Thread by @kojoshow

LIVE: Kojo In Your Community—The Impact of Immigration Policy on Students in the District

This conversation was recorded at @CHECDC on Feb. 25.

wamu.fm/3cgg22X

@CHECDC D.C.'s Youth Poet Laureate joined the program to give a performance her poem "Again."

"Again.. you are America's worst habit."

@CHECDC "I was four years old at the time. None of us knew how to swim, but we had to cross the Rio Grande on tubes. Eventually we made our way through Texas." Mizraim Belman-Guerrero @mizraimbelman

@CHECDC @mizraimbelman "As a tiresome 4 year old, I didn't want to walk, and the coyote put me on his shoulders and walked." - Mizraim Belman-Guerrero

@CHECDC "Rescinding of DACA had a huge impact. We're also seeing changes in the winding down of TPS. It affects Salvadoran communities particularly hard." -
Victoria Maqueda Staff Immigration Attorney, Ayuda @Ayuda_DMV

@CHECDC "The Office of the Attorney General cares about immigrants. Our mission is to use the law and stand up for people being taken advantage of." - @AGKarlRacine

@CHECDC "We were getting call after call. Should I take my kid off of medicaid? How will this affect me? Very hard decisions for these families." Victoria Maqueda Staff Immigration Attorney, Ayuda @Ayuda_DMV

@CHECDC "I'm from Bolivia. When I came here, I had two cultural shocks. I remember not being able to communicate with my classmates." - Claudia Quiñones Trinity Washington University Student

@CHECDC "They knew the struggle, how life was back in El Salvador. We all worked together to learn English, help our families, and help ourselves." Martiza Mundo-Barillas Georgetown University Student @Georgetown

@CHECDC "This was my school, so I'm home. We want to make everyone feel at home. When you're home, you feel safe." - @jackiereyesdc Director, Mayor’s Office on Latino Affairs

@CHECDC "One of the things @MayorBowser did was to reflect the constituents and we're at the table." @jackiereyesdc Director, Mayor’s Office on Latino Affairs

@CHECDC "I like to say that this is a country of laws, but we are human beings. It doesn't matter how you look. We've spent a lot of time educating our community on knowing your rights." - @jackiereyesdc Director, Mayor’s Office on Latino Affairs

@CHECDC "It's important for us to communicate in the language of our residents." - @AGKarlRacine

@CHECDC "I'm not a DACA recipient, I don't qualify. So even those scholarships that are out there are only for DACA. My options were really limited." - @MundoMaritza14

@CHECDC "Every school I applied for denied me, or charged my out of state tuition because I was undocumented. Once I got DACA, I went to @montgomerycoll and enrolled." Claudia Quiñones

@CHECDC "As an educator, one of the things we think about is educating the whole child. Finding ways to meet the needs of every child." - Heber Diaz, teacher at @CHECDC

@CHECDC "Immigrant families will have less active to food security and housing security. All of these things add up. When students stop coming to school out of fear, that's a problem." - Heber Diaz, teacher at @CHECDC

@CHECDC "This year I know of three students who have left school because of what they learned at their court dates. It makes it hard for them to give 100% when they're in fear." - Jessika Alvarado Math Teacher, Columbia Heights Educational Campus

@CHECDC "As a teacher you try your best, inform them of their rights, and build relationship with their families." - Jessika Alvarado Math Teacher, @CHECDC

@CHECDC "People who just moved to the U.S. don't know how to call 911, or to call the police if they witness a crime. We tell them to feel free and open to talk to the police." - Officer Guierllmo Canales Officer, Latino Liaison Unit, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department @DCPoliceDept

@CHECDC "We want people to come to us. I know they're afraid, that's why we come out to the community. They don't have to be afraid." Officer Guierllmo Canales Officer, Latino Liaison Unit, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department @DCPoliceDept

@CHECDC Question from the audience:

"What are you planning to do to stop students from being discriminated against?"

@CHECDC "The OAG is here to help. 202-727-3400 tell them that the Attorney General said he would help, and we will help." @AGKarlRacine

@CHECDC "When we get DACA, we become heads of our households. I was able to start working and provide for the home. It helps you break from the poverty cycle that is real in immigrant communities." - Claudia Quiñones student and advocate with @UNITEDWEDREAM

@CHECDC "There are a lot of other status's that immigrants are eligible for beyond DACA. Victims of human trafficking are eligible for TVisas. @Ayuda_DMV offers consultation clinics that are free and open to the public." - Paula Fitzgerald, executive director of @Ayuda_DMV

@CHECDC Question from the audience:

Is there any legal action for amnesty for people who have been in this country for 20 years and worked hard to be here?

@CHECDC "It is incredibly important for everyone here to call them out. Only white supremacists seek to put black and brown babies in cages. We need to call out these racists for who they are." @AGKarlRacine

@CHECDC "Building bridges and mentorship programs where undocumented folks can talk to others. It's a very isolating experience when you don't know anyone else going through the same things you are." - @mizraimbelman

@CHECDC "When I was growing up I was ashamed of being undocumented. We bring these people together so they can start to love themselves." - Claudia Quiñones with @UNITEDWEDREAM

@CHECDC "We're 15% immigrants in D.C. and I'm one of them. I want people to know that I was there too. I came here when I was 14 and didn't speak English. Don't be afraid. Stay the course and work hard." - Officer Guierllmo Canales Officer, Latino Liaison Unit, D.C. @DCPoliceDept

@CHECDC "Officer Canales... I'm one of them too." - @Nnamdikid

@CHECDC "You can take action. We need your support. This becomes more than just a night where everybody feels good about being anti-Trump. We can give the students who come here the resources they deserve." - Ahmed Nurridden from @CHECDC

@CHECDC Listen to the show here:
thekojonnamdishow.org/shows/2020-02-…