On Tuesday morning, Sept. 5, a great blow was made to our educational community, as well as our personal communities.
U.S. Attorney General, Jeff Sessions made a public statement on behalf of the Trump administration that “the program known as DACA that was effectuated under the Obama administration, is being rescinded.”
DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) was implemented in 2012 by former President Obama, the intention of the legislation was to provide educational and career opportunities to immigrants known as “dreamers,” as well as to offer them a layer of protection from deportation.
Dreamers are the children of people who immigrated to this country illegally, it applies to all individuals who were brought to the U.S. before reaching age 16, have lived here since 2007 and are not over the age of 30. Since, its enactment, nearly 800,000 dreamers have been admitted to the DACA program.
Yet what the Trump administration seems to have forgotten, is that they are not only people between the ages of 16 and 30 who’ve been here since 2007. They are our family members, our friends, our fellow students and our mentors. They didn’t need to work to make homes here, because for many of them, America was home to them naturally. Many of them have developed stronger connections to the red white and blue than to any former allegiances.
Many of these people have lived here for a majority of their lives. They play an invaluable role in our workforce, and they’ve formed bonds with people in their neighborhoods, workforces, churches and schools.
It is not typical of The Telescope to remark on national events, our lense of focus has always been on Palomar, and will continue to be. But the announcement made on Sept. 5 will have a devastating impact on people within our own college community.
Our students, regardless of immigration status, are the lifeforce of this institution. They are the living and breathing testimonies of our principles, and each and every one of them deserves protection under the standards of humanity.
We stand alongside our fellow students, our faculty and our administration to reaffirm the principles of Palomar College, to grant equality in the pursuit of access to higher education. In unison we voice our support for the dreamers around the country, and within our community.
We do not condemn nor condone the Trump administration as a whole, but we absolutely, and without reservation, condemn this action made.
