The student organization Monarchs on the Hilltop welcomed students to engage in a Q&A discussion panel about immigration from different personal perspectives. The panel was just one of the daily events planned by Monarchs to observe “undocuweek,” a week dedicated to recognizing undocumented students and students of mixed status families on the hilltop. The panel was hosted to inform students and faculty about immigration through diverse lenses.
There were a total of six panelists at the event, varying from legal professionals to faculty, with the intention that each speaker would offer unique and personal insights on the topic of immigration. The speakers consisted of SEU alum Valentin Padilla, immigration law firm partners George Rodriguez and Michelle Saenz-Rodriguez, university President Montse Fuentes, Ph.D., adjunct professor Gianncarlo Muschi, Ph.D., and associate professor Angela Ju, Ph.D.
The main focus of the panel was to delve into each speaker’s perspective of having an immigrant, undocumented or mixed-status background to provide visibility to students that fall under that umbrella. Experiences of the speakers ranged from telling their stories of immigrating to the states at a young age, growing up in or near Texas border towns, growing up in a mixed-status family with immigrant parents or navigating education and academia as a first generation or immigrant student.
Fuentes, being the first Hispanic president of the university and being an immigrant herself, expresses that these experiences are meant to encourage these students and show that they have a place on and off campus to make a difference.
”It is important to know how incredible the contribution that they are making is, not just to the institution, but to our society,” Fuentes said. “To have a voice, to surround themselves with people like me and many here on campus who believe in them, and to never question who they are.”
Monarchs invited the co-founding lawyers of the Dallas firm, Saenz-Rodriguez Associates, to provide an informational and legal perspective on immigration to spark action within students. They spoke with a unique approach and covered cases they have dealt with throughout their professions, such as dealing with family separations, deportations and Dreamers.
Saenz-Rodriguez stated that she wanted the outcome of her perspective to bring attention to the challenges faced by undocumented people, especially Dreamers, in today’s political climate and how the election could affect undocumented students.
“Most dreamers, who all of them have been educated, are probably way into their career path, by now, and so if you were to pull that away from them, then what happens?” Saenz-Rodriguez said. “They would be forced to leave the country, and they’ve all established roots here, families and jobs, and are members of the community. That is something that’s really riding on this election, because it’s still in the courts. Right now, we’re expecting that the court will make a decision probably next summer for the Supreme Court of the United States, and so it’s important that whatever the outcome of this election is that we keep pushing for a path to citizenship for our Dreamers in the country.”
Monarchs on the Hilltop president, senior Angie Rodriguez, expressed that as a student of a mixed-status family, she appreciates that events like this help her feel seen for her experience and that that is the overall mission of the Monarchs. She hopes that this event and others hosted for undocuweek will educate students and encourage them to become more involved with issues pertaining to immigrants and undocumented people.
“By putting on this week, we want to show people that you can do something as little as writing letters to migrants—it doesn’t have to be on this big scale.” Rodriguez said. “It can be something like just participating in the US citizenship test — but put yourself in those spaces to learn and educate yourself.”
