Today marked my last hours spent with the ACLU-NC and its staff, and although I know how much I’ll miss everything about the team I was blessed to be a part of, I also know that I’ll be seeing much more of this wonderful organization in the future.
Moreover, today was Undocugraduation, a symbolic graduation and lobbying day for high-school and college aged undocumented and DACA-receiving students. Currently in North Carolina, undocumented students are not given in-state tuition and are not eligible for many scholarships. Consequently, a college education is out of reach for even the brightest and most qualified of these minds. Passionate about the inequities present in our higher education system (which directly affect them), these students meet with representatives from their counties to advocate for a level playing field.
I arrived at 9 a.m. to assist in the ceremony set-up and material distribution. I was joined by about fifty other students, most Latinx, as the festivities began. I engaged in a wonderful conversation with a girl who’d just graduated high school and received a full scholarship to Guilford College. She–just like all of the other undocumented individuals I had the privilege of meeting–was compassionate, incredibly intelligent, and driven. She was similar to me in many aspects, and so I found myself pondering my situation as it compared to hers. I am far removed from the trials and tribulations of immigration; she is not. I am eligible for in-state tuition and any necessary financial aid; she is not. I have been raised by English-speaking parents in a well-resourced household; she has not. But I also found that we both want to study political science in college. We both have an artistic flair. We are both family-driven and down to earth. And, of course, the undeniable truth: we are both HUMAN.
Following the setting-up session, the students convened to discuss lobbying tactics with the legislators. The lobbying consisted of four roles: an introduction, statistics, a personalized story from an undocumented immigrant, and a hard ask to support tuition equity. We’d each split into groups based upon our own residential counties and lobby for the legislators representing that respective county. I teamed up with a group from Alamance County and undertook the role of the statistician/facts-teller/whatever you want to call it.
I’ll be honest–lobbying was frustrating. We didn’t meet with any legislators because the caucus was in session, but we had the chance to converse with a few LAs. The LAs were polite but not receptive to our words; they circumvented our questions, and occasionally motioned for us to leave. As a documented, privileged person, I was outraged by this behavior. I cannot even begin to imagine what my undocumented peers must have felt.
After the lobbying session had concluded, we debriefed and proceeded into the graduation festivities. I was inspired by the caps of the graduates–many were adorned with beautiful slogans–and the graduates in general. The ceremony was fairly brief; the “graduate” (some weren’t actually graduation) would state their college and/or high school and the major they’d chosen to study. After each individual spoke into the mic, the room cheered. These people were from all different areas of North Carolina, but they were a big, supportive family.
The graduation also consisted of a few speakers sharing their stories of their lives and struggles with education. One story implanted itself in my mind because of its raw honesty and vulnerability. Writing it in this blog will not do it justice, but I’ll try.
A girl rose to the mic and began to talk. She said that this current system, the one that pits immigrants against each other for a select amount of scholarships, is unfair and immoral. She said that she had applied for the Golden Door scholarship for undocumented students last year, which would guarantee a college education, was declared a finalist but ultimately denied. She related the story of her heartbreak and her desire to drop everything–all of her hard work–and give up. Luckily, her high school had a “13th grade” program, in which those wanting to pursue a college education but not given this opportunity were able to gain a college degree and credits. This student poured her heart and soul into this program. And this year, she was granted the Golden Roads scholarship. The student described her mom’s beautiful and supportive and emotional reaction when her mother learned of this honor. She will attend Meredith College on a full ride this fall.
My imperfect writing and limited vocabulary cannot recreate the invaluable amazing experience and knowledge I gained today. I hope, if anything, we’ve instilled one message into the minds of others:
When immigrant rights are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!
