By RACHEL, FRANCESCA, and CAROLINA

On Tuesday, September 5th, the Trump administration announced that it will end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program for undocumented young adults. This decision is part of ongoing attacks against the undocumented community and it will have devastating consequences. At My Undocumented Life blog, we have identified several steps you can take to support undocumented immigrants, including those with and without DACA.

1) DONATE to help pay for DACA renewals. DACA recipients whose permits expire before March 5, 2018 have until October 5, 2017 to submit their DACA renewal applications. Each renewal application costs $495. The lack of funds to renew an application should not be a barrier to being protected for two more years under DACA. Consider donating to some of these campaigns to directly support undocumented young adults who need to submit their DACA renewal applications:

• • UndocuMedia, an online platform for immigrant rights, has set up a fundraiser with the goal of assisting 1,000 DACA recipients with their renewal applications.
  • East Bay Community Law Center provides free legal assistance to immigrants in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Center is raising funds to cover the $495 DACA renewal application fee. Under “I want my donation to be dedicated” please put “DACA” or “Immigration.”
  • Orange County Immigrant Youth United, an undocumented youth led organization in Orange County, California, has created a fundraiser specifically for DACA renewals.
  • Campaign for DACA beneficiaries in Seattle, Washington.

2) CONTACT your members of Congress. Trump has given Congress until March 5, 2018 to take action and create a solution. Contact your representatives and Senators and encourage them to support legislation for undocumented immigrants. You can find their contact information here. Even if you think your representative/senator supports legislation for undocumented immigrants, it’s still important to contact them!

• • CALL: Here is a phone script to call your representative/senator. You can also contact key legislators through United We Dream’s webpage.

• • EMAIL: Send a message to your representatives directly using the ACLU’s webpage.
  • TWEET: Find sample tweets and information about who to Tweet here.
  • WRITE A LETTER: Find tips for writing letters to your representatives here.

3) ATTEND an action. National and local organizations are organizing actions across the country to fight for the rights of undocumented immigrants and pressure Congress to take action. Check out organizations like Cosecha to learn more about upcoming actions.

4) SHARE information on social media. Some common hashtags are #DefendDACA and #Dreamers

5) WRITE an op-ed. Op-eds are a critical way to encourage more people to support immigrant rights and raise awareness about the consequences of ending DACA. Here is an example of an op-ed written by Masha Gessen in The New York Times on September 6th, 2017.

6) STAY UP-TO-DATE AND EDUCATED. Subscribe to our blog and “like” our Facebook page to stay up-to-date with information and resources for undocumented immigrants as well as what you can do to work with and for undocumented communities.

Rachel is currently pursuing a PhD in Social Sciences and Comparative Education at UCLA’s Graduate School of Education and Information Studies. She has worked closely with undocumented youth activists in several states, the Bhutanese refugee community and LGBT community in Oakland, California. Rachel taught in two public high schools in Okinawa, Japan for two years and has worked in the community college and higher education sector for Bunker Hill Community College, MassBay Community College, Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, Achieving the Dream, and Jobs for the Future. She received her Masters in Higher Education from Harvard’s Graduate School of Education and her Bachelors in Philosophy from the University of Chicago.

Francesca is the Program Assistant for the Next Generation Social Sciences in Africa Program at the Social Science Research Council in New York City. She graduated from the University of Chicago with a double major in Anthropology and Comparative Race and Ethnic Studies and a minor in Human Rights. At the University of Chicago, she focused her research and advocacy work on conflict studies and early warning signs of genocide. She has previously worked on international grassroots mobilization against genocide and mass atrocities.

Carolina grew up undocumented in the U.S. since the age of twelve. In 2011, she created this blog as a platform for undocumented communities to obtain up-to-date information and resources on pursuing higher education, immigration policies, and much more. Currently, she is a doctoral student at Harvard University whose scholarly work centers on immigration, race and ethnicity, law and society, families, and social movements.

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At My Undocumented Life we provide up-to-date information and resources for undocumented immigrants and allies. We post scholarship opportunities that are open to undocumented students, strategies for navigating the educational system, information on how to apply for DACA/Advance Parole, news on DAPA, and much more. Most importantly, we want to provide a sense of community to our diverse group of readers. Learn more about our work here: “About Us“

Categories: DACA, Get involved

Tags: DACA, event, Immigration, undocumented