Undocumented students feel safer on campus than off

Students, both documented and undocumented, have spoken about their fears of safety following the crackdowns of immigration raids in their communities. Long Beach City College has provided resources, including transportation, the addition of limited zones, and scholarships for the undocumented community, and students have received them well. 

Long Beach, California has been directly impacted by ICE raids, with the most recent one being at the Bixby Knolls Car Wash, where seven workers were detained and taken from their workplace. 

“ICE really targets certain parts of town, like by Cherry (Avenue), and I know they’re always around,” student Juan Pablo Rodriguez Villegas said.

Rodriguez Villegas is currently in the process of gaining citizenship and shared that taking day-to-day public transportation is a nerve-racking experience. 

_{Community members hold hands at the LA City Hall Park as they listen to a speaker on Sept. 1. LBCC has currently added limited zones and resources for undocumented students on campus, in response to immigration crackdowns. (Isaiah Ryan)}

“I still don’t have a car and so I take the bus, and I kid you not, I’m always so terrified every time I get on the bus. I always think to myself, even if it’s in the back of my mind, ‘this may be the last time I ever get on the bus,” Rodriguez Villegas said. 

On Sept. 8, the Supreme Court stated that the Immigration and Nationality Act allowed immigration officers to “interrogate any alien or person believed to be an alien as to his right to be or to remain in the United States.” Immigration officers may briefly detain an individual “for questioning” if they have “a reasonable suspicion, based on specific articulable facts, that the person being questioned . . . is an alien illegally in the United States.”

Reasonable suspicion was listed as presence in certain areas such as bus stops, car washes and day laborer pickup sites like Home Depot, Spanish speaking or speaking English with an accent and apparent race. 

“Last time I checked, I’m brown, I’m Mexican and have an accent, so I don’t think he (President Donald Trump) would like me very much, and I definitely wouldn’t be his best friend,” Rodriguez Villegas said. 

LBCC implemented limited zones on both campuses and has made it clear to students that these zones are restricted areas that need administrative approval to be accessed. 

“(Being a public institution) you don’t have a lot of options in terms of who you allow on your campus, or you don’t allow on your campus. … what we try to do is we wanted to make sure that we created a space where, not just undocumented students, but any student, for that matter, because that’s really important to acknowledge that the the protocols that we’re putting in place support all students, but should undocumented students want to go and use a computer lab in a limited access space they’re allowed to do so, and that is a space that’s only reserved for students and employees,” LBCC President Mike Munoz said. 

Student safety for undocumented students has been emphasized by the school, whether it be through emails or flyers on campus. 

LBCC student Asael Carranza spoke about safety and what it’s like to have an undocumented father in the process of gaining citizenship. 

“For me, I have no problem, but I know that the school is more safe and secure, because I think last year, around October, if I’m not wrong, I heard the school was offering security around on campus or off-campus. I heard this new security is offering transportation from 6 p.m. through 10 p.m. … I know that’s really helpful for this school because it’s more protection for the safety and safety of getting home,” Carranza said. 

The school currently offers a campus escort safety program, which allows students to have a chaperone with them to walk from building to building or back to their cars.

Although Carranza feels safer at school, he still faces the reality of the life he would have to take on in the case of his father possibly being deported.

Carranza’s father is the sole financial provider and is struggling to find work in construction due to his lack of citizenship. 

Before the Trump administration, Carranza shared that his father went out a lot more than he does now and won’t go outside for long periods of time. 

Carranza’s father has been in the citizenship process for the last two to three years, but his parents may need to go to the city of Juarez in Mexico just south of Texas for a portion of the process.

“I have siblings and I’m the oldest, so if my parents do go to Ciudad de Juarez, I’m worried about who would take care of them, but also I have my own priorities and responsibilities. So I’m worried about who would take care of my siblings, taking them to school, and x,y, z. I can’t be doing everything on my own,” Carranza said. 

He plans to graduate and transfer within the year and worries about what life would be like in the case of something going awry in the citizenship process.

The DREAM Services program has a designated counselor, Rob Olmos, who works with students directly and has seen the mental and emotional weight of immigration raids on students. 

“Our outside environment has made, in our political climate, I’ll say the word ‘thick.’ and it makes it tough to really focus on what students are really here to do, which is to educate themselves and meet their educational goals. … We have students that worry about housing, we have students that worry about food insecurities, but now we have added an extra layer of students needing to feel safe, so that’s a huge thing our administration … feels for students,” Olmos said. 

Olmos shared that he feels that the school has provided a safe space and sense of belonging for students, in hopes of allowing students to worry about school and not about immigration. 

Another LBCC student, Tlalpiani Olguin, told their story as someone whose mother was detained while walking back to her car while their family consists of immigrants who recently gained U.S. citizenship.

_{The reflection of protesters gathering in the street and waving flags on Sept. 1. outside of Los Angeles City Hall. LBCC has currently added limited zones and resources for undocumented students on campus, in response to immigration crackdowns. (Isaiah Ryan)}

“My mom was actually doing a peaceful protest in Los Angeles and then she got detained because she was trying to get back to her car, and there was an altercation that didn’t let her get to her car, and they detained her to make it look like ‘Oh, we’re serious about taking action’,” Olguin said. 

Olguin saw a video of their mother getting detained on social media and shared what the effects of seeing a close family member being directly affected feels like.

“It’s just so scary because if it could happen to her, she’s already a citizen, she’s already been a citizen, she was born in the United States, it could happen to anyone. Especially with Trump’s new law that he’s trying to pass that discriminates against people with the color of their skin, it’s very scary to see that it’s our reality and what we’re having to deal with,” Olguin said. 

Olguin’s grandmother and uncle both moved to the U.S. after wanting better lives for themselves and their families. 

Their uncle started a non-profit organization for immigration services after he immigrated to the United States. Olguin’s uncle is a lawyer who assists in the citizenship process and has been in business for around 20 years. 

Although Olguin grew up in an activist climate, they still see effects in the lives of their family members. 

_{The reflection of protesters gathering in the street and waving flags on Sept. 1. LBCC has currently added limited zones and resources for undocumented students on campus, in response to immigration crackdowns. (Isaiah Ryan)}

“(Immigration raids have affected my family by) putting fear into their daily routine, or going to work, especially in Long Beach, because there are a lot of ICE raids happening randomly. It’s very unsettling to see on the news, like loved ones, and even people who are getting attacked because they’re exercising their democratic right to preach,” Olguin said.

Students Olguin, Rodriguez Villegas and Carranza all echoed the same feeling that school should be safe for all students, no matter their citizenship status. 

“Within the (legal) framework that we have, we’re doing our best, and I do feel like we are trying to do our best. But, as you know, we all know there are things that happen that are outside of our control,” Munoz said.