Christina Garcia
News Editor
Roughly 50 faculty, staff and students attended the information session “Immigration Under the Trump Administration” on Jan. 31 in the Campus Center Ballroom.
The session was led by Diane Uchimiya, director of the justice and immigration clinic and professor of law at the University of La Verne College of Law.
The session discussed topics from Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) to President Donald Trump’s recent executive orders about immigration.
“This past election cycle shook the status quo in terms of immigration, education and business,” Uchimiya said.
Uchimiya explained that the DACA program, created under the Obama administration, is a type of prosecutorial discretion.
This means that although no lawful status is given through the program, individuals who are in the program are not made a priority to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers for deportation. DACA also allows them to apply for work authorizations.
Uchimiya said that the future of the DACA program is uncertain as President Trump has the power to end it at any time.
With the uncertainty of the future of the DACA program, Uchimiya was unsure how the administration might want to use the DACA information database.
Her advice to those considering applying to the program was to not do so.
Her reasoning is that doing so would provide all the necessary information to the Department of Homeland Security to fill out the notice to appear paperwork, which would begin the removal process.
In regard to the recent executive orders relating to immigration, Uchimiya said that she is still going over their contents to see how to best advise clients.
One of the orders suspends the refugee program for 120 days and places a ban on citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries for 90 days. The countries included are Iran, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.
A federal judge in New York temporarily blocked the ban, allowing citizens of the seven countries who have already arrived in the U.S. and those who are in transit, and those who hold valid visas to enter the United States.
Uchimiya’s advice to those in attendance that may be affected by the ban was not to travel.
She also advised international students to reach out to school officials with any questions they may have.
Another executive order calls to build a wall at the southern border between the U.S. and Mexico.
In addition, it also calls to detain all individuals who entered the U.S. illegally as well as those in removal proceedings, calls for more detention centers to be built, expedites removal proceedings and criminalizes illegal entry to the U.S.
Uchimiya said that it would be very expensive to build more detention centers and to detain those who are in removal proceedings or waiting to get some kind of lawful status to remain in the U.S.
Uchimiya ended her presentation by saying that to make a change people will need to do more than protest these executive orders.
She encouraged those present to make phone calls to their representatives in the House and Senate to voice their opinions about Trump’s executive orders.
Daniel Loera, director of multicultural affairs, asked if it would be beneficial to call representatives in other areas affected.
Uchimiya said it would not be as useful to contact representatives that do not directly represent you because they would only be concerned with the opinions of their constituents.
Uchimiya ended the presentation by saying that she is working on hosting more information sessions.
In addition, she is also working on organizing with other immigration attorneys to hold pro bono consultations for those who may need them.
“The talk was informative to an extent,” said junior international studies major Hagop Hovsepian.
“There are still changes being made to policies.”
Hovsepian is also an Armenian international student.
“I feel very vulnerable right now,” Hovsepian said. “The fact that there is more bad news than good is very depressing.”
Christina Garcia can be reached at christina.garcia2@laverne.edu.
