By: Kira Ricarte
In the Jefferson Williams room on the 4th floor of the Student Center, the Immigrant Student Success Office (ISSO) collaborated with the Dream Team to host the 10th annual Immigrants Day of Action, the 3rd annual at the BC campus.
At this event, resources and information about their respective programs were provided to visiting students and faculty via Kahoot! games with prizes for the winners, such as T-shirts and tote bags. The clubs also served soda and pizza for their members and guests.
Red and black balloons are perched on round tables all around the room. Students and faculty who enter the space are greeted by Mohammed Abdulkareem, the Treasurer of the Dream Team, behind a small table full of flyers with a range of information such as steps on how to establish in-state tuition to an announcement about an immigrant giving potluck on Nov. 25. There is also an ally sign-in sheet and stacks of red cards from the Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC), detailing the constitutional rights immigrants have. Badges are given by members of ISSO and the Dream Team with words like “All human beings are human beings” and “I stand with immigrants”.
Uthman Okunola, a Peer Advocate and Wellness Fellow of the Irwin Federman Fellowship, talked about his experiences as a first-generation immigrant trying to afford college, and how that led him to take a position helping immigrants access the resources they need, especially counseling and mental health support.
“I’ve gone through a lot of struggle and pain. Most of it, I went through by myself,” Okunola stated. “No one to hold your hands. No one to show you ‘this is how you do it’. And so when I refer back to that stage in my life, it gives me a stronger purpose to make other people’s lives easier. So they don’t have to go through what I went through, navigating college.”
Okunola would later explain how he reaches out to students in need of counseling in ways that respect their privacy, allowing them to get the help they need.
“When it comes to outreach,” he said, “we have a brochure. And oftentimes, when we have events like this, we present it to students […] It’s kind of a way of being subtle about it. Like ‘Listen, if you’re going through certain things, if you’re feeling overwhelmed, if you’re feeling stressed, come by our office. Talk to someone.’”
A few members of ISSO and the BC Dream Team began giving small speeches to the crowd of students and faculty. All of them share the theme of the importance of community and the support they can offer immigrants. They also highlighted the importance of such support by alluding to the hardships immigrants face under Donald Trump’s second term as president: from ICE invading and kidnapping people in big cities such as Chicago, Portland, and NYC, and the government shutdown leading to cuts in funding for SNAP and healthcare.
Leslie Ramirez Carbajal, Program Coordinator of ISSO, was the first to speak. She thanked guests for showing up and stated that ISSO will “continue to uplift organizations that do support our community, especially in these political times.”
She also gave a shout-out to the Federman Fellows of ISSO, undergraduate students who are part of a fellowship program that gives scholarships and work experiences to first-generation immigrant students regardless of status, including Okunola, for helping make the day possible. Carbajal would then pass the mic to the Dream Team’s vice president, and ISSO scholar, Nedjy Dorlice.
In Dorlice’s talk, she talked about the Dream Team as a space to help students thrive.
She said, “The Dream Team is a safe space for students to be heard and to help advocate for their needs, especially in the time that we are currently in. And with that, we know how important it is for all students, regardless of background or status, to feel seen and supported.”
Dorlice also emphasized the importance of action, especially towards allies of undocumented immigrants.
“Now, more than ever, our lives play a crucial role because creating lasting change takes more than awareness. It takes a lot of solidarity and action. Our community is strongest when we come together to uplift one another,” said Dorlice. That’s why we emphasize the importance of allyship. We encourage our allies to use their privilege in their voices to advocate for truly inclusive spaces for all students.”
Afterward, ISSO and Dream Team had attendees test their knowledge in the Kahoot! Games. The first round started off with questions about ISSO, with questions such as “What does ISSO stand for?”, “How many ISSO offices are across CUNY?”, and “Where is ISSO located?”.
A few of the questions were also true or false, letting people know, for example, that people can sign up to ISSO’s upcoming events through the Bulldog Connection.
There were also questions about the Dream Team. Examples range from their Instagram handle, the year it was reinstated, and whether or not it is true that the Dream team is a space for only immigrant students. The game also let immigrant students know which scholarship became available this month: TheDream US, a private scholarship for undocumented immigrants.
In between rounds, the director of ISSO, Jesus Perez, gave a speech of his own about the importance of coming together to bring joy and to help others in hard times.
“[The attendees are] having fun, we’re having pizza, but by the end of the day, we have each other,” Perez said. “And I think the best way we’re gonna get through this difficult moment is to be in community. I think community is the strength that’s going to get us where we need to be, and the voice that’s [going to] fight against this injustice.”
After that statement, Perez asked the guests to look around the room full of people in this event, all bound together under the same cause of support.
“Look at each other and know that you guys are in it together!” Perez encouraged. “You’re not alone, and we got each other.”
This sense of shared identity and cause was felt among the students and faculty who attended this event. One of those faculty members was Megan Go, a Program Coordinator for the Brooklyn College AANAPISI Project (BCAP), who attended in support of ISSO. Go discusses how she resonated with the goals of ISSO as both a leader in a resource center and as an immigrant herself, having arrived in the US at 13.
“BCAP plans to work with ISSO in future events.” Go stated. “But this one I just attended [be]cause I’m also an immigrant too. I’m from the Philippines. And I’m very vocal, and I want to be an advocate for immigrant rights, so […] I always want to show my support for the community. Especially in these politically challenging times.”
The second round of Kahoot! was meant to be harder and more intense, with faculty encouraged to play along as well. This round addressed the Federman Fellowship Program, as well as the services ISSO provides.
Most importantly, both the Dream Team and ISSO made it very clear that they never use the “I” word, “illegal”.
“It’s derogatory and a slur, so we only use the term ‘undocumented’.” Ramirez gently explained to the crowd. “If you ever hear someone using the I word, please feel free to correct them. We want to make sure this is general knowledge, because no one is illegal on stolen land.”
Near the end of the event, students and faculty members entered into two separate raffles, one for students and one for faculty. In both of them, their names were spun on a wheel, and the winners won a black T-shirt with the words “I STAND WITH IMMIGRANTS” in bold red and white lettering against a dark background.
For more information about ISSO, visit @issobc on Instagram or their office in Room 117 at Roosevelt Hall.
For the Dream Team, visit @bc.dreamteam on Instagram.