Daniella Tebib
News Editor
dtebib@murraystate.edu
The Supreme Court began hearing arguments on Nov. 12 regarding its constitutionality, so The News sat down with Celeste Siqueiros, a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipient, to see how her life would be affected.
Celeste Siqueiros was previously interviewed by The News on September 2017 when DACA was originally under attack by the Trump administration. She drew attention from many when she published a blog online about what is means to be a DACA student in the United States. However, since then, her attitude has evolved from dreamer to determined.
Siqueiros now denounces the term “dreamer” because she believes everyone deserves to have access and equal opportunities in the United States regardless of their citizenship status.
Two years later, DACA is still intact, but this doesn’t provide a sense of security for undocumented immigrants. The program was originally enacted by the Obama administration in 2012. The Trump administration now wants DACA to be terminated whether or not it is found constitutional. The Supreme Court will hear arguments from both sides and make a decision in 2020.
“DACA was a temporary stopgap measure that, on its face, could be rescinded at any time,” Solicitor General Noel Francisco said. “And the department’s reasonable concerns about its legality and its general opposition to broad nonenforcement policies provided more than a reasonable basis for ending it.”
Meanwhile, Siqueiros said she no longer worries herself with the prospect of the revocation of DACA. Instead, she focuses her attention on her education at Murray State and her future in the chemistry field.
“I don’t care what anyone thinks now,” Siqueiros said. “I used to think I had to keep up this little ‘dreamer’ narrative, but now I couldn’t care less. I honestly hate politics because they don’t actually understand anything that goes on in everyday life.”
Siqueiros grew up in Murray after immigrating from Mexico at the age of five. Siqueiros has been a DACA recipient since she was 15, and her brother received it shortly before her.
As DACA recipients, Siqueiros and her brother have been able to work, receive driver’s licenses and earn good credit. The program is open to those who were brought to the United States before the age of 16, have lived in the United States for at least five years and have no criminal record.
However, the program does not provide a path to citizenship. In addition, DACA recipients are not eligible for federal financial aid, she cannot leave the country without encountering the chance of not being able to re-enter and she must apply for renewal every two years to be reconsidered at the expense of $500.
While DACA does not provide a pathway to citizenship, if the program was revoked, DACA students would risk the possibility of deportation and wouldn’t have the opportunity to work legally.
Siqueiros said she hopes legislators develop a more permanent piece of legislation for undocumented immigrants and to focus on other issues at hand.
“Right now DACA is just temporary,” Siqueiros said. “It can be taken away, we can be denied and it will just end. You have to become a resident first, and then become a citizen and there’s not really an option for us to do that right now.”
While Siqueiros was able to secure scholarships because of her academics, she would also like to see the University offer more resources for undocumented students.
“When I graduated high school, I didn’t know anything,” Siqueiros said. “I didn’t know if I was going to get any scholarships, or if I was going to be able to apply, it was just really difficult to navigate it by ourselves… I feel like there aren’t really any resources here at Murray State that allow us to be vocal. I feel like there isn’t that big of a student population that are undocumented… I think the University should offer more resources to help us find scholarships and things like that.”
S.G. Carthell, executive director of the Office of Multicultural Initiatives, Student Leadership and Inclusive Excellence, said the office doesn’t provide sources specifically for DACA students, but programs are open to every student enrolled at Murray State.
“DACA students are at a disadvantage when it comes to financial aid and paying for school because they don’t have that resource,” Carthell said. “There are also issues and things they [DACA students] have to deal with, and we all have issues, but some of us are blessed that we don’t have to worry about a Supreme Court ruling changing our entire world, so I’m proud of any student who carries this process and still goes through everyday. I believe ultimately students just want to be students.”
Siqueiros said she sometimes still feels like she doesn’t belong on campus, but she thinks it’s something most first-generation immigrants feel.
The goal of OMI is to bridge that gap for students.
According to the OMI’s mission statement, “the overarching goal for OMI is to close the gap in educational achievement by bringing retention and graduation rates for multicultural students, specifically African American and Hispanic students in parity with those of the student body as a whole.”
Carthell said they spend a lot of time to ensure everyone feels welcome in the community.
“There’s always going to be those times when it’s challenging, but people should know where they can get their help,” Carthell said. “The biggest thing is students knowing where this office is and what support we provide for students, like all of our special clubs to create a critical mass for students… Critical mass is important spaces that you can identify with. It’s also important to learn how to communicate and to cross-culturally function and that’s something all students have to learn, so that’s why I feel Emerging Scholars Institute is a good program for students to get involved regardless of where you come from and your ethnicity.”
Regardless of who you are, Carthell encourages people to live by the principles laid out by the OMI.
“We’re hoping this gets infused into the community to enable a student who may be a DACA student,” Carthell said. “The whole point of [DACA] was because you had kids who were brought here when they were small children. When you’re brought somewhere when you’re two or three years old and now you’re 20, are you from Murray or are you from Germany?”
Carthell also wants students to know they can visit OMI in Room 101 Curris Center if they are in need of resources or help.