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{"id":1030,"date":"2017-04-10T11:25:13","date_gmt":"2017-04-10T16:25:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/invisibleboston.micheli.emerson.build\/?p=1030"},"modified":"2017-04-10T11:30:14","modified_gmt":"2017-04-10T16:30:14","slug":"undocumented-students-unite-at-emerson-college","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/invisibleboston.micheli.emerson.build\/?p=1030","title":{"rendered":"Undocumented Students ‘UNITE’ at Emerson College"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

<\/iframe><\/p>\n(Video by Mario Zepeda)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\nBy Melody Keilig \n(Interviews conducted by Nyan Lynn)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\nA student group at Emerson College is working to help and protect undocumented students in the wake of the Trump administration\u2019s efforts to increase deportations. <\/span><\/p>\nThe student group <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/emUNITE\">Understanding National Immigration Through Education (UNITE)<\/a> was created in 2013 to rally around immigration issues but more recently has been <a href=\"http:\/\/www.berkeleybeacon.com\/news\/2017\/2\/2\/unite-petitions-for-sanctuary-campus\">pushing the Emerson administration to declare itself a \u201csanctuary campus,\u201d<\/a> something Emerson President M. Lee Pelton and administrators are considering.<\/span><\/p>\nA sanctuary campus designation would send a message that this is a place where the undocumented can feel safe but UNITE also is working to make sure policies are created to legally protect them from U.S. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ice.gov\/\">Immigration and Customs Enforcement<\/span><\/a> (ICE).<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cWe have a policy that was put into place so that if an ICE agent were to come to Emerson they are not necessarily handed the name (of an undocumented student),\u201d said Chantelle Bagicalupo, vice president of UNITE. \u201cThere\u2019s a certain process that ICE agents would have to go through in order to obtain the information of an undocumented student.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nImmigration Raids Increasing<\/strong><\/p>\nThere has been an increase in <a href=\"http:\/\/wwlp.com\/2017\/03\/28\/raid-warning-sheriffs-call-for-arrests-spark-immigration-debate\/\">ICE raids<\/span><\/a> in Massachusetts, according to Catherine Asuncion, development coordinator for the <a href=\"http:\/\/simforus.org\/\">Student Immigration Movement<\/span><\/a>\u00a0(SIM), a youth-led organization that spreads awareness of the rights of undocumented students and families in Massachusetts\u2019 communities. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOur members have told us that ICE has come looking for them. We are concerned about President Trump\u2019s plan to hire and train <a href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/2017\/02\/23\/516712980\/trumps-plan-to-hire-15-000-border-patrol-and-ice-agents-wont-be-easy-to-fulfill\">10,000 new ICE officers<\/span><\/a>,\u201d Asuncion said.<\/span><\/p>\nStudent Grew Up Around Undocumented<\/strong><\/p>\nUNITE\u2019s vice president, Senior undergraduate and Journalism major Chantelle Bacigalupo, said that although she is not undocumented, she wants to help undocumented students find their voice.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1029\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1029\" style=\"width: 997px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1029 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/invisibleboston.micheli.emerson.build\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Chantelle-Bacigalupo_1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"997\" height=\"716\" srcset=\"https:\/\/invisibleboston.micheli.emerson.build\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Chantelle-Bacigalupo_1.jpg 997w, https:\/\/invisibleboston.micheli.emerson.build\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Chantelle-Bacigalupo_1-300x215.jpg 300w, https:\/\/invisibleboston.micheli.emerson.build\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Chantelle-Bacigalupo_1-768x552.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 997px) 100vw, 997px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1029\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Vice President of Emerson UNITE, Chantelle Bacigalupo. (Photo by Mario D. Zepeda<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nBacigalupo, whose parents came to the United States from Bolivia, experienced being around undocumented workers when she was younger.<\/p>\n\u201cMy dad used to provide jobs to undocumented workers, and we would go pick them up and I would sit in the back of the car. They would get talking about the border and why they crossed over, what their dreams were, and they sounded like the same reasons my parents came over to the U.S., to provide a better future for their family,\u201d she said.<\/p>\nAs a college student, Bacigalupo\u2019s focus and interest with UNITE is bringing forward the difference of treatment between residents and undocumented immigrants. She wants the Emerson community to get riled up about immigrant rights, but admitted that it is a difficult task, and said that most people don\u2019t believe that immigration is a huge issue in America. <\/span><\/p>\nBecause UNITE is a small group on campus, Bacigalupo believes that is one reason why undocumented students may be afraid to speak out, even among supportive students, faculty, and staff at Emerson.<\/p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/vIaayarr96c\" width=\"660\" height=\"371\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n(Video by Mario Zepeda)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\nBut she is hopeful that the college can provide opportunities and assistance to undocumented high school students in Boston in order to expand their network of students.<\/span><\/p>\nUndocumented Student Works\u00a0to Improve Lives<\/strong><\/p>\nUNITE\u2019s president, Junior undergraduate Communications major Laura Londo\u00f1o, is undocumented and hopes to improve the lives of other undocumented immigrants. \n<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1033\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1033\" style=\"width: 948px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1033 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/invisibleboston.micheli.emerson.build\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Laura-Londono_1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"948\" height=\"656\" srcset=\"https:\/\/invisibleboston.micheli.emerson.build\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Laura-Londono_1.jpg 948w, https:\/\/invisibleboston.micheli.emerson.build\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Laura-Londono_1-300x208.jpg 300w, https:\/\/invisibleboston.micheli.emerson.build\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Laura-Londono_1-768x531.