President Robert Vela will speak at an information session for undocumented students File Photo
President Robert Vela will attend to show the district’s support for DACA students.
Kimberly Caballero
The Mexican-American Studies program will sponsor an information session for undocumented students noon-2 p.m. Jan. 30 in the mall east of Loftin Student Center.
In case of inclement weather, the location will move to the Fiesta Room of Loftin.
Mariano Aguilar, Mexican-American studies and English professor, said students who are undocumented immigrants are encouraged to attend the session.
“We want to show those students that SAC is a caring and safe place for them and that administration, faculty and staff are interested in their well-being,” Aguilar said.
Information offered at the session will include current immigration laws, scholarships available to undocumented students and a tentative calendar.
The calendar will include an information session for undocumented students to learn more about their state and federal rights, a panel that will take place during the Multi-cultural Conference sponsored each spring by the English program and a session to help students apply for the United We Dream Scholarship.
Aguilar is also a member of the DREAMers Advisory Council, a group within the district that provides information for undocumented students who qualify for the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act.
Aguilar said the main concern is that undocumented students are afraid to be identified as undocumented.
“I’ve heard anecdotes of people who are undocumented who stop going to school or stop going to work or stop driving because they were so afraid of getting caught and getting deported. Just in day-to-day life, just going to the store to get milk, there’s some sort of a risk,” he said.
At the Educate to Empower panel Sept. 19 during Hispanic Heritage Month, Alamo Colleges Police Chief Don Adams said there would be no sweeps of undocumented students in Alamo Colleges, Aguilar said.
“He has no intention of going out and having any kind of sweeps for undocumented students,” Aguilar said.
President Robert Vela will attend the meeting, where he will speak about the college’s support of “dreamers.”
“He’s 100 percent with us. He’s going to speak on that day and let the students know not only that SAC the college is a welcoming place, but that the district is also,” Aguilar said.
Aguilar wants undocumented students who may be too fearful to attend the session to know there are other ways they can get the information.
All the information to be provided at the meeting has been emailed to chairs and coordinators to share with faculty and staff.
Flyers for the event are available in the office of Mexican-American Studies in Room 100 of Chance Academic Center.
Information will also be available on the program’s Facebook page, San Antonio College MAS.
MAS administration specialist Steven Maldonado and Aguilar can be contacted with questions about the session at the program’s direct line 210-486-0763.
