When agents from the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement arrested a 22-year-old DREAMer and aspirant math professor this week who had just spoken out about the impact that immigration enforcement was having on her family, the action had a chilling effect on other DREAMers that is likely to reverberate beyond the community of undocumented students.
That is the take of several immigration scholars, faculty and others who work with undocumented college students regarding the recent arrest of Daniela Vargas, in Jackson, Mississippi.
“This news is worrisome for all of us, not only DACA recipients, undocumented immigrants, but also citizens of this country,” said Dr. Julián Jefferies, an assistant professor of literacy and reading education at California State University, Fullerton, who has taken DACA students on study abroad trips to Mexico.
“It shows just how Donald Trump’s rhetoric has emboldened poorly trained ICE officers to overstep their authority and infringe on this young woman’s free speech,” Jefferies continued. “This event is a testament to the fact that the U.S. perceives immigrants as second-class citizens who do not even have the right to express their views on public, and see a brave young woman who is advocating for her family and her rights as a threat to national security.”
Violeta Chapin, an associate clinical professor of law who is currently teaching a criminal immigration and defense clinic at Colorado Law School at the University of Colorado Boulder, said the arrest “certainly chills free speech rights for people who are particularly vulnerable and may lead to DACA students withdrawing more into themselves and their families in hopes that the storm will pass.”
“One might even wonder if it’s intended to have a chilling effect,” added Candy Marshall, president of TheDREAM.US, an organization that provides scholarships to undocumented students.
“I don’t think it matters one bit that Ms. Vargas’ DACA had expired in November,” Chapin said in reference to Vargas’ application for renewal under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which enables undocumented individuals brought to the United States as children to apply for deferred action and work authorization for a period of two years.
