America is commonly referred to as a ‘melting pot’ of cultures, traditions, and vastly diverse peoples, this could not apply to anywhere more than California. California symbolizes the epitome of the American Dream ideals, where those from other countries can come to find work and build a life for their families. This is what hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants set out to do by moving to California from other countries, they sought to make better lives for their families, have safety, and give their children the opportunities that their parents were never given, such as a college education. In the past year with President Trump in office, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) has been publicly threatened more than ever before. These are young adults and teenagers who have lived in this country for, commonly, the majority of their lives and who call America their home. They do not know the country they were technically from because that is not their home, so it would be completely inhuman to deport them ‘back’ to the countries that they have never known, to completely uproot their lives and everything they have worked for, especially those who abide by laws and do not commit violent crimes. Luckily, California lawmakers were quick to act against Trump’s actions and created Sanctuary State laws that prevent federal officials from attempting to detain and deport undocumented immigrants who have done nothing wrong but living their lives in the country they call home.
With the implementations of Sanctuary State laws in California, many city officials have been taking action individually to help protect those immigrants in the country without documentation and illegally. Libby Schaaf, the mayor of Oakland, CA has been under a bit of fire after she “alerted residents that she had heard from multiple sources that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents would be conducting operations there imminently,” she then “urged those in the country illegally to take precautions” (Tchekmedyian). Those who opposed her actions to protect illegal immigrants said she helped to prevent detention of hundreds of criminals and illegal immigrants, largely of whom have not committed violent crimes. Those who know the truth that not all immigrants are criminals, “praised [her]…for giving residents advanced notice” (Tchekmedyian). ICE officials are now deeming Schaaf as “no better than a gang lookout yelling ‘police’ when a police cruiser comes in a neighborhood” (Tchekmedyian) as reported in the article featuring ICE director Thomas Homan’s comments. The mayor responded that her actions were only to prepare Oakland's residents and give them time to research and understand their full rights if they did face a situation involving ICE officers. Mayor Schaaf exercised her rights of freedom of speech and expression by alerting residents of her city, she is more than allowed to have her own political opinions, which is the entire purpose of working in politics after all. What she did to protect illegal immigrants who reside in Oakland was a brave and selfless act, she welcomed the inevitable fire that she would come under for announcing the threat to residents because she cares enough to put them before herself. The Bay area is home to a multitude of education and career opportunities, the DACA and Dreamers acts give young people the chance to pursue those lifestyles, to pursue a safe and secure future. Libby Schaaf protected the pursuit of the American Dream for those who have lived their lives in this country and don’t know anywhere else as home.
Schools and education should be a time in every young person’s lives that is focused on learning important information for their careers, bettering themselves as people, and making new friends. This is no longer the case for hundreds of thousands of Dreamers in California. After the Trump Administration stated that they would be ending DACA, “vulnerable students [worried] that filling out applications for financial aid would…put them at risk” (Resmovits). It is common knowledge that education, especially college, is extremely expensive but still necessary if one plans on getting a job and having a good career. This challenge of affording higher education is difficult for those who are living in this country legally, but it is even worse for those who are not here legally. Students should not have to have fear when applying for financial aid, their worries should be keeping up with their classwork, studying for exams, and getting good grades; not worrying that if they apply for financial aid that an ICE agent might show up at their home one day and take them and their families away and put them in holding facilities and deport them. Now “for the second year in a row” financial aid applications were down, so school officials “enlisted college counselors, teachers and even DJ Khaled to persuade more students to apply” (Resmovits). Can you imagine just for a moment, that we have to get trusted celebrities on board to “persuade” students to get financial help and to not be scared? That is sad, that is wrong, and that is not what being a student is about. Nobody should have to worry about their safety and their family’s safety because they want to get an education.
In the twenty-first century, the term “nativist” has developed into much more than simply being naturally from somewhere. This term, developed from the concept of Nativism, is now about protecting those who are in the United States illegally and have not committed violent crimes, who pay taxes on the things they purchase daily, who do everything that legal citizens do except have a piece of paper that gives them the American title. This is the idea of those in favor of Sanctuary States, which oppose the actions of the federal government and ICE’s plans to rid the country of every last illegal immigrant. It is interesting that all of these powerful lawmakers and business people want all of the so-called ‘illegals’ out of the country, but would they themselves want to do the less desirable jobs that these immigrants do which are so important to the sustainment of our society? The answer is quite likely no. Immigrants do not hurt the economy as some may argue, but actually strengthen it! How many white American citizens whose families have lived here for generations do you think are out working in the fields of the California farms picking the produce we consume on a day-to-day basis? Not very many, if any at all. These are the questions we need to ask our officials. It might sound like a bit of a joke, but someone should really ask President Trump to go work in the fields for a day picking strawberries. Those involved in this debate on whether to oppose or support Dreamers and DACA are very passionate about their opinions and support their full rights of freedom of speech and express their concerns through protests, such as the recent protest held by students in front of San Jose City Hall just a couple weeks ago.
In history, there have been many cases of people being denied opportunities based on the color or their skin, where they’re from, and who they are. A main topic being African Americans who were forced to come to this country and work. So to break it down, these people were forced against their will to come to a country they did not want to come to and were denied rights and opportunities when they asked for them. Meanwhile there are people today, now that times have drastically changed, that come to the US and seek the opportunities here and fight for the ability to get an education and have lived their whole lives here and know nothing else but this way of life and are being denied these opportunities. This is completely unfair, those who are passionate about this country, who fight for this country, are being denied the very basics of societal opportunities that we value so much in this country. This must change, young people should not live in fear of gaining knowledge and getting a good education. The entire reason they want this education is so that they can get a job here and provide for their families, and thus pay taxes and contribute towards the country just like everyone else does. The actions of ending DACA also mean separating families, separating parents and their children. One young high school girl told the Mercury News how she fears that “the fate of her undocumented parents and her sister [a UC Santa Barbara student] remain uncertain” because her parents and older sister are here illegally while the younger sister was born here and has citizenship (Sanchez). It is beyond inhuman and utterly evil to think that it is acceptable to deport a mother, father, and sister to another country while letting the youngest and underage daughter stay. There is no justification for taking families away from each other. Set aside all political issues and opinions, nobody should be separated from their loved ones. We are far past the days of separating families, such as the Nazi’s did during the Holocaust, it is time for our country to grow up and mature and for our government to see that the world is changing and cannot remain so close minded.
In conclusion, while many people have differing opinions regarding the debate of keeping or ending DACA and the Dreamers Acts, people need to set politics aside and remember that we are all people and everyone has feelings, no matter how cliché it may sound, politicians should put themselves in the shoes of an immigrant and see how hard they fought to come to this country to give their children a better life, after all, what would this country be without the amazing immigrants that continue to sustain and support our agriculture and our economy in general. A whole set of people should not just be generalized as criminals because they are immigrants when that is obviously not the truth. I hope to see Trump and his administration realize the importance of these amazing people and that we can continue to allow these people make this amazing country their home. We should take pride as Americans that so many people