On Jan. 29, 2018, the Board of Trustees signed the document regarding DACA for Elgin Community College to be a safe place for dreamers to attend.

“So that our DACA students can continue their education and contribute to our economy and society without fear of deportation. We further resulted that this resolution be signed into the Board of Trustees. That was adopted unanimously by this board yesterday and signed by all Trustees this evening,” said Jeffrey Meyer, Chair of the Board of Trustees.

The Board of Trustees and David Sam, the President of ECC, held a meeting that discussed many topics, one prominently being DACA. It was located in the Seigle Auditorium and began promptly at 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 30.

The ratified document was passed on to Illinois Senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth, as well as Representatives Randy Hultgren, Raja Krishnamoorthi, and Peter Roskam.

President Donald Trump told Congress that he wanted to rescind DACA on Sep. 5, 2017. This, in turn, created a pool of stress and anxiety for many on the ECC campus, especially in the Fall semester of 2017. After that, the college was eager to hear the Board make their official call, that being if ECC was going to become a sanctuary school.

In actuality, the term “sanctuary school” does not exist in the document that was signed.

“The word sanctuary has a different meaning now because a city like Chicago has claimed to be a sanctuary city, and as a result, it has a lawsuit on that. That has a totally different meaning at the moment. This document is made to be a safe campus and safe environment for all students who come here,” said Dr. Sam, President of ECC.

Despite the confusion, the ECC community still took the long signing gap seriously. Sentimental testimonies were shared that night at the Board meeting from both the faculty and students at ECC.

“It took until Jan. 29, for students to worry and wonder, ‘Does the Board still have our back?’” said Luis Martinez, a Professor of Biology at ECC. “This is way overdue, but we thank you for finally coming to the front of the trenches with the DACA students.”

Active and passionate voices still want to be heard. However, the President and the Board have had the backs of students since the start, the community just isn’t aware of it.

“When President Obama signed the executive order, the Board was even back at that time, we’re talking back in 2013, committed to DACA students. We held workshops, we brought in attorneys to help students in the college to become DACA recipients. The board and the college have been there since day one,” Sam said.

A student who attended the Board meeting was not afraid to share her concerns with the Trustees and the President. She willingly opened her heart up in front of everyone there.

“I didn’t know if would have to go back to Mexico, and I don’t know anything in Mexico. Literally, since I was four years old, this has been my country,” said Ana Rojas, a second-year student. “What would happen to the next generation of immigrants when we don’t have somebody to talk to about transferring, about any resources, even about immigration rules?”

While some of the community feels that they can’t turn to anyone at ECC about the DACA situation, administrators are working hard at the college to help. There is even a push to have resources in the future for DACA and other undocumented students to help provide answers and aid in problems they run into.

“We’re talking about providing DACA students with a variety of internal and external resources such as information on which four-year institutions might be more DACA student friendly. This is the designation of being welcoming and that information would be posted on their website and they would have financial resources for students to fund and continue their education,” said Gregory Robinson, Dean of Students.