Richard Diaz has been involved in the fight to preserve the rights of undocumented students to receive a higher education for the past six years, but he said the fight is far from over.
House Bill 208, which would have required undocumented students to sign a legal agreement promising they had not worked or received any income in the past year in order to maintain their in-state tuition status failed in the recent Utah legislative session.
However Diaz, an Honors Social Justice Scholar at the U, said the legislation that did pass negatively impacts undocumented students and their families.
“There’s always something targeting undocumented youth,” which Diaz said makes up the most vulnerable population in the state. “Even though (H.B. 208) didn’t pass, what did pass is the message8212;you’re not wanted here.”
Diaz and other students are organizing a coalition to repeal Senate Bill 81, a bill the Utah Legislature passed in 2008 allowing police to act as immigration officers. The students are meeting at the Mestizo Coffeehouse on the West Side of Salt Lake City to organize, and plan to hold events, go door-to-door and work with radio programs to raise awareness about the impacts of the legislation on Utah’s undocumented population.
Jascha Clark, a senior in psychology and ethnic studies who lobbied against the anti-immigration bills with the Social Justice Scholars, said though he was pleased with the failure of H.B. 208, he was “pretty disappointed” with the failure of House Bill 107 and Senate Bill 113, which would have delayed the implementation of S.B. 81.
Clark said this law, which will go into effect July 1, will discourage undocumented people from reporting crimes.
“They won’t want to call the police for fear of being deported,” Clark said. “It can jeopardize everyone’s public safety.”
Associated Students of the University of Utah Diversity Director Valery Pozo said the anti-immigrant climate of the Utah Legislature has not changed, but the rhetoric has.
“It’s becoming more underground,” Pozo said.
For example, for about the past five years, there have been bills proposing a repeal of House Bill 144, which allows undocumented students to pay in-state tuition, but each of these bills failed. This year’s bill did not seek to eliminate in-state tuition for undocumented students, but tried to make it harder by not allowing them to work.
Pozo also said there were fewer people speaking out against the bills at the Legislature this year, which she said might have been because of the focus on the economy.
Rep. Richard Greenwood, R-Roy and sponsor of H.B. 208, said right now he does not plan to bring the bill back to the Legislature next year, though he said he needs to evaluate votes and talk to other representatives before he makes a decision.
Greenwood said the legislation is important because it would prevent undocumented students from committing a third-degree felony by stealing Social Security numbers to work.
Luciano Marzulli, the Latino/a administrative program coordinator for the Center for Ethnic Student Affairs and adviser to the Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán, a Chicano/a activist group, said the state attitude and policies toward immigrants won’t change until there is a transformation of national policy.
“Unless there’s a major shift in what’s going on nationally, I would expect to see further attacks on undocumented students’ access to higher education,” Marzulli said.
He said the Development, Relief and Education of Alien Minors Act, known as the DREAM Act, which helps undocumented immigrants go to college or enlist in the military and get on the path to citizenship, might be reintroduced to Congress this week. He said it would be a step in the right direction as long as the legislation focuses on education and a path to citizenship and does not require fines that would be hard for low-income individuals to pay.
If the DREAM Act becomes law, state law will have to follow.
“I have hope though,” Diaz said. “You know, that with time, legislators will see what impact they have on families, but it will still take a lot of energy from us, those that advocate.”