Resources for undocumented and DACA students

Supporting Undocumented Students Resources + Syllabus lgg

TESC Resource Flyer fall 2019 SUPPORTING UNDOCUMENTED AND DACA

10 ways you can support undocumented students at TESC:

1. Always assume that there is an undocumented student in your program or that you will be working with undocumented students in your role as a staff person.

1. • Create alternative opportunities for students (i.e. for field trips, discussions of study abroad opportunities, or discussions of life after college) so they don’t have to reveal themselves as undocumented.
   • Have a secondary plan that accommodates the needs of those students.

2. Allow students full agency for if, when, and how to reveal their stories.

1. • Don’t make assumptions about who is or is not an undocumented student.

3. Don’t answer questions about your own citizenship status and don’t answer questions about other students’ status: this creates a climate that asserts everyone’s right not to answer questions about citizenship status and protects non-citizens from being singled out.

1. • And of course: don’t ask questions about citizenship or immigration status..

4. Make it safe for students to share that they are undocumented.

5. • Make your support for undocumented students public (by, for example, passing out information relevant to undocumented students at the beginning of the quarter, or including language in your syllabus about supporting students, etc.).
   • Help other students in your program understand ways of being inclusive to undocumented students, including avoiding hurtful language (such as the term “illegal”).
6. Make resources available and visible, and make them available to all students so undocumented students don’t have to reveal their status in order to access resources.
7. Even if you don’t know how to help a student, it makes a difference when you show yourself as willing to help and figure out possible solutions..

7. • Attend a training! If you are interested in scheduling or organizing a training, please contact the USTF through Jean Eberhardt, EberharJ@evergreen.edu.
   • Reach out to other people to figure out answers – the list of staff and faculty support is a good first step.
8. Build relationships — this will be different with each student.
9. When talking to students about life after college:

1. • Frame conversations in terms of the options people have.
   • Recognize how much you know and how much you are willing to commit (do not promise what you cannot follow up on).

9. Support students’ multiple languages as a strength that they bring to the class, not a weakness.

1. • Be aware of and direct students to tutors with Spanish-language skills at the Writing Center.

10. Support the work of the Undocumented Student Task Force and advocate to institutionalize the Retention Program.

1. • If you are not familiar with the retention program, ask members of the USTF.
   • Ask about the future of the program in any conversation with the administration (President, Provost, VP for Equity and Inclusion, or VP for Student Affairs).