“There was a student whom I met at an event who really stood out within the group of other exceptional students. Through his essay he had indicated that he was undocumented; he narrated the story of coming to United States in his essay, and it was not only well written and captivating but was the first time that this narrative, which was familiar to me, became an actual person. At that point, many institutions were still treating undocumented candidates as international students per their citizenship not realizing that the United States was the only home they really knew in many cases and that the American experience was all that they were really familiar with.  Regretfully, without the federal funding that they did not receive as non-U.S. citizens, their financial need was not the same as many International candidates, and dollars were not typically allocated in the amount necessary to support most undocumented students and families.  

“This student was the valedictorian of his graduating class, from a very well-known and respected public school within his city; if he were a citizen, he would have easily been accepted, without question. I had many conversations with the student, and with my dean at the time and we made the institutional commitment to support him as a member of our campus community educationally and financially. He came, became actively engaged in a number of different clubs and organizations, developed a presence in the local community, pridefully became a citizen of United States, and graduated in four years. He became an educator himself and is impacting our future through the lives of his students. Thinking of him still makes me proud, hopeful and fuels the work that I continue to do now.”  

Ways To Ease Dreamer Anxiety

The stress that DREAMers feel isn’t based on unrealistic fears. They have good reason to be anxious. And even if DREAMers and their families and support systems can’t change the laws that will govern their future, there are practical resources and programs that are being created to help mitigate their angst including “traveling” scholarships, self-help books, symposiums and contact information for organizations specializing in helping DACA families:

PORTABLE SCHOLARSHIPS

CONCORD, N.H. -- According to an AP article by Michael Casey, Southern New Hampshire University recently announced it is teaming up with The Shapiro Foundation and TheDream.US to offer $20 million in scholarships that would reach 1,000 students over the next five years who are part of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA. The program would offer full scholarships to DACA students to pursue associate and bachelor's degree programs through one of the university's online programs.

The announcement comes as the Obama-era DACA program that shielded hundreds of thousands of young immigrants from deportation is at risk. This uncertainty has prompted some organizations to start searching for ways the DACA scholarships could follow students out of the country if they were to be deported. In the case of the Southern New Hampshire program, Paul LeBlanc, SNHU's president, said the program “could travel” with the students if they had to leave the U.S. so that it “wouldn’t be money down the drain.”

PROMOTING AWARENESS 

OMAHA, NEBRASKA -- Dr. Maryanne Stevens, president of College of Saint Mary in Nebraska actively participates in events and activities that promote awareness of this issue. She said, “Myself and several CSM students were recently featured in a local Nebraska documentary titled “We Are Dreamers,” and we hosted the premiere showing just last month.  We’ve partnered with the Immigrant Legal Center, as well as Nebraska Appleseed, on several projects to promote awareness and advocacy for the DACA issue. We have a special DACA Photo Exhibit up in our art gallery which features student portraits and written personal stories from nearly 20 DREAMers within the CSM community. We partnered with various organizations in the Omaha area for the “Stop Playing Games: Protect Immigrant Youth and Families Now” event on March 5. All of these events and initiatives are calling attention to this issue, keeping the faces to both the DREAMers and their supporters in the public eye.”

DOING IT BY THE BOOK

Marta Caminero-Santangelo, Director of the Center at The University of Kansas authored a book entitled, “Documenting the Undocumented,” which includes a chapter of the stories of DREAMers, which were being told publicly as a form of activism, to put a human face on the issue for politicians and legislators and to try to get a DREAM Act passed. She said, “I interviewed several undocumented (or formerly undocumented) youths who had been activists for the DREAM Act as part of that chapter.  More recently, I have several new essays on DREAMer narratives published or forthcoming. Both in my role as director of the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at KU and as a member of our “Undocumented Student Services” committee, I have been working with others to develop trainings, including one that we offered this summer for K-12 educators and one we are developing for faculty and staff at KU.”

TAKE A MEETING

LAWRENCE, KS -- Dr. Caminero-Santangelo brought further attention to the plight of DREAMers when UK’s Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies (CLACS) along with the Latinx Studies Initiative, hosted a mental health symposium to support students — particularly minorities and those affected by recent U.S. policy changes on immigration.

CLACS and the Latinx Studies Initiative responded to the community’s need when it hosted a Student Mental Health Symposium with two goals: 1) Provide important information and discuss stresses affecting all students, especially students of color, at regional institutions and our communities more broadly and 2) Gather experts, professionals and practitioners to lead breakout sessions designed to offer resources and coping mechanisms for the daily stresses in our lives.

RESOURCES FOR PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS TO SUPPORT DREAMERS

The Center for Progress’ Dr. Shannon Varga offers these links as helpful resources and practical suggestions for supporting DREAMers: 
•    “Teachers as Allies: Transformative Practices for Teaching DREAMers and Undocumented Students”
https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=...
•    Resource for understanding the implications of unauthorized status on immigrants and policy recommendations: 
“Growing Up in the Shadows: The Developmental Implications of Unauthorized Status”
https://search.proquest.com/docview/896272603?pq-origsite=gscholar
•    Resources for understanding the lived experiences of DREAMers, immigrants and non-native English speakers:
“There is no help out there and if there is, it’s really hard to find”: A qualitative study of the health concerns and health care access of Latino “DREAMers.” 
http://www.jahonline.org/article/S1054-139X(14)00235-3/fulltext
•    “I Came Here to Learn:” The Achievements and Experiences of Massachusetts Students Whose First Language is Not English.
http://gradnation.americaspromise.org/report/i-came-here-to-learn
•    “I am just like everyone else, except for a nine-digit number:” A Thematic Analysis of the Experiences of DREAMers
http://nsuworks.nova.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3195&context=tqr