions of power, and a president was elected on the explicit promise of drastically tightened immigration policy. Guevara sees this atmosphere as a reason for allies to undocumented folks to be especially vocal.
"[Undocumented folks] would love to have their stories told, but often lack the resources to get them out there," Guevara said. "Allies are often in a better position to broadcast those stories."
Kristen Thompson, the communications director of Immigration Equality, an organization that provides legal representation for those seeking asylum in the U.S. due to sexual orientation, gender identity, or HIV status, agrees with Guevara. With her work, Thompson regularly sees the respective privilege that LGBTQ allies can bring to the table, noting the frequent legal difficulties faced by LGBTQ immigrants, especially those who are undocumented.
A 2018 study from the Center for American Progress found that LGBTQ individuals are 97 times more likely than others to be sexually assaulted in immigration detention centers. Thompson cites the mistreatment of trans individuals like Roxana Hernandez, who died in ICE custody in 2018, and Johana Medina Leon, who died on the first day of Pride Month this year, right after being paroled from ICE Custody, as tragic examples of the frequency of these occurrences.
According to a National DACA study conducted in 2019, 14.2 percent of DACA recipients identity as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or gender non-conforming. "If DACA is not upheld, LGBTQ people who are deported to the countries from which they emigrated are at grave risk of persecution due to their sexual orientation and/or gender identity," Thompson said. "It’s deeply grim but 100% true that deportation of LGBTQ people can be a death sentence."
Accordingly, Thompson also advocates for allyship action that requires consistently using your voice for those who remain voiceless in the legal system, especially LGBTQ undocumented folks.
"People are suffering now," Thompson said. "It's critical for folks who can help to step up."
She suggests staying active and vocal online, especially by focusing on organizations involved in this kind of work. After doing this legwork, Thompson says that allies are better prepared to inform others of their rights, which can often be difficult to remember in crisis moments.
Thompson also encourages allies who know any LGBTQ folks that have recently immigrated to learn more about organizations focused on providing legal support for the LGBTQ community, as legal procedures are sometimes tailored to identity. One of Immigration Equality's former clients, Denise Chambers, a trans woman from Trinidad, lived undocumented in the U.S. for 10 years before realizing she was eligible for asylum. Thompson stresses the importance of learning more about the specifics of legal procedures like these in order to properly advocate for others.
3. Bring a friend
Krsna Avila, an immigrants' rights fellow at the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, which works to improve immigration law and policy by putting immigrant rights at the forefront of their work, stresses the importance of empathy in immigration work. He arrived in the U.S. from Mexico with his family when he was just four months old, and cites his eventual legal status, granted seven years ago, as something received in part by the support of allies and friends throughout his life.
"Helping undocumented immigrants begins with empathy and ends in action," Avila said. "Empathy can come from not only putting yourself in our shoes, but understanding that our struggle is your struggle."
Guevara, Garcia, and Thompson all noted the importance of community building in their work thus far. And now, "our community is gearing up for the election of our lives," Guevara said. It matters that we all participate. Guevara encourages those who have taken allyship steps like those listed above to bring friends along the next time that they take action, like when volunteering with a program like the crisis hotline that Garcia's organization offers, or when trying to urge your school board or church leaders to make a specific community area an "ICE Free Zone."
"I am moved and proud by the resilience of our community, and how we can come together after hardship," said Guevara. "At the end of the day, [the story of immigration] is truly an American story of hope."
Topics Activism Social Good Immigration
