President Trump recently announced his intention to end to a federal program called DACA that provides undocumented students legal access to a college education.
That could affect many undocumented students at Delaware State University like sophomore Arely Blanco. This week, former Delaware Public Media intern Jasmine Saunders brings us her story, and those of other DSU DREAMers. Delaware Public Media's Megan Pauly contributed to this story.
Beginnings
In 2003, 21-year-old Arely Blanco’s father traveled to South Carolina from Mexico City, Mexico on a temporary work visa. He came back two years later to re-marry her mother in a traditional ceremony and afterward returned to the United States. When she was nine years old, Arely along with her mother and sister - traveled to the U.S. to join him.
They were given green cards with IDs of other people to use to enter the country. They had to learn everything about that person; for that time, they had to be believable enough to not warrant any suspicion.
The family lived in South Carolina for the next 10 years. “It was pretty good, but except that there’s a lot of racism over there,” Blanco said. “There’s not a lot of responsibilities for students that are undocumented, and everything seems to be more harder.”
On December 12, 2014, the Blanco family faced hardship when their mobile home caught on fire and they lost everything. They were huddled together in one room around a propane gas tank to keep warm on that cold night.
However, they noticed that something was wrong when the gas would not turn off. “It seemed like... the gas touched the fire and the tank exploded,” Arely said.
They were all able to get out safely despite the dangers of the fire that spread all over the room. But they were in their pajamas so they weren’t equipped for that cold night.
Their neighbors helped them in their time of need and provided the Blanco family with warm clothes and Arely in particular remembers one kid who provided her with those items. He gave her a jacket and sandals, and she was touched by his concern. “He was like a younger kid, so that just melted my heart,” she said.
Afterward, the family was taken in by an uncle, and when Arely went back to salvage some of the items that weren’t destroyed, she found their home had been looted.
Air conditioners, stoves, microwaves: anything salvageable that was valuable was long gone.Thankfully, Arely was still able to find her parents’ wedding rings under some debris. Arely said she felt compelled to look in a specific spot to find them.
“I don’t know how I found them, but for some reason someone told me to look in there,” she said.
Arely reflects back on the fire as a lesson on the importance of family and togetherness. “Everybody was basically like split apart and we didn’t really have that communication like that as a family,” she said. “ So, we think that that’s a sign for us to get more together, more close because you never know when it’s going to be the last time you’re going to see your parents.”
A ‘Dream’ Realized
Arely was very active in her high school with organizations in South Carolina like the Future Business Leaders of America and the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America, so applying for colleges should have been a cinch.However, she was living in a lock-out state.
That means that because of her status as an undocumented resident, she was denied access to in-state tuition. If she wanted to attend college in South Carolina, she’d have to pay the out-of-state rate.
While loans can normally help with college costs, this wasn’t an option for her, either. Because she’s not an American citizen, she couldn’t apply for federal aid.
Arely also couldn’t receive scholarships to attend schools in her state either. She graduated in the top 10 percent of her class; her counselor even said that she qualified for numerous scholarships.
However, once he looked deeper into her file, he found that because of her status, she would not be able to receive those scholarships. All that work and the accolades, were all for nothing. ”I feel like all those hours that I worked so hard on a project, on an essay, on a test, they weren’t appreciated,” she said.
After high school, Arely worked as an insurance agent for two years until she heard of an opportunity that changed everything. That opportunity was a scholarship program dedicated to helping undocumented students gain access to a college education.
Arely says her work supervisor brought the program to her attention. They looked at the requirements together and found that Arely fit them; however, Arely didn’t want to get too hopeful.
“I [didn’t] want to be excited about it because I can’t imagine how many people are going to apply for this scholarship.”
In order to qualify for the scholarship program, she had to meet DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals criteria- which means applicants must have come into the country before age 16, have taken the SAT or ACT, have significant financial need, and be willing to relocate to enroll full-time at a partner college.
Arely met all of those requirements - so she applied and was accepted. She chose Delaware State University to be her home away from home.
Leveling the Playing Field
The scholarship program that Arely was accepted to was The Dream.US’ Opportunity Scholarship program. That scholarship - renewable every year - awards up to $80,000 to students like Arely from lock-out states.
“Students are from Georgia and North Carolina; those have the biggest population of DREAMer scholars, folks with DACA.,” said David Velazquez, the program director for The Dream.US. “But the vast majority are from North Carolina, Georgia, South Carolina, Indiana; those are our top states.”
Velazquez manages the Opportunity Scholarship, so he works closely with colleges that offer the scholarship program like DSU.
Delaware State University is one of only five colleges across the country part of that scholarship program. DSU was one of the first colleges to sign on to it, and houses nearly a third of its total 250 Opportunity Scholarship recipients.
Arely was one of 34 DREAMers to pursue a college education at DSU as a part of the first cohort of Opportunity Scholars last fall. This year, there are a total of 75.
Another The Dream.US scholarship called the National Scholarship is awarded to DACA students eligible for in-state tuition. Those are only partial scholarships. Currently there are 2 National Scholars at DSU.
Don Graham co-founded The Dream.US to give undocumented students a fair shot at gaining a college education. “The DREAMers get no federal money of any kind to support their education including loans; they can’t borrow from the federal government or anyone else,” he said. “So, it’s tough for them to pay for their education, and we’re proud to support them.”
Graham says they receive no state funding, either - in many states like Delaware. Instead, The Dream.US scholarships are privately funded through contributions from private groups like The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, The Coca-Cola Foundation, The PepsiCo Foundation and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.
