SPECIAL: DACA Dialogues

🎙️ In the Season 2 premiere of this powerful episode, Ramplifi dives into the conversation around DACA and undocumented immigrants in the United States. VVC student “Valerie”—a DACA recipient and Dreamer—shares her personal story of being brought to America as a child and opens up about the emotional challenges many like her face, especially in light of recent ICE raids. We also hear from Liz Duarte, Student Services Director of Academic Support & Tutoring, who speaks about her passion for supporting unseen students and the scholarship she created to assist them. Finally, ASB Student Services Senator Yasmeen Arnaout joins the discussion, offering her own perspective on immigration through her family’s experiences. ✨ Honest. Emotional. Real. This episode of Ramplifi amplifies voices that too often go unheard.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Support for Ramplify comes from Victorville Cadillac, offering a selection
of new and pre owned Cadillac vehicles. More information about
Victorville Cadillac's latest inventory is available at Vvcadillac dot com.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
This is.

Speaker 3 (00:18):
The Volcast at Victor Valley College. Victor Valley College.

Speaker 1 (00:41):
How's it going. This is Ramplify, the podcast brought to
you by the Associated student body of Victor Valley College.
I'm your host, Andrew Caravella. Now this episode is different.
You probably noticed that you can only hear me if
you're watching this on the VVC mobile app or YouTube
right now. There's a reason for that. We have cameras,

(01:03):
we just chose not to turn them on for this episode.
This is an audio only presentation, and the reason for
that is I really wanted to cover illegal immigration and
immigration in general, because this is a hot topic in
our country and we should enact like this doesn't affect
or rather impact the views of students on campus. But
if we want to take it a step further, for

(01:24):
some of our students, it's starting to impact them personally.
Our guests for this episode wanted to be on the podcast,
but asked us not to go on camera. So we said, okay,
and when you hear her story, you're going to understand why.
She's a student here at VVC and just like many
of you listening, she goes to class, she does her homework,
she grabs her coffee, and she often dreams about her

(01:45):
future like anyone else, but she lives with a quiet
fear that most of us are probably never going to understand.
It's a fear that one day Ice could show up
and she could vanish from the life she's worked so
hard to build. She's only one of the roughly five
one hundred and eighty thousand people in the United States
protected under DACA. So before I bring her in, I

(02:05):
wanted to break this down for anyone out there who's
only ever heard the word DACA tossed around in political
debates or maybe on cable news commentaries. So what is DACA. Well,
DACA stands for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. TACA was
created in twenty twelve under the Obama administration through executive action,

(02:26):
so Congress didn't have any say so the decision was
only made following years of legislative gridlock. So here's what
that executive action sounded like On June fifteen, twenty twelve,
by then President Barack Obama.

Speaker 4 (02:39):
Men are nations immigration policy to make it more fair,
more efficient, and more just, specifically for certain young people
sometimes called dreamers. Now, these are young people who study
in our schools, they play in our neighborhoods, friends with

(03:00):
our kids. They pledge allegiance to our flag. They are
Americans in their heart, in their minds, in every single
way but one on paper. They were brought to this
country by their parents, sometimes even as infants, and often

(03:23):
have no idea that they're undocumented until they apply for
a job, or a driver's license or a college scholarship.
Put yourself in their shoes. Imagine you've done everything right
your entire life, studied hard, worked hard, maybe even graduated

(03:45):
at the top of your class, only to suddenly face
the threat of deportation to a country that you know
nothing about, with the language that you may not even speak.
That's what gave rise to the Dream Act.

