Looking out for your community: Librarians and DACA

A couple of weeks ago, rumors started to swirl that President Trump and his administration would rescind the Deferred Action for Child Arrivals Act (DACA). A couple of days later, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced, that DACA would indeed be rescinded. Many felt frightened, betrayed, sad, and angry. As I was thinking of writing this blog post, I knew that I did not want to stay neutral. I also knew that I did not want to write about why libraries and librarians should care about this, because DACA or not, these students are still part of your community. I think I’ll do a good job at keeping my emotions in check, but I do want to remind librarians that this topic is very personal to many people around the country. Myself included.

Like many people, I was heartbroken when DACA was rescinded. Not only that, I felt helpless. So like many, I asked myself, “How can I help? What can I do?”

The purpose of this blog post is to provide libraries/librarians a list of resources they can use to support their DACA students and their family members. So, let’s get started!

1. Access to Higher Education (for those whose DACA has expired) via National Immigration Law Center
2. Know your Rights: ICE visits
3. Resource Guide: Supporting Undocumented Youth via the U.S. Department of Education. Note: This guide is from 2015
4. Educator Resources for Undocumented Students (Youtube video)
5. Frequently Asked Questions: Rescission of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals via Homeland Security
6. On a personal plug, my colleague, Heidi Johnson (University of Nevada-Las Vegas) contributed to this subject guide, “Anti-Oppression Resources for UNLV Students: Resources for Undocumented and DACAmented Students.” While this subject guide is geared towards UNLV students, it actually has links and resources that apply to undocumented and DACAmented students, nationwide.

While there are more resources and tools that I have listed here, this is just a starting point to those who might want to be more informed. One last thing–while DACA students and their safety are very important to many of us, let’s not forget the rest of the immigrant community who does not fall under DACA. They are hurting as well and they too are part of our communities.

I’d be interested to know how librarians from all over the country are handling this. If you have any suggestions or comments, let us know in the comment section below!