DACA Statement from Jesuit Student Body Presidents

The Santa ClaraOctober 5, 2017In response to the recent announcement of the removal of DACA (Deferred Action forChildhood Arrivals), the student body Presidents of the twenty-eight Jesuit colleges and universities in the United States publicly stand in solidarity with our undocumented students and their allies. We, as a collective unit, acknowledge that this is a human issue that will impact over 800,000 members of our nation. Immigrants have played a crucial part in the foundation of this nation and have dreams and aspirations like any other person; these dreams should be preserved and kept sacred just as any other. As colleges and universities rooted in the Jesuit traditions, our students are called to engage in the discourse and advocate for a more just and equitable world. In the face of injustice, we are challenged to practice a high level of discernment and allow our knowledge and experiences to inform our actions of being with and for others. It is important to emphasize that our unifying mission underlines the commitment to all people, regardless of national origin and documentation status. Any action and policy that seeks to divide and tear us apart should never be accepted and thereby calls for our total resistance to such. With that being said, the student body Presidents of Jesuit colleges and universities in the United States will: • Work on behalf of our constituents to start the chain of calling our representatives. • Orchestrate educational efforts for students to learn more about the topics of immigration and DACA and how it relates to our Jesuit mission. • Strive to engage our students in dialogue and/or demonstrations that denounce the removal of this program. • Promote action off-campus to stand with the rest of the country in creating a greater understanding of the need for DACA and garnering more support of Congressional legislation. • Remind students of the appropriate resources on our respective campuses that support the spiritual, psychological, and emotional well-being of our students in order to uphold the value of cura personalis (care for the whole person). With this statement, we encourage all students to treat this recent announcement of the removalof the DACA program as a call to action to stand with and contest this decision alongside thoseat the margins. We would like to highlight the importance of becoming educated on the matters at hand, participating in public protest and communicating with your respective legislators toenact change. The understanding of our privilege must be utilized to realize our roles as higher education institutions in catalyzing social change in our contemporary world. We urge our peers across the country to stand together and for our undocumented students. This letter was finalized on Sept. 28 and signed by all student body presidents at the 28 Jesuit universities and colleges in the United States of America. For more information, contact Santa Clara University’s Associated Student Government President Jack Herstam at jherstam@scu.edu.