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 948px) 100vw, 948px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1033\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">President of Emerson UNITE, Laura Londo\u00f1o.\u00a0(Photo by Mario D. Zepeda<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nLondo\u00f1o and her parents are from Colombia, the home she said\u00a0her mother did not want to initially leave. However, her father decided to get a Visa and stay with a friend in the U.S. He had high hopes to make it, but found it tough and went back to Columbia.<\/p>\nUpon her father returning, Londo\u00f1o\u2019s mother decided to get herself a Visa and stayed with her cousin while setting herself up in the new country. She ended up succeeding and sent for the family to come up to Boston. Londo\u00f1o\u2019s father went first, then she was sent up at five years old.<\/p>\n\u201cI had no idea what to expect in the U.S.,\u201d she said.<\/p>\nFast forward to her freshman year of college, Londo\u00f1o became involved with activism after participating in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.emerson.edu\/service-learning-and-community-action\/students\/alternative-spring-break\">Emerson\u2019s Alternative Spring Break<\/a> trip to El Paso, Texas. She found herself moved by the experience and has made the same trip for the past three years.<\/span><\/p>\nAlternative Spring Break works as an immigration immersion program to give students the opportunity to work with nonprofit groups. <\/span><\/p>\n\u201cWe work with these nonprofits, we visit the border, and it\u2019s something very symbolic because we\u2019re just some kids from up north and we\u2019re here, at the fence, talking to border control agents, and realizing that people cross this border every day, they risk their lives just to come here,\u201d she said. <\/span><\/p>\nLondo\u00f1o said her experiences as an undocumented student inspired her to stand up for immigrant rights and to attend\u00a0events such as \u201cDrop the I-Word\u201d to shift the focus from \u201cillegal immigration\u201d to \u201cimmigrant.\u201d<\/p>\nAs someone that spent her time in the shadows, Londo\u00f1o makes it known that she is undocumented and proud.<\/span><\/p>\nMore Immigrant Advocacy\u00a0Support<\/strong><\/p>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/simforus.org\">The Student Immigration Movement<\/a>\u00a0(SIM) targets immigrant youth between 13-30, to help guide them into advocacy on political education, leadership training, and mentorship.<\/p>\nAsuncion, the developmental coordinator for SIM, grew up in the Dominican Republic and entered the U.S. on a visa\u00a0with her family to escape gang violence in her neighborhood. She joined SIM in 2009 as a way connect with other undocumented students in the Boston area.<\/p>\n\u201cOur mission is to identify and recruit young people, undocumented immigrants in Massachusetts, and help them realize their full potential,\u201d Asuncion said. \u00a0Undocumented students don\u2019t qualify for most scholarships and financial aid like U.S. citizens.<\/p>\nSIM is committed to improving immigration laws through grassroots efforts, with\u00a0organized protests, rallies, and marches. \u00a0\u201cI kept telling myself that there would be a bill passed. I had this thought that the government was going to realize that immigrants were valuable and were going to change immigration laws to help us,\u201d Asuncion said.<\/p>\nSIM workshops aim to give undocumented youth a safe zone. \u201cWe want students to come in, and not to feel alone. People are still afraid to share their status. We want youth to feel empowered and find a sense of healing through sharing their personal stories. Also to connect with other people that can relate to their experiences,\u201d Asuncion said.<\/p>\nSIM plans on joining <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lahuelga.com\">Cosecha<\/a>, an immigrant advocacy group, for the \u201cA Day Without Immigrants\u201d protest on May 1, 2017 that will start at noon at the Boston Common.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"  (Video by Mario Zepeda) By Melody Keilig (Interviews conducted by Nyan Lynn) A student group at Emerson College is working to help and protect undocumented students in the wake of the Trump administration\u2019s efforts to increase deportations. The student group Understanding National Immigration Through Education (UNITE) was created in 2013 to rally around immigration […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[31,80,20,19,92,90,88,91,89],"class_list":["post-1030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-socialissues","tag-boston","tag-emerson-college","tag-ice","tag-immigrants","tag-sim","tag-student-immigrants","tag-trump","tag-undocumented-students","tag-unite"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/invisibleboston.micheli.emerson.build\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1030"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/invisibleboston.micheli.emerson.build\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/invisibleboston.micheli.emerson.build\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/invisibleboston.micheli.emerson.build\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/invisibleboston.micheli.emerson.build\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1030"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/invisibleboston.micheli.emerson.build\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1030\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1034,"href":"https:\/\/invisibleboston.micheli.emerson.build\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1030\/revisions\/1034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/invisibleboston.micheli.emerson.build\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/invisibleboston.micheli.emerson.build\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/invisibleboston.micheli.emerson.build\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}