Tuesday
evening,
Central
Student
Government
hosted
their first meeting of the school
year under new administration,
with
LSA
senior
Anushka
Sarkar as president. Despite
the brief interruption of a fire
alarm in the Michigan Union,
the meeting continued, focusing
on welcoming members back to
campus.
A major focal point of the
meeting involved the Trump
administration’s announcement
this morning of the dissolution
of the Deferred Action for
Childhood Arrivals program.
Under the new policy, those who
have a status that will expire in
the next six months can have
their permits renewed. During
these six months, Congress
has the responsibility to decide
whether these policies will move
forward and if those protected
under DACA will officially lose
their status.
Community
member
Kate Stenvig, member of the
University’s chapter of By All
Means Necessary, addressed her
concerns to CSG following a rally
in the Diag and march around
campus earlier in the afternoon.
She stated that she hopes, in the
coming weeks, to bring forward
a resolution in support of DACA.
“This is a real overreach of
Trump to try to do this,” she said.
“It’s also a really desperate act
because basically all that he has
promised is a lot of deportation.”
Sarkar
also
voiced
the
importance of CSG taking a
stand against this act from the
Trump administration. Earlier
in the day, CSG posted a status
on Facebook informing those
currently reliant on the program
of their options to secure permit
renewal.
“CSG has for the last couple
of years and will continue to this
year stand by DACAmented and
undocumented students,” she
said. “DACAmented students
are an important part of our
community.”
Sarkar also discussed the
recent racist writing found on
the Rock and detailed CSG’s goal
of responding to these sorts of
incidents in meaningful ways.
City
Council
passed
a
resolution
Tuesday
taking
a stand against the Trump
administration’s controversial
travel ban.
Trump issued his first
executive order in January,
forbidding
citizens
from
seven
Muslim-majority
countries from entering the
United States for 90 days,
stopping
resettlement
of
refugees for 120 days and
indefinitely
suspending
resettlement
of
Syrian
refugees. The ban, which
came into effect immediately
after
its
announcement,
resulted
in
disorder
and
fierce protests at airports
across the country.
The
local
resolution
specifically authorized listing
Ann Arbor as a supporting
municipality in an amicus
brief to be filed with the
U.S. Supreme Court from the
State of Hawaii and Ismail
Elshikh v. Donald J. Trump,
et al., which will determine
the constitutionality of the
president’s executive order.
Councilmember
Jack
Eaton (D–Ward 4) praised
the resolution, as it will allow
Ann Arbor to take a stand
against the travel ban at no
cost. He noted Ann Arbor’s
unique position as a college
town and the city’s tradition of
welcoming talented individuals
from all over the world.
“We want our residents …
to feel comfortable to come in
from anywhere in the world,”
Eaton said. “Having a threat
such as this travel ban really
does significant harm to our
town.”
Following two federal court
decisions that blocked the ban,
the
Trump
administration
released a second version of
the order that eliminated its
most controversial parts. For
example, provisions in the
initial executive order like
giving preference to religious
minorities (widely interpreted
to mean Christians) once the
resettlement program resumed
gave reason for critics to call
the order a “Muslim ban.”
Chants
denouncing
the
repeal of Deferred Action for
Childhood Arrivals filled the
streets of Ann Arbor during
BAMN’s Emergency Rally to
Defend DACA early Tuesday
evening.
The
Coalition
to
Defend
Affirmative
Action,
Integration
and
Immigrant
Rights
By
Any
Means
Necessary
organized
the
protest as a result of President
Donald
Trump’s
recent
decision to rescind the DACA
policy.
BAMN’s list of demands
included
defending
DACA,
turning Ann Arbor into a
sanctuary
city
and
taking
action to stop Immigration and
Customs Enforcement raids
and deportations. The event
began with a rally explaining
BAMN’s objectives in the Diag,
followed by a march around
campus.
Protesters
included
Ann
Arbor
community
members
and University of Michigan
students
from
various
backgrounds.
A portion of their flyer
read, “This is the time to make
our schools, campuses, cities
and all of Michigan a real
sanctuary for immigrants, by
coming out in mass numbers
to defeat Trump’s attack on
DACA, stop his deportations
and
demand
that
Trump
resign or be removed BY ANY
MEANS NECESSARY.”
Kate Stenvig, an organizer
for BAMN, explained how
similar strategies have created
change and why it was crucial
to continue protesting.
“We think that right now is
our moment to pull out all of
the stops to build a movement
to defend DACA, to stop the
policy of deportation and to get
rid of Trump now,” she said. “I
think that the fact that Trump
did not think that he could get
away with getting rid of DACA
today but gave a 6-month
window for Congress to act is
a real credit to the movement
and that so many of the people
who have DACA are leaders.”
Stenvig also discussed how
she saw the DACA repeal as
an act of desperation on the
Trump administration’s part.
“I
think
that
we
can
definitely defend DACA and
force Trump to resign or
get
removed
because
this
is a disgusting, scandalous
overreach
on
his
part,”
Stenvig said. “It’s also his next
desperate attempt to show his
racist base that he can deport
a lot of people, but in reality,
because of the movement in
the last year, he’s been able
to deport less people than
Obama.”
The DACA policy was put
into place during the Obama
administration in 2012.
