Undocumented,
unhired
Bhuvaneshwari Natarajan STAFF REPORTER
Assembly bill 1645 signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom will require all California community colleges to designate a “DREAMer Resource Liaison” for undocumented students on campus. De Anza College already has existing services for undocumented students on campus, namely the Higher Education for AB 540 Students and the Vasconcellos Institute for Democracy in Action. The liaison can help HEFAS with legal matters, said Kenny Solorio, 20, communications major. “It is a great executive order and it is great that they are encouraging every community college to do serious support work for undocumented students,” said Cynthia Kaufman, director of VIDA. The assembly bill would allow De Anza to do more than with the limited resources they currently have, she said.
U.S. Code 1324a
9%
prevents the hiring of undocumented individuals who do not have DACA
of California’s labor is made up of undocumented immigrants
> SEE: DREAMER, P.3
“One of the biggest barriers that affect us the most is trying -Ariadna Pavon, to find employers who are DACA recipient undocu-friendly.”
Students continue fight for housing
Go to deanza.edu/students/undocumented for resources for undocumented students
Andrew Jaramillo STAFF REPORTER
SOURCE: PALO ALTO ONLINE, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION JULIA KOLMAN AND CINDY YU
Undocumented students face employment barriers at California community colleges Kathleen Quinn STAFF REPORTER
O
ver a thousand students without Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival cannot get jobs on campus at De Anza College, due to state and federal regulations that prevent employers from hiring employees without documentation. U.S. Code 1324a, one of the regulations, prevents the hiring of persons who do not have current authorization. “Undocumented students have limited employment opportunities,” said Angelica Esquivel, program coordinator
for Vasconcellos Institute for Democracy in Action and of Higher Education for AB540 Students. De Anza offers programs that assist undocumented students in accessing education, such as AB540, which allows undocumented students in California to pay in-state tuition in order to make higher education more accessible. However, it does not resolve access to employment. “One of the biggest barriers that affect us the most is trying to find employers who are undocufriendly,” said Ariadna Pavon,
21, biology and pre-med major, must be renewed every two years and a current DACA recipient. per federal regulation, puts more Students do not need to stress on students. disclose their status to an “You are always kind of on employer when applying, said your toes on whether or not Esquivel. they are going to renew it,” said Having current DACA status Pavon. does allow students to be There are legal assistance legally employed in the United programs in the area that can States. However, even with assist students in renewing current DACA paperwork, some their DACA paperwork such employers do not understand as Services Immigrant Rights what DACA is and how it works. Education Network located in “You have to explain DACA, Fresno. what it is for and who it is for,” With federal regulations said Pavon. preventing people without The pressure to renew and DACA from accessing work in maintain DACA status, which > SEE: UNDOCUMENTED, P.5
News page 3
Campus beat page 5
Impulse page 8 Fun things to do on a
Universal income a flawed
escort services offered
faculty pay raise
Saturday night in San Jose
economic solution
Foothill-De Anza police
De Anza College approves
Dreamer liason to be appointed
Opinions page 9
Foothill-De Anza Board of Trustees President Pearl Cheng welcomed students and faculty who spoke about the ongoing issues of student homelesness and the future of the Flint Center at the Nov. 4 meeting. Cheng said that the Board of Trustees is on students’ sides in advocating for student housing. But students did not receive the assurance positively. Students’ time to speak at the public hearing was cut down from five minutes to two minutes. Associated Students of Foothill College senator Jimii Lewis said that cutting student’s time at the podium showed that the board didn’t care what students and faculty had to say. “You didn’t really want to take the time to let people talk,” Lewis said, questioning Cheng’s decision to limit speakers’ time. Many other students used their two minutes at the podium as a plea for transparency regarding a future bond measure, which has the potential to provide affordable student housing to those students going without. “Explicitly, I’d like to state that students want a specific
> SEE: HOUSING, P.4