Speaker 1 (04:02):
So it doesn't give citizenship, It doesn't even guarantee permanent status.
What it does is offer temporary protection from deportation for
people who were brought to the US as children before
they had a say in the matter, and in what
I just said, that's the keyword which causes anxiety in
so many Dreamers, including our guest today. Temporary protection. Okay, So,

(04:24):
to be eligible for DACA, applicants had to meet a
strict set of criteria back then, they had to be
under thirty one years old as of June fifteenth, twenty twelve,
they had to have come to the US before turning sixteen,
they must have lived continuously in the US since June fifteenth,
o seven, and they needed to be in school, graduated,
or honorably discharged from the military. And also they had

(04:46):
to have had a clean criminal record. So if approved,
DOCA recipients, who are more commonly known as dreamers, received
protections from deportation for two years at a time, along
with a work permit and access to a Social SECUS
Purity number. And I also want to stress that just
because a person is a Dreamer, it doesn't mean that
they get a path to citizenship, but it is a lifeline. So,

(05:10):
like I just said a few moments ago, DOCCA was
never meant to be permanent. It was a legal stop gap,
or rather a band aid on a broken immigration system,
and it's been under legal attack ever since. So if
you're still following along on this podcast, yes, this is
Ramplify here at Victor Valley College by the Associated student

(05:30):
Body of VVC, and I really hope you are following
along because this is how we learn to curb misinformation
and disinformation on things like illegal immigration in certain aspects.
And in this case, we're focusing currently on DACA, but
following the timeline during President Trump's first administration, he moved
to end DACA in twenty seventeen, but the courts, they

(05:52):
push back, and in a landmark twenty twenty decision, the
Supreme Court ruled that the administration's attempt to rescind it
was arbitrary and capricious, which means impulsive and unpredictable. But
here's the thing. It didn't end the battle. It just
kicked the can back to Congress. So Trump even said
back then, it's up to Congress to fix this, so listen.

Speaker 5 (06:13):
But the only real solution is for Congress to close
the catch and release loopholes that have fueled the child
smuggling industry.

Speaker 1 (06:22):
But you see, Congress couldn't or wouldn't agree on a solution,
so we've been living in legal limbo. Here in the
United States ever since, and for Dreamers, every court hearing,
in every election feels like life or death. So let's
fast forward now twenty twenty five. DACA. Trump is now

(06:44):
in his second term, immigration is front and center again,
and while he hasn't officially laid out a new DACA
policy yet, Trump has gone on the record with NBC
News in a Meet the Press interview last year, where
he was asked if he wanted Dreamers to stay in
the country, he responded with I do.

Speaker 5 (07:02):
We're talking many years ago. They were brought into this
country many years ago. Some of them are no longer
young people, and in many cases they become successful. They
have great jobs. In some cases they have small businesses,
some cases they might have large businesses. And we're going
to have to do something with them, and you.

Speaker 6 (07:21):
Want them to be able to stay, that's what you're saying.

Speaker 5 (07:23):
I do. I want to be able to work something out,
and it should have been able to be worked out
over the last three or four years, and it never
got worked out.

Speaker 1 (07:31):
However, some of Trump's advisors, like his Deputy Chief of
Staff for Policy, Stephen Miller, has consistently floated proposals that
would drastically expand deportations even for those with protected statuses.
According to the National Immigration Forum, which is a nonprofit
that advocates for policies that welcome immigrants and refugees to
the US. And that brings us to today, My guests

(07:54):
agreed to talk, but only under a change name. She's
risking a lot by just having the conversation, but she
told me if I stay silent, then nothing ever changes.
So we're going to get into it. Joining us on
Ramplify today is Valerie. Hello, Valerie, how are you?

Speaker 6 (08:08):
Hello?

Speaker 7 (08:08):
I'm good.

Speaker 1 (08:09):
How are you pretty good? You're brave. I appreciate you
being here.

Speaker 6 (08:13):
Thank you.

Speaker 1 (08:14):
So I want to hear your story. How old are
you right now?

Speaker 6 (08:17):
I'm twenty years old?

Speaker 1 (08:18):
Twenty years old? Yes, that just seems just reading everything
that you know that you have to go through as
a as a dreamer, that's a lot of anxiety.

Speaker 6 (08:30):
Yeah, it's a lot to Carrie. I feel scared to
even go out to the store or I don't even
like letting my mom go out. I'd rather her stay
at home because that's where I know she's safe and
sound and no one can do anything to her there.

Speaker 1 (08:45):
Do you feel like that because you grew up or
you were born in Mexico, right, so you're Mexican. Right?

Speaker 6 (08:51):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (08:51):
Do you feel like is it just because of the
racial aspect too, Like because I look Mexican and I
am Mexican, people are automatically going to think I'm ill.
So I don't even want to go out because of that.