William Lopez, a postdoctoral
fellow at the School of Social
Work, noted many undocumented
immigrants and their families
were
betting
against
the
possibility of a rescission when
they made the choice to register
for DACA.
“Two, four, six years ago,
whenever folks applied, they
were thinking, ‘If I give the
government this information, will
it be dangerous for my family?’,”
he said. “And we, as advocates and
those with citizen privilege, of
course encouraged them to do so,
believing it would be safe to do so,
and now we find ourselves in this
position of wondering, is it safe?”
Currently, there are almost
800,000 people in the United
States
with
Deferred
Action
for Childhood Arrivals status,
and some are students at the
University of Michigan. Many at
the University are now worried
Immigrations
and
Customs
Enforcement will begin targeting
students once their status expires.
Laura
Sanders,
co-founder
of the Washtenaw Interfaith
Coalition for Immigrant Rights
and a lecturer at the School of
Social Work, said she, too, wasn’t
optimistic about any legislation
Congress would pass regarding
the program.
“The ball is in Congress’s court
to act, but they haven’t acted in
the past in a very positive way,
which is what initiated the DACA
executive order by Obama in the
first place,” she said.
The
Trump
administration
announced Tuesday morning it
was ending DACA, the Obama-era
immigration policy that provided
a renewable, two-year deferral
from deportation and work permit
eligibility
to
undocumented
immigrants who were brought to
the country as minors.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions
stated
Tuesday
the
program
“is being rescinded,” but the
administration will provide a
six-month window in which it
will continue to renew the DACA
status
of
individuals
whose
status is about to expire, meaning
individuals will begin to lose their
protected status permanently on
March 5, 2018. President Donald
Trump said Congress should use
the window to come up with an
additional plan.
“I have a great heart for these
folks we’re talking about,” he
said. “A great love for them — and
people think in terms of children,
but they’re really young adults. I
have a love for these people and
hopefully now Congress will
be able to help them and do it
properly.”
Khaalid
Walls,
communications director of ICE
for the Northeastern Region,
which
includes
Michigan,
said current ICE policy was to
generally avoid sensitive areas
like schools.
“Current ICE policy directs
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Wednesday, September 6, 2017
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Vol. CXXVII, No. 83
©2017 The Michigan Daily
N E WS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
O PI N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
S U D O K U . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
CL A S S I F I E DS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
MICHELLE PHILLIPS/Daily
Trump decision to end DACA faces major backlash from Michigan politicians
“...in the best interests of our country, and in keeping with the obligations of my office, the Department of Homeland Security will
begin an orderly transition and wind-down of DACA, one that provides minimum disruption.” -President Donald Trump
Attorney
General
Jeff
Sessions announced President
Donald Trump’s plan to end the
Deferred Action for Childhood
Arrivals program, which was
founded under former President
Barack Obama in 2012, Tuesday
morning. In a written statement,
Trump
called
the
program
unconstitutional,
calling
for
“an
orderly
transition
and
wind-down of DACA, one that
provides minimum disruption.”
Trump also acknowledged that
the six-month delay will allow
Congress to address the issue
before the change takes effect.
Current DACA beneficiaries
receive
renewable
two-year
work
permits
through
the
Department
of
Homeland
Security.
Under
Trump’s
order, DHS will stop accepting
applications;
however,
applications that have already
been
submitted
will
be
processed,
and
those
with
current permits will be allowed
to work until their permits
expire.
On campus, undocumented
students fear for their futures.
William Lopez, a postdoctoral
fellow in the School of Social
Work, studies how communities
respond to ICE raids. Lopez said
that once DACA is eliminated,
it is not clear what will happen
to
the
information
of
the
beneficiaries of DACA.
“On the one hand, very
practically, we are worried about
how a number of our students
who are funded will continue
to be funded when they don’t
have social security numbers
anymore,”
Lopez
said.
“So
how are they going to remain
in school, mostly in graduate
school, when they don’t have
social security numbers, when
their funding may be tied to
something that needs a social
security number?”
Once the program ends, the
current and past beneficiaries
of DACA will be vulnerable,
as they have entrusted their
information to the government
in order to benefit from the
program.
“At the time of application,
many folks are worried, ‘Well
what is going to happen with
this information if DACA doesn’t
stay around?’,” Lopez said. “So
in six months, we will know, or
at least have a sense of what the
central government is going to
do with that information. At that
time, if not before, there will be
COLIN BERESFORD
Daily Staff Reporter
CAMPUS LIFE
ANN ARBOR
STUDENT GOVERNMENT
University administrators
respond to concerns,
stand in solidarity
Students, Ann Arbor
residents rally against
executive decision
DACA DECISION SPARKS ANGER
A2 City Council passes resolution
against Trump’s immigration ban
First CSG meeting of year
proclaims solidarity with students
ISHI MORI
Daily Staff Reporter
JORDYN BAKER
Daily Staff Reporter
michigandaily.com
For more stories and coverage, visit
See BACKLASH, Page 3A
See RESPONSE, Page 3A
ADMINISTRATION
AMARA SHAIKH
Daily Staff Reporter
ANDREW HIYAMA
Daily Staff Reporter
Free Speech in the
Ivory Tower
Students weigh in on the
debate over free speech and
its place on a college campus.
» Page 1B
See STUDENTS, Page 2A
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