The Gatepost Editorial Board
During the campaign, President Donald Trump ran on the promise of 7xing America’s broken
immigration system. He called for a series of orders that had many Americans questioning his
understanding of our nation’s core identity.
Trump promised his followers mass deportations of undocumented immigrants, proposed a temporary ban of Muslim immigrants and insisted that the United States would build a wall spanning across the Mexican border – a wall Trump proudly proclaimed Mexico would pay for.
And while these orders appeared too outlandish to amount to much during the campaign, it seems Trump is set on keeping his promises.
As a result, many undocumented immigrants who call America home are growing more and more apprehensive about their future in this country.
Many may be asking themselves, “Will I have opportunities? Will I be targeted? Will I have rights? Will I be deported?”
Within his first two weeks in office, Trump has already signed 19 executive orders – one of which bans non-green card carrying immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States and another that calls for the construction of the Mexican border wall.
Fortunately, if you’re a Massachusetts DACA student, you may not have as much to fear – especially if you attend Framingham State.
DACA students are undocumented immigrants who have been granted permission to stay in the country for a certain period of time because they immigrated here as children and graduated from a U.S. high school.
Recently, President F. Javier Cevallos pledged his support for these students along with Board of Higher Education Commissioner Carlos Santiago at a Massachusetts Board of Higher Education meeting.
Currently, there are 31 DACA students enrolled at FSU, and one undocumented resident, according to Mark Powers, executive director of student records and registration services.
On Monday, a letter from Cevallos was sent out to the student body in which he promised “unwavering support” for those affected by the travel ban.
We at The Gatepost would like to commend President Cevallos for speaking out for those who are targeted, stereotyped and marginalized.
Trump’s orders need to be seen for what they are – the result of hate, fear and blind opposition toward those who are too often scapegoated.
America is, at its core, a nation of immigrants – built by immigrants, powered by immigrants and enriched by immigrants.
The Trump administration needs to realize that.
Whether documented or not, immigrants have played vital roles in America’s past, and will continue to do so in the future. Deporting them, banning them and rejecting them not only harms them – it weakens us.
If America is truly to be made great again, we have to remember what made it great in the first place.