Speaker 6 (09:04):
Yeah, it's because of that. Like my mom she's even
darker than I am. She looks more Mexican than I do.
And I just know that people will look at her
skin color or look at me and they'll say, oh,
they're Mexican, and it's just one call that someone can make,
and the next thing I know, my life's changed. I
don't have my siblings with me. I'm not with my

(09:24):
mom anymore. It's scary how it just takes one phone
call or one person to see me.

Speaker 1 (09:30):
And because everything I'm assuming, but correct me if I'm wrong.
Because of how sensitive everything is right now politically in
our country, you feel like I'm more of a target
than ever before because of that.

Speaker 6 (09:43):
Yeah, I feel like there's more of a target on
all of us right now, not just me. I feel
like we're all being put in danger just for something
that's out of our control. I know that people came here.
They didn't come here wanting to commit a crime. They
came here wanting the best for their family. They wanted
a better future for them. They wanted to be able
to get education and not just to be stuck in

(10:06):
one place. So it sucks to see that we're being judged,
we're being looked at as criminals, but people aren't even
hearing our stories.

Speaker 1 (10:15):
I want to hear your story right now, and I
think everyone listening to this podcast wants to also. So
let's go back in time. Why did your mom bring
you here for a better life? Obviously that's the given.
Why did your mom bring you here to America? To
begin with? What was the situation back home in Mexico
that she said, you know what, I'm done, We're going
to America.

Speaker 6 (10:35):
Well, my mom she had me very young. She had
me at seventeen years old. Prior to that, at fifteen
years old, she moved out of her parents' home and
started living with my father, and that's when they had
me two years later. My father, though at the time,
he was not a good person. He was not a
healthy person to be around. He was constantly cheating on

(10:57):
my mother. He would go out to parties, he would
do alcohol, drugs, and I know for like, I know
as well that he was also abusive towards my mother,
like physically, yes, he was physically abusive towards her, and
he wouldn't even bother giving her any type of money.
A lot of the time she would struggle for me
to even have a bottle. So the only reason that

(11:18):
I got bottles, food, milk, anything was because of neighbors
or because of my grandma who would cook something and
bring it to her, or she would go over and
my grandma would give her like a whole pot of
food and she would bring it back home. That's the
only reason that I really had anything but my mom.
Regardless of that, my father was not a person to
lean on. So eventually, when I was two and a

(11:42):
half years old, she decided that it was time to leave,
that she needed to find a better place for me,
because at this time I didn't even have a birth certificate,
I didn't have any Mexican papers to my name because
my father never cared enough to go take me to
go get that done. So my mom decided to get
everything done. Thankfully, at the time, they had a program

(12:03):
where you could go get your birth certificate. Even if
you were born like two years prior, like, you could
still get it. So that's how I got mine, because
my mom went and she got all the paperwork done
and everything, and then she did tell my dad that
she was going to leave, but he didn't believe her.
He said that I'll see you in a week, because
I did have an aunt who would leave her husband

(12:24):
and come back a week later. So my dad just
believed that that's what would happen. He didn't fully understand
what was happening until he went to my grandma's house
and we were already gone. That's when it finally hit him. Oh,
they actually.

Speaker 1 (12:36):
Left, So your mom crosses the border, and like where
did she go? Well, sorry, your mom crosses the border
with you into America, And then where did you guys go?

Speaker 6 (12:48):
We came over here. We thankfully already had an aunt
living over here, so we lived with her for a while.
We didn't go out for a full year, I believe,
because my mom was also scared.

Speaker 1 (13:00):
Was that here in the high desert.

Speaker 6 (13:01):
Yes, I was here in the high destr Yeah. She
was terrified to go out, so we lived with my aunt.
We didn't leave anywhere for a whole year. I believe
by this time I.

Speaker 1 (13:11):
Was four, and you don't know any better. You're four.

Speaker 6 (13:15):
Yeah, So like time past, I was four years old.
I didn't go to preschool, but my mom did get
me everything I needed so that could start elementary and
that's when she started going out more. But it was
still kind of scary for her too.

