DACAmented/Undocumented Toolkit

DACAmented/Undocumented Toolkit

In March 2017, the State Board of Education approved a resolution reaffirming its stance that Oregon schools should be safe and welcoming for all students, regardless of race, ethnicity, national origin, immigration status or documentation status, and asked school districts to urgently consider six specific actions.

Following the rescinding of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) in September 2017, the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) ODE, in collaboration with legislators, other state agencies, culturally-specific community based organizations, and other partners, developed a DACAmented/Undocumented Toolkit to help district and school personnel create, maintain, and nurture an equitable, inclusive, and welcoming environment for all students, families, and employees in Oregon’s schools.

The Toolkit serves as a resource guide for district and school personnel to immediately put proactive measures into practice to shift school culture, policies, practices, supports and resources, and how to take action. This resource will continue to be updated as the DACA program evolves and as priority areas for resources are identified.

Background

​What is DACA?

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) was an executive action taken by President Barack Obama that allowed undocumented immigrants who came to the US under the age of 16 to apply for protection from deportation. After a background check, those individuals were able to get renewable two-year permits to work and study in the US. Since it went into effect in 2012, roughly 800,000 people were protected by the program, and roughly 700,000 had active DACA protections in September 2017, when the Trump administration announced its end.

To be eligible, applicants had to:

• Be under the age of 31 as of June 15, 2012;
• Arrive in the US before their 16th birthday;
• Live continuously in the US from June 15th 2007 and at time of applying;
• Be physically present in the US on June 15, 2017 and at time of applying; 
• Come to the US without documents before June 15th, 2012 or before lawful status expired as of June 15, 2012; 
• Be currently studying, or graduated from high school or earned a certificate of completion of high school or GED, or were honorably discharged from the Coast Guard or military (technical and trade school completion also qualified); and
• Not have any criminal offenses ​​
  

What DACA is not?

DACA is NOT a pathway to Citizenship, as it was only a temporary solution. Advocates argue that this temporary fix is NOT enough and advocate for a longer term solution. DACA was not meant to be a permanent policy, nor does it provide a pathway to Permanent Residency.

Who are DACA recipients?

The immigrant community in Oregon is diverse with approximately 11,000 students in Oregon who are DACA recipients. These students’ families immigrated from many countries of origin from all regions of the world, including Latin America, Asia, Europe and Africa.

DACA recipients are:

• High school students
• College students
• Young adults and parents
• Employees in different business and organizations
• School District Educators: Teachers, Counselors, other Staff
• Healthcare and medicine
• Emergency response
• Law enforcement, public safety and first responders
• Transportation and logistics
• Community and Government 
• Information and Technology
• Manufacturing and Agriculture
• Financial services
• Hazardous materials
• Small business owners
• Military service personnel
  

Where is DACA now?

The Trump Administration first announced plans to end the DACA program in September 2017, and the case went before the U.S. Supreme Court in June 2020. 

The Court ruled that DACA is lawful and that the current administration did not provide sufficient reason to rescind it, making the rescission “arbitrary and capricious.” This means that the DACA program is reinstated and new applications and renewals will be accepted again.USCIS will determine the process for new application submissions.

The Trump administration still has authority to rescind DACA again and may likely do so, but with more careful reasons that keep with the Court’s ruling. 

Impact if DACA is rescinded

It is imperative that district and school personnel recognize the impact that the rescinding of DACA and the overall misinformation about undocumented students has on both the affected student group and Oregon students as a whole. The decision to rescind the DACA program will not only impact the fate of DACA recipients - it will have a ripple effect on all undocumented and mixed-status families, as well as the systems that support them, including the K-12 education system throughout the country.

• 670,000 DACA recipients who have benefited from the program will be living in the U.S. without authorization, and will be vulnerable to losing their jobs and deportation. This includes an estimated 280,000 essential healthcare workers.
  
• DACA recipients’ personal information, which was registered in a federal database when they applied for the program, could be used to track them down. This personal information is housed with USCIS and includes home addresses, passport photos, educational history, and fingerprints.
  
• 256,000 U.S. citizen children of DREAMers could be affected by family separation or being required to return to their parents’ home countries.
  
• Impact to Students & Families (to honor the interests of those most heavily impacted by inequities in our systems, we must ground heavily in this category and much less so in the subsequent two) .
  
• “If DACA is rescinded, you have a risk of greater economic insecurity, food insecurity, housing insecurity and access to health care and other services that may be impacted because a parent won’t have DACA status,”
  
• Impact to Healthcare System
  
• ​About 27,000 of the young undocumented immigrants who are part of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program work in health care, many of them on the front lines in the fight against the coronavirus.
  
• About 43,500 DACA recipients work in the health care and social assistance industries, including 10,300 in hospitals and 2,000 in nursing care facilities.
  
• Impact to Economic System
  
• The CATO Institute, a libertarian think tank, has estimated that the federal government could lose $60 billion should DACA recipients be deported, and U.S. economic growth could shrink by $280 billion. The repeal of DACA will place an extreme hardship and burden on U.S. businesses, on local communities, and on the American economy. According to analysis by the Center for American Progress, rescinding DACA would result in an estimated loss of $460.3 billion from the national
• GDP over the next decade.1 Ending DACA would also remove an estimated 685,000 workers from the nation’s economy over the next two years—at a rate of more than 30,000 jobs a month—leaving employers in a lurch to fill these positions.2 Further, replacing these individuals is expected to cost employers more than $3.4 billion in unnecessary turnover costs.
  

