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Volume 54, Issue 78 | friday, february 7, 2020 | ndsmcobserver.com
Student shares summer work Notre Dame sophomore reflects on time spent assisting asylum seekers By ZIXU WANG AND MARIA LUISA PAUL News Writers
When refugees leave their countries from persecution or war conflicts, they do not directly start a new peaceful life after entering the United States. In reality, when they arrive at the border as asylum seekers, the first step upon arrival is the credible fear interview, a 30-minute-long screening with an immigration official to establish whether there is a “significant possibility” of such persecutions. If they fail to convince the official, they will be deported almost immediately. Many asylum seekers fail the interview, not because of the lack of legitimate claim, but because
of language barriers and because they do not know what information is legally relevant, according to NPR. To help asylum seekers prepare for the interview, Camila Antelo Iriarte, a sophomore studying political science and economics, participated in RAICES, a nonprofit agency that provides free and low-cost legal services to underserved refugees. Antelo Iriarte spent 10 weeks last summer in San Antonio, Texas — an experience she said “changed her life.” The refugee detention center is an hour and a half away from San Antonio. When Antelo Iriarte arrived, she left her phone outside, passed the security check, walked through the dark corridors and
met her clients in a dark, cramped room with gray walls and no windows. She received a list of her clients with only names and alien numbers beforehand, then met the asylum seekers, helping them prepare interviews and translate documents from Spanish to English. The immigrant officer will give a positive or negative result after the interview, which decides whether refugees can get out of the detention center and go to the next step of asylum, or get deported almost immediately, Antelo Iriarte said. Though the procedure is long and complicated, Antelo Iriarte said she can only help them with one step.
Saint Mary’s to host first joint parents weekend By MARY MANSFIELD News Writer
For the first time ever, Saint Mar y’s first-years and sophomores w ill come together to share a parent weekend, a perennially popular event put on by class council and the Office of Student Affairs to foster relationships bet ween students, families and
the College. The First-Year and Sophomore Parent’s Weekend w ill kick off Friday evening. The focus of the first-year and sophomore weekend tends have a more informational aspect in order to give parents a greater sense of what Saint Mar y’s has to offer its students from the ver y beginning of
their time there, dean of students Gloria Jenkins said in an email. “There are information sessions which are targeted to each indiv idual class,” Jenkins said in the email. “Junior moms and senior dads events var y and revolve around that year’s class
“I have seen my clients get a positive result, but I don’t know when they can finally go through the asylum procedure and start a normal life,” she said. The worst situation is being deported, Antelo Iriarte. She said the refugees flee their homes not because of the idea of a good life in the United States, but because they literally have no life in their home countries. “There is an armed conflict in their homeland,” she said. “They may be killed, detained, raped. They ran away from there not because of the ‘American dream,’ but because there was nowhere to go.” Most asylum seekers spend
The Election Committee of Judicial Council announced in a press release Friday that it is issuing a sanction to the IngalGalbenski ticket in response to a violation of Judicial Council’s Election Regulations. The committee determined juniors Rachel Ingal and Sarah Galbenski, candidates for student body president and vice president, violated Section 17.1(g)(6) of the student body constitution, which reads:
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see VIOLATION PAGE 3
Theologian discusses ‘Song of Soloman’
GINA TWARDOSZ | The Observer
Theologian M. Shawn Copeland gives a lecture on spirituality and sacramentals in Toni Morrison’s novel “Song of Soloman.”
McGlinn Hall w ill hold their annual Casino Night on Friday, inv iting students to deal, gamble and practice their skills while raising money for St. Adalbert Catholic School in South Bend, the dorm’s primar y communit y partner. Last year’s fundraiser broke the dorm’s record
and raised over $3,000, junior Molly Zachlin, one of the students spearheading the event, said. A ll of the money goes directly to the school. In the past, funds have helped supply new g y m f loors and transportation for the students and teachers. Continuing their support for St. Adalbert, students from McGlinn and Fischer Hall also tutor students at the school for an hour each
week, using Casino Night to further their involvement w ith the students’ well-being, Zachlin said. “It’s a really good relationship we have bet ween t wo schools,” she said. Zachlin started planning for the fundraiser as early as October. She said the hard work of the McGlinn commissioners always pays off. see CASINO PAGE 4
Members of the Saint Mary’s community gathered in Carroll Auditorium to hear M. Shawn Copeland, noted theologian and Boston College professor emerita, speak on spirituality in Toni Morrison’s “Song of Solomon.” This talk was the first of the Center for Spirituality’s spring lecture series. Early in her lecture, Copeland
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News Writer
Observer Staff Report
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McGlinn Hall prepares for annual casino night By HANNAH TONSOR
Ticket violates rules
By SARA SCHLECHT Associate News Editor
explained that she wanted those who study literature to know theologians such as herself do not intend to make works of fiction suit their discipline’s needs. Dr. M. Shawn Copeland, Boston College professor emerita and a noted theologian, spoke on the spiritual significance of Toni Morrison’s novel “The Song of Solomon,” see SOLOMAN PAGE 4
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