Speaker 1 (13:26):
When did you start learning how to speak English?

Speaker 6 (13:29):
I learned how to speak English in kindergarten, okay, because
everybody around me was speaking this language. I know that
I was probably confused, but I started speaking English. I
started teaching my mom English that way as well, because
she would hear me talking, and so she started understanding
it as well through me.

Speaker 1 (13:46):
I want to ask you, at what point, growing up
in grade school did you like, like, was it clicking
I'm different than everybody else? Liked? Did that ever click like? Hey,
I'm like, I'm not an American? Like? Did that ever?
Did that ever cross your mind? Was there was there
a time where you ever questioned the situation? Was there

(14:08):
a time that your mom or your aunt had ever
brought it to your attention?

Speaker 6 (14:12):
Well, growing up, my mom always told me that I
was a Mexican, and she always let me know what
was going on, but I didn't fully understand it. I
didn't understand what she meant by it. It didn't really
come to me like, oh, you weren't born here, you're
not from here. You can't do things like everybody else
until I was maybe like starting high school. Okay, yeah,
So when I was a freshman, I wanted to start

(14:34):
helping my mom more. I wanted to start working because
I saw it was a big load on her and
my old stepdad. So I wanted to help. But I realized, oh,
you can't because you don't have a Social Security number.
You weren't born here, so there's nothing you can do.
Your family's struggling, but you can't do anything about it.

Speaker 1 (14:52):
So so when you were applying for jobs or you're
trying to hey, mom, what's my social Security number? How
did it? How did the truth come out?

Speaker 3 (15:02):
Well?

Speaker 6 (15:02):
I was I asked her questions about it, and then
she fully told me the whole situation. She explained to me, no, sweetie,
like we weren't born here, you don't have a social
Security number. I still didn't know the full story by then.
I didn't know why we left Mexico. I didn't know
how my dad was, but I like, she just explained

(15:23):
to me, like, you can't work in normal jobs like
other people. Maybe you can get jobs babysitting or walking dogs,
but a job at McDonald's isn't possible for you.

Speaker 1 (15:34):
So when it started to sync in, like how old
were you? And like how did you take in that information?
Like how did how did that make you feel? When
it finally started to hit you, Oh, I'm I'm illegal.

Speaker 6 (15:49):
Honestly, I felt a lot of anxiety. I believe I
was fourteen years old. I started feeling really scared for
my life.

Speaker 1 (15:56):
Were you starting to like the do the Google thing
where you're like, what happens if you know, I get
caught or the police picked me up?

Speaker 6 (16:05):
Yeah? So I did search up a lot of things,
and I saw what is detention centers look like? I
saw what would happen to me if I got caught
or if someone turned me in, And it ended up
terrifying me because in those centers, you're not allowed to
be with your family, you don't have space, You're with
a bunch of strangers that are in your same situation.

(16:27):
You don't even get a blanket. You don't get anything.
You're just crowded up together in a room. And I
saw that and it terrified me. And I was scared
because at this time I was a straight A student.
I was doing good in high school. I didn't have
any criminal record or anything. But it was in the
back of my mind. You're a dreamer, so people are

(16:48):
gonna judge you for that, and just because of that,
you could be taken away from your family.

Speaker 1 (16:53):
And it's hard because you're a kid, right, So because
your brain is not fully developed, you can't see the
bigger picture. So all you know is it's like, oh,
we're breaking the law. Oh my gosh, it could all
be over tomorrow.

Speaker 8 (17:07):
M hmm.

Speaker 3 (17:08):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (17:08):
I started getting that anxiety, but slowly things didn't seem
to be going crazy, so I kind of like let
it go at that time, and I started focusing more
on my school and I was in link leadership. I
did really well in that. I was doing events all
around my school and helping out, and so it kind

(17:29):
of like went to the back of my mind.

Speaker 1 (17:32):
Did you in your time in grade school before you
started to go to college, did you ever come across
fellow dreamers.

