With advocacy from groups like UndocuHoosiers, it could take as few as six months to protect people affected by the repeal of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, said Jane Henegar, director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana.
“We have been unable to get humane, appropriate reform,” Henegar said. “But we have to keep up the pressure. It’ll change if they think we are no longer paying attention.”
Henegar and four other panelists spoke Wednesday night at the Maurer School of Law as part of First Wednesday: A Survival Guide, which is organized by the ACLU of Indiana. They focused on the recent DACA repeal, the executive order banning travel from seven Muslim-majority countries and other legislative actions from the Trump administration they believe undermine the U.S. Constitution.
Politicians pay attention when people stage protests, call and write letters, Henegar said.
Henegar said she believes these methods worked this past winter with the travel ban. Protests took place in airports after the travel ban was enacted in January, and Henegar said she thinks they encouraged judges and politicians to rethink the ban.
If people continue to protest the repeal of DACA in these ways, they could see a similar reaction, Henegar said.
“When we use our power as a people, it has an impact," Henegar said.
Around the IU community, advocacy for DACA is led by UndocuHoosiers Bloomington.
UndocuHoosiers Bloomington president Esmeralda Martinez said the main concern of the group is to gain financial support and proper political representation for undocumented students. Undocumented students do not get in-state tuition and have access to very few scholarships, she said.
Within 24 hours of DACA being repealed, the organization had raised $1,000 to help students. According to the organization's Facebook page, funds will go toward scholarships for undocumented students, and in dire circumstances, the funds will help families in imminent risk of deportation. The organization also recently established a scholarship for an undocumented student for housing, Martinez said.
“We’re college students,” Martinez said. “We’re struggling to eat right now, but people are donating.”
Martinez said UndocuHoosiers Bloomington has also been working to make IU a sanctuary campus.
“Advocate for one another, for the greater good of the community,” Martinez said.
Undocumented immigrants are not the only ones struggling during the Trump administration, Muslim Student Association president Luma Khabbaz said.
Khabbaz said she has never seen Islamophobia and racism as bad as she sees it now. When she was younger, she said she used to think her parents were paranoid when they said someone was Islamophobic or racist. Now, she sees it as a growing problem in America.
“People are emboldened now,” Khabbaz said. “They see our president saying these things and there not being repercussions, so they think it’s OK.”
The MSA faced many challenges following the travel ban, Khabbaz said. She knew members who were afraid to go home because they were worried they wouldn’t be able to get back into the United States.
One student’s aunt was unable to get through customs to visit another relative even though she had proper documentation, Khabbaz said.
Khabbaz said that when something like the travel ban or the DACA repeal occurs, minorities feel they have to justify the problem instead of just getting help.
“Before someone can address their concerns, minorities feel like they have to validate them,” Khabbaz said. “They have to spend time trying to prove they are being discriminated against instead of just trying to fix the situation. They are stuck in a defensive rut.”
