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Local educators, community activists and public officials are increasingly worried about the fate of thousands of California residents and their families—including some in South County—who are suddenly in danger of being detained and deported from the country, several years after their parents brought them to the U.S. as children.
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The growing fears are in response to President Donald Trump’s recent announcement that his administration will rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals administrative relief program. This program has offered work permits and temporary protection from deportation for some 800,000 young undocumented immigrants nationwide since it was implemented under the Obama administration in 2012.
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DACA recipients include about 24,000 residents of Santa Clara County, and about 200,000 residents of California.
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Many DACA recipients, known as “Dreamers,” have not been to their native countries since their parents brought them to the U.S. when they were small children, and thus have little physical connection to their places of birth.
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With Trump’s decision to end the program, some of these young people in South County are now living in fear of losing these protections, according to some activists who attended a vigil in support of DACA Sept. 5 in front of the Morgan Hill Community and Cultural Center.
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“Some of our students have children going through college here, and they are scared to death,” said Ellen Yu Costa, who teaches adult English as a Second Language classes in Santa Clara County. “They are scared their parents are going to be corralled and taken away.”
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She said later there is a “climate of fear” among her immigrant students and their families, and it has drastically affected attendance at area ESL classes since Trump’s announcement.
A palpable fear
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The Sept. 5 rally in Morgan Hill was organized by the activist group Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) South County. Demonstrators stood on the corner of Monterey Road and Dunne Avenue—just outside the CCC—holding handmade signs depicting their support for DACA.
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Barbara Palmer, a Morgan Hill resident and a teacher at the Learning and Loving Education Center on Church Street, said many of the immigrant women in her classes are “very frightened something will happen.”
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She noted that the women served by the LLEC cannot understand why the federal government has made moves to terminate their residence in the U.S.
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“The ladies there just want to better themselves, and want to better their families,” Palmer said.
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Beth Bergstrom, also a Morgan Hill resident, held a sign at the rally that said, “Defend DACA. Congress, do your job!”
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“I personally think it’s wrong to tear families apart and send children to some foreign place they’re not even familiar with,” Bergstrom said. “It’s heartless and cruel. My heart breaks for these people.”
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She said the Sept. 5 event was only the second protest she has ever attended, and she was motivated by her own fear over what she sees as the Trump administration’s growing threats to innocent people.
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“I’m scared. I’ve been angry before, but I’ve never been afraid. I’m scared for the young people,” Bergstrom said.
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Jordan Rosenfeld, a Morgan Hill resident who is active with SURJ, noted that representatives of several other groups showed up to the Sept. 5 vigil. These include SIREN and Indivisible, two other community groups that have sprouted in response to the Trump immigration agenda.
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There was also a DACA recipient at the event in Morgan Hill.
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“He said that it meant a lot to him to know that people in his community would turn out in support of him and those in his position, who just want to make the best life possible for themselves and their families and are now afraid of what the future holds,” Rosenfeld said.
Gav, county speak out
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Trump’s decision to rescind DACA—which was intended to be a temporary program—gave Congress six months to come up with a permanent policy to determine the citizenship or residency status of those affected by the program. On Sept. 7, Trump said via Twitter, “For all of those (DACA) that are concerned about your status during the 6 month period, you have nothing to worry about – No action!”
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Still, Trump’s initial announcement rescinding DACA has prompted numerous public agencies to declare their support for the affected immigrants.
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Gavilan College President Dr. Kathleen Rose said the school would remain open to DACA students and provide facilities and support for all students. Gavilan’s support includes a website with legal resources as well as a legal resource guide in English and Spanish as well as monthly DACA renewal clinics supported by Catholic Charities.
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“This has been the ongoing work of the Dreamers Task Force Group that formed this year and it will continue to be a part of how we support our students and the community,” Dr. Rose said. “None of that will change. We feel strongly that students that feel a lot of fear because of the changing climate nationally need to be able to have a place where they can have a number of resources that will provide useful information about decisions that they will have to make. Community colleges always have been a place of equal ground for education and Gavilan will continue to be one of those places.”
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In Santa Clara County, officials last week reiterated their commitment to DACA recipients who have received interns with various county offices. The internships are part of the New American Fellowship program, under which the county’s Office of Immigrant Relations identified, recruited and provided paid internship opportunities to immigrant young adults who have benefited from DACA.
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Selected participants, known as Fellows, were placed in a variety of county departments and agencies, as well as partner nonprofit providers over a 10-week period, according to a press release from the county.
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“These Dreamers are the best America has to offer. They are hard workers, they are going to college, they are thinking not just about the futures of their own families but the futures of our entire community,” County Supervisor Cindy Chavez said. “I demand that the federal government do what we’re doing at a local level to support children no matter where they are from and to make sure they have the best opportunity to lead our nation forward.”