Speaker 6 (17:41):
I actually haven't yet, but I feel like that's because
people are scared to say that they are. Yeah, I
feel like, especially now in this time, you can't say
that you're a dreamer. You can't put that out there.
It's too scary too. Someone could overhear you and they
might be like, oh, I could get money out of
this and then expose you. So it's kind of hard
to trust people. You don't know who you can trust.

Speaker 1 (18:03):
Recently, there's there's been a lot of tension in here
in California with you know, the National Guard being sent
in and you know a lot of back and forth
with the state, you know, taking it to the courts,
and the courts ruling that you know, the president can
have the you know, control of the the National Guard
currently here in California, all stemming from immigration and ice,

(18:29):
you know, carrying out their job duties and stuff. When
you see things like that, knowing that currently you are
protected under DACA, does that still bring up the anxiety
of when you were younger and stuff? Does that does
that bring up those old those that that old those
anxious feelings that you used to have.

Speaker 6 (18:50):
Yeah, it does bring it back. And honestly, right now,
I feel like they're even worse. I'm even more scared
than I was when I was little. I feel like
I have to worry about simply going to the store.
I feel like I have to be paranoid and looking
at everybody seeing are you an agent? Are you gonna
take me away? When I'm driving, I feel like I
have to watch everybody, like, see everybody's car, see if

(19:13):
if I'm gonna if that's the day I'm gonna be
separated from my family. Right now, I don't even feel
like I can trust the police because I feel like,
you know, they might turn me into they might just
turn on me, and then I'm gonna go away and
I won't see my mom, I won't see my siblings,
and everything that I worked hard for is just gonna
go in the trash. And it just it feels really

(19:36):
scary right now. I have a lot of moments where
I'm just in my room and I'm crying my eyes out,
and I'll go to my mom. She tries her best
to calm me down and make me feel better, but
I just can't ignore what's going on. I can't pretend
like it's not happening.

Speaker 1 (19:53):
I want to ask you this because that's all valid.
Your feelings are one hundred percent valid what you're saying.
I guess I totally get what you're saying, and I
understand and I hear you one of the things, and
when you said police, I'm assuming you're meaning local law enforcement,
and in our case, it's the it's the it's it's
the sheriff's department. Correct. Yes, yes. So one of the
things local law enforcement in our area and in multiple

(20:16):
areas throughout the country and the state here in California
have said is that that they will not be involved
in any of these operations that the federal law enforcement
is carrying out. You know, But does that not mean
anything to you as a member or as somebody who
is DHAKA when like it? To me, that sounds like

(20:40):
you you still don't trust that. Like I like, if
I can be you for a second, I understand what
you're saying, local police. You're saying that, but I still
don't trust that.

Speaker 8 (20:51):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (20:52):
So I understand that, you know, they're saying that they
won't be involved, and to me, I appreciate that it
means a lot that they're you know, talking, but it's
just still kind of scary. Like, I don't know if
there's bad cops out there who you know. They say
they're not going to get involved, but then they call
ice and now I'm gonna be taken away. So I

(21:14):
understand it, I appreciate it, but it's really hard for
me to trust it right now, especially because I feel
super paranoid. I feel like a lot of anxiety. I
have spent so many moments since everything happened having panic attacks,
not being able to breathe, just like thinking about the
simple fact that I won't live here anymore and I

(21:36):
won't see my family. It makes me like panic.

Speaker 1 (21:40):
Yeah, it sounds like fear consumes a lot of well
you said the word paranoid, Like fear consumes a lot
of like what you're going through right now, and it's
really hard to make sense of stuff. And then here's
the thing, like, okay, like what if I am level
headed and what if I am trying to calm myself
down and then all of a sudden because of some

(22:01):
crazy miscommunication, which let's let's be real, there has been
a lot of miscommunication that has occurred in the last
several months. Out of everything that has been going on,
what if that miscommunication sends you away, right, so I
can totally understand, you know, the fear that you know
is feeling, you know, the constant anxiety in your life

(22:23):
for sure. Yeah.

Speaker 6 (22:24):
Yeah, I try to trust people, I mean me personally.
Growing up, I loved the police. I love them so much.
Every time I saw them, I would make my mom
take a picture of me with them, and I would
always ask them for stickers, whether it was the police
officers or firefighters. I always loved getting stickers from them
and having pictures. I believe my mom has a ton

(22:45):
of pictures of me with them. But now it's just
in my in the back of my mind. It's like,
can I can I still trust you? Are you gonna
help me? Or are you gonna break me down? So
it's kind of hard.