Support System
To help the DREAMers acclimate to college life, they are helped by Kevin Noriega. Kevin is the academic advisor for Delaware State who works with the DREAMers on a day to day basis. Kevin was chosen for his role because he can relate to the situation of the students.
He also had to leave his family behind in Venezuela to ensure a better life for himself. “I came here, my dad dropped me off on August 25, 2007, stayed for two days, and told me, ‘Kevin, never come back.’” he said.
Additionally, Noriega is former DSU student who enrolled with a full-ride baseball scholarship.
Advising the DREAMers has also reconnected him to his culture. “I kinda forgot, not where I was coming from, but kind of forgot what it feels like to be a Latino,” he said.
However, Kevin does more than just what his job title entails. “I’m their academic advisor, a moral resource, a motivational resource, [and] a guidance resource,” Noriega said. It may sound like a lot on top of his other responsibilities, but he doesn’t mind. “I truly enjoy it.”
After the election of President Trump, it seemed that the DREAMers’ education would be interrupted because of Trump’s immigration policies. But state and local officials assured the DSU DREAMers that they’d be safe.
Now, President Trump has announced plans to end DACA altogether, unless Congress can pass immigration reform. Noriega says that’s critical. Victor Santos - director of DSU’s Office of Government and Community Relations - agrees.
“Immigration reform needs to get done,” Santos said. “That will allow these students, hopefully, to somehow become if not citizens of the United States, they’ll allow them to get a legal status whether they can become a permanent resident, whatever it is, so they can fully integrate themselves into society.”
He worries about the lack of a DREAM Act for immigration reform on the federal level. The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors, or DREAM Act provides conditional legal residency as well as educational opportunities to undocumented immigrants who came to the US before age 16.
Santos worries that without it, students like Arely will be denied basic rights if they decide to stay in the U.S. long term.
All for One, One for All
In spite of President Trump’s decision to end DACA, Arely and other DREAMers are doing what they can to maintain a sense of community on campus. Arely has become friends with other DREAMers like Ramiro Alejandro Merlin Garcia.
Ramiro was born in Acapulco, Mexico and raised in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He’s a sophomore electrical engineering major who hopes to start an intramural soccer league on campus that will attract more than just other DREAMers.
“Many of the DREAMers are from Hispanic countries and we play a lot of soccer, and we’re trying to see if perhaps we could create more culture in terms of soccer here at DSU,” he said.
Through their shared circumstances, they have each other to lean on for support, and have even revived the Latino Student Association. Juan Chavez Reynaga, another DREAMer from Plymouth, Indiana is the current president for LSA.
He believes it that this organization can raise awareness about DACA recipients and their situation. “I see it as a way to spread of how we are, who we really are and how we got here and why we’re here, and not just a lot of that prejudice that is being thrown around,” he said.
He believes that DSU students are open to learning more about them.
And they’re heard. DSU students and faculty understand their plight and have taken upon themselves to join the DREAMers to fight for their right to stay in this country.
Earlier this month, the DREAMers gathered on campus to protest the end of DACA. That protest came the same day Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the Trump Administration’s plans to rescind President Obama’s Executive Order on DACA.
About 50 people from different organizations or just concerned student body came together to assert that DREAMers are here to stay. Campus groups like the Campus Activities Board, the Student Government Association’s Blueprint Administration and F.O.R.C.E. Ministries have all declared they stand with the DREAMers.
Ramiro Merlin was touched by the support and genuinely feels that DSU is 100 percent in this with them. “It shows us that it’s not just us DREAMers, or Hispanics or Latinos that are sticking together,” he said. “It’s showing us that... the community is with us.”
Beyond the ‘Dream’
Despite DACA being rescinded, The Dream.US is dedicated to supporting those students.
David Velazquez says they are committed to funding them no matter the outcome; their donors are on board as well. “We feel that if you were eligible for DACA-if DACA is to go away and faze out- as long as you meet the same qualifications as you would have met for DACA, then you would still be eligible for a scholarship,” he said.
As for the DREAMers themselves? The news hasn’t stopped their determination to gain an education and pursue their dreams.
For Juan Chavez, he’s set on getting a college diploma. He won’t allow himself to be discouraged, and is taking things one day at a time.
“To me, it was ‘I’m going to get my degree eventually,’” he said. “It may take me 10, 20 years to do it, but I was going to get my degree eventually.”
Ramiro Merlin is determined too. He understands that getting this education is important, not just to himself, but to future generations.
“It’s not just me anymore. It’s about my brother and future generations that will come.”
For Arely, continuing her education is important because it would be fulfilling a promise to her mother who pushed her to succeed and aspire to greatness from an early age.
Arely remembers fondly one encounter back in Mexico where her mother locked her into a room until she learned her multiplication tables. She wanted Arely to understand that she was capable of that and more.
“I still remember that day like it was yesterday because her trust, I guess, and her way of telling me, ‘You’re capable of more,’ is the reason why I’m also here,” she said.
Arely dreams of becoming an immigration attorney to provide affordable legal services to those who really need the help and may not be able to afford the high legal fees a typical attorney charges.
“I’m not trying to become an attorney to have a better lifestyle, that’s not my main goal,” she said.
DACA has enabled not just Arely, but all the DREAMers to pursue paths that would not ordinarily have available to them. They see the potential end of DACA is just one more obstacle they’re intent on overcoming.
