The Riverside Community College District Board of Trustees passed a bill affirming students’ right to an education, regardless of their immigration status and background on Feb. 18.
The news came on the first day of the Spring semester. While news of the bill’s passing, now Resolution No. 69-24/25, was not officially announced to students until Feb. 20 in an email from Chancellor Wolfe-Ab Isaac, students were reminded of the mass deportations in their local communities as Riverside City College professors offered support.
Resolution No. 69-24/25 states that RCCD’s three campuses are “federally recognized as Minority-Serving Institutions and Hispanic-serving institutions, with over 60% of students identifying as Hispanic.”
Amid icebreakers and syllabus readings, professors shared resources with students, verifying that Immigration and Customs Enforcement could not intervene on campus. Students were additionally provided with a red card outlining their constitutional rights, as described in the bill that has just been passed.
The Migration Policy Institute states that nearly 6% of Riverside County’s population are undocumented immigrants, 86% of this total from Mexico and Central America.
The resolution reaffirms U.S. Supreme Court case Plyler v. Doe, 457 U.S. 202 (1982) which states that a student cannot be denied access to public education, regardless of their citizenship or their parent’s immigration status.
The bill’s adoption by the Board of Trustees reiterates that educational, financial and medical support has been offered and will continue to expand to undocumented and documented students. The bill further pushes to establish “a permanent legislative solution for Dreamers and recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.”
While the bill provides RCC students a foundation for their rights, fear is still present on campus.
Chancellor Isaac offered his support to DACA and DREAMers students in an email sent on Jan. 30 leading up to the resolution passing. The email includes a link to a new page created on the RCCD website that provides immigration resources to students and families.
Students also received the resolution in Spanish and English on Feb. 18 in an email from Chancellor Isaac.
Students can visit RCC’s DREAMers Program to learn more about educational and financial support. Undocu Allies meetings are also held on Thursdays from 12:50 to 1:50 p.m. in room B124 in the Business, Law and Computer Information Systems Engagement Center for students to learn more about available resources.