​Now more than ever, it is critical that educators understand the impact of the DACA program on their students, families, and colleagues. Educators must be prepared to address the impact within their classrooms and schools and be equipped with ways to take action to protect and support immigrant families. Protections are both a humanitarian obligation and an economic imperative.​

Action Guide

​Coming soon!

Communication Examples

​​The following resources are provided as examples of communication tools and messaging.

• Sample letter of how decision impacts students and families that can be repurposed for press release
• Resources for families/students/allies
  

​​SAMPLE SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS FROM HOME IS HERE​

​

Sample Graphics for Twitter for Facebook

We Stand With DACA Recipients

​

 “An estimated 14,900 educators in the United States are DACA recipients educating over 325,000 students throughout the country annually.”

“Children learn best in supportive environments. The 254,000 US-citizen children who have a parent who is a DACA recipient should not be at risk of family separation. This adverse childhood experience has a negative impact on life outcomes.” 

Protect DACA Recipients 

DREAMERS Welcome 

Sample Messaging

“We stand with DACA recipients. You are valued members of our community, both inside and outside of the classroom.”

“DACA recipients contribute to our schools, districts, and broader communities. They are our friends, colleagues, and neighbors. We stand with you.”

“More than 14,000 educators nationwide are DACA recipients. They are affected by DACA program decisions. They deserve permanent protections.”

 

“More than 250,000 children nationwide have parents who are DACA recipients and will be impacted by DACA program decisions. Children should not fear losing their parents.”

 

“Congress must act now to protect DACA recipients.  Today's #SCOTUS decision impacts nearly 650,000 immigrant youth nationwide, including teachers, parents, students.”

“Today’s SCOTUS decision reminds us that our schools and communities benefit greatly from the hard work of DACAmented students, faculty, and staff.  We stand with DACA recipients.”​

Policy and Best Practice Considerations

ODE’s DACAmented/Undocumented Collaborative addresses concerns from Oregon’s communities. Through this work, the Collaborative identified six priorities and developed guidance for district and school personnel serving Oregon’s students. These resources are supporting documents for district and school personnel, and inform best and safe practices for students on and served by school campuses in Oregon. The resources serve as a proactive measure for district and school culture shift and support for practices, resources, and factual information about and for Oregon’s students. ​

English

• Civil Rights Protections 
  
• Oregon Sanctuary Law​ 
  
• Supporting Mixed Status Families
  
• Access to Higher Education 
  
• Deconstrucing the Misunderstanding of Trauma
  
• Navigating Career Pathways​
  

​Supporting Resources

• Information on the Rights of All Children to Enroll in School
  
• Guidance on Discriminatory Harassment and Bullying
  
• FERPA and Interviews​
  
• Resources for Implementation and Distribution
  

Español​

• ​Protecciones de derechos civiles
  
• Ley del Santuario de Oregon
  
• Apoyando a las familias de estatus mixto​
  
• Acceso a la educación superior
  
• Deconstrucción de la incomprensión del trauma
  
• Exploración de las trayectorias profesionales​
  

Recursos de apoyo

• Información sobre los derechos de los niños para inscribirse en la escuela
  
• Guía sobre el acoso y la intimidación discriminatoria
  
• Ley de Derechos Educativos y Privacidad Familiar (FERPA)
  
• Recursos para la implementación y la distribución​
  

Civil Rights/First Amendment Educator Resources

​Coming soon!

Webinars

DACA Decision Month Webinar 

June 19, 2020

Session 1 

Session 2​ 

Presentation Slide Deck

The U.S. Supreme Court will be making a decision in June 2020 on the Deferral Action Childhood Arrival (DACA) program. This decision will impact more than 700,000 nation-wide and 11,000 in Oregon who currently benefit from DACA, including educators, students and their families.

Oregon Department of Education (ODE) and Causa Oregon have partnered to bring you a webinar to learn more about what potential scenarios may occur after a Supreme Court decision, next steps on the DACA Supreme Court decision, Causa’s 24-hour action plan, what the “Home is Here Oregon” campaign is working on and their policy proposal. In addition, you will also learn about ODE’s updated DACA Toolkit and the resources developed by the DACAmented/Undocumented Collaborative for district and school personnel to examine policies and practices to remove barriers and create systems that support DACA and undocumented students and their families.

Presenters:

• Fatima Preciado, Community Organizer, Causa Oregon
• Adriana Miranda, Executive Director, Causa Oregon
• Home Is Here Executive Team
• Colt Gill, Director and Deputy Superintendent of Public Instruction, Oregon Department of Education
• Michael Reyes, Education Specialist, Oregon Department of Education
• Beth Wigham, Education Specialist, Oregon Department of Education​
  
  

Please contact us with any questions:

• Beth Wigham, EdD., Education Specialist - Office of Teaching, Learning and Assessment
• Mariana Praschnik-Enriquez, Education Specialist - Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
• Susan Mekarski, Education Specialist - Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion