“ I’LL FIND A WAY ”

Itzel Flores Castillo Wang at the demonstration, a community organizer for Promesa Boyle Heights. She, like many other organizers, joined CHIRLA in this event to fight during a moment of opportunity where a real pathway to citizenship seems to be within arm’s reach. Together the attendees and organizers chanted, “Vice President Harris, ignore the Parliamentarian! Yes to citizenship!”

When asked what a pathway to citizenship looked like under the reconciliation bill, Wang explained that “Biden made certain promises that there would be immigration reform for everyone and a pathway to citizenship for everyone.” The goal is to create permanent and accessible reform, unlike DACA, which is known for its long eligibility requirements and uncertainty following backlash from the previous Trump administration and the most recent Texas ruling.

Whether Kamala Harris will ignore the parliamentary and help incorporate reform into the reconciliation bill remains uncertain, but what advocate leaders and organizers guarantee is that the fight will persevere.

“Sometimes it’s unpredictable what could happen. As organizers we know that things happen in the moment, and we just have to take action,” continued Itzel Flores. “In the background we are still organizing, we’re still keeping ourselves updated.”

The same is true for our own undocumented students here at UCLA, who were and continue to be the most affected by changing immigration reform. Having received his DACA benefits only a week or two before the Texas ruling, fifth year atmospheric and oceanic science major Juan Maya Hernandez shared that he did not have DACA for the past 18 years since he moved here.

“I’ve always seen that there are other ways of going around certain things.” Before receiving his DACA benefits, Hernandez focused his personal time into developing entrepreneurial skills and establishing his own business, Prepare, to one day sustain himself and help other immigrant students.

“I try not to rely too much on DACA. If I’ve made it happen in the past four years at UCLA, then I know I’ll find a way” he continues.

Karely Amaya, fourth year political science major, and co-chair of the UCLA Undocumented Student Advocacy group (IDEAS), shares similar sentiments.

“Continue to advocate and continue to push. No one else is going to do it for us. My goal is to go into law and policy so I can have an impact on the laws that impact the livelihood of my community.” Currently, Amaya is working with the UCLA Labor Center to establish an Undocumented Student Network that can help undocumented students in California come together more efficiently and organize actions that pressure politicians when the community needs it most.

Organizers and leaders within the undocumented community haven’t given up, and neither have students or advocates. While change and retaliation is expected and something our community is unfortunately used to, it has not killed our fight. It’s a feeling all of us undocumented individuals feel when thinking about our situations – and it’s one Karely has expressed in the most simplest words:

“Yeah it sucks, but we can’t give up.”

Writer’s note:

To stay up to date on issues relating to immigration and to find out about opportunities to join the fight, keep up with immigrant rights groups like @chirla_org, @ unitedwedream, @ucla_ideas, @nilc on social media.

IDEAS at UCLA, is always looking for new members and allies to help better the undocumented student experience on campus, so we encourage you to reach out to them on social media and join their meetings. United We Dream and CHIRLA are also in need of donations which can be made by visiting their websites: unitedwedream.org and chirla.org. It is also encouraged for supporters to join demonstrations, such as the CHIRLA 11 days of vigils, to support the fight and help our community get the rights they deserve.