The Office of Latino Affairs (OLA) received a federal grant from California to assist students who would be affected by the Trump administration’s policy change on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).
OLA used the grant to open a DACA renewal assistance clinic for students who were brought to the United States as children, and are not formally considered citizens.
The proposal for the clinic came from a OLA meeting in which senior Wright State student, Stephanie Patino Garfias, voiced her opinion that WSU should do more to service its students who are affected by DACA. The idea was then implemented by Julia Acosta, Director of OLA, in collaboration with Stephanie Allen, Managing Attorney of Student Legal Services.
To help with the application process, Acosta and Allen recruited Dayton lawyer, Bahjat Mikhail Abdallah, who has an expertise in immigration.
According to Acosta, this policy is breaking up families. “We, as a community, owe it to these students to do something,” said Acosta.
In the state of Ohio alone, there are roughly 20,000 people registered under DACA. Nationwide, the policy will affect nearly 800,000 people.
For those affected by the policy change, there are two main things to look out for, according to Allen. First, students are advised not to travel internationally because they may not be allowed back into the U.S.
Additionally, there will be no more applications processed, and no more expiration extensions. The deadline for renewal passed on October 5. People whose permits expire after March of 2018 are advised to seek an immigration lawyer.