Speaker 1 (22:58):
Do you have siblings that are are they DOCA or
are they Are they here?

Speaker 6 (23:02):
They're born here, they're born they're born here again?

Speaker 1 (23:05):
So have they ever like, have you ever spoken to
them about your situation? Do they understand your situation? I'm
assuming they're younger than you know.

Speaker 6 (23:13):
Yeah, they're younger than me, but one of them could understand.
Not my two youngest. They can't really understand much yet.
But they still see it on social media when they're
playing on their tablets or when they're on their phone,
and they've asked me questions. I've answered to them like
what's going on, but they still don't fully understand that

(23:33):
the second youngest sibling could understand.

Speaker 1 (23:37):
And how old that one.

Speaker 6 (23:39):
He's sixteen, Okay, so.

Speaker 1 (23:41):
He's old enough to kind of understand like, hey, there's
something not right here going on. What do those conversations
sound like when when you speak to him.

Speaker 6 (23:52):
He's scared of getting his mom taken away and his
older sister. And I've told him many times that I'd
rather it be me taken away than my mother because
in my head, they need her. I remember when I
was their ages, I really needed my mother, and so
I've said multiple times, if someone has to go, it's

(24:12):
gonna be me. I'm not gonna let them take her away.
And I'm not gonna let them rob my siblings of
having a mother. They already don't have their bio dad.
I'm not gonna let them be robbed of their mother.
So I've told him it's it's gonna have to be me.
I've told my mom that too, and they always will
tell me. Like, no, they need you just as much

(24:35):
and you're just as important. But if I had to
pick it, would it would be me. So those conversations
are a little hard to have and they get very emotional.

Speaker 1 (24:45):
Yeah I can tell yeah, you.

Speaker 6 (24:47):
Just have to. It's hard because I feel like I
have to prepare for what might happen, even if it
doesn't happen, but I feel like I still have to
be prepared. I've gotten to that point where I'm so
scared that I've been writing goodbye letters to my loved
ones because I don't know if I'm gonna get the
chance to say by. And a lot of people I

(25:08):
see haven't gotten that opportunity. They don't get to say bye.
They just get taken away. So I've gotten to that
point where I'm writing goodbye letters to all my family,
my friends, just in case I don't get to say bye,
they have something from me.

Speaker 1 (25:24):
I'm a huge advocate, like for mental health, Like do
you do you have somebody that like you you talk
to like like I guess therapy or a counselor, or
somebody that that's outside of your situation that you always
confide in that you know knows your situation. You know,
so you can talk to like a sounding board. I guess.

Speaker 6 (25:45):
Yeah, So I don't have a therapist right now. I did.
I did try that route, but that person ended up
prescribing me a lot of medications that just messed me up.

Speaker 1 (25:55):
That's a psychiatrist, not a psychologist.

Speaker 6 (25:59):
Yeah. Yeah. I talked to him and he said that
he would get me a therapist, but that never happened.
I never received anything in the mill like he said
I would. Instead, he gave me a lot of medicine,
but it just made me worse, Like I could tell
it was making me worse. Right now, I do confide
a lot in my boyfriend. I tell him everything I

(26:21):
feel like. Mentally, I'm doing better than the beginning. But
in the beginning it was a lot more scary, a
lot worse, and a lot more panic attacks because I'm worried.
It's just that constant worry that I might be taken
away from my family.

Speaker 1 (26:39):
What resources do people that are DACA have available to
them that they can you know they can go to
that are in your situation similar to yours.

Speaker 6 (26:53):
Well, I know that we could go to therapists through
our medical if you have medical I know that I
got it because my mom. When I first came here,
they had a program going on for dreamers, and my
mom will signed me up for that right away so
that I would have some sort of healthcare. I know
that you can get a therapist through them, but you're

(27:14):
it's unsure like how much they're going to cover. So
I do know about that, but I'm not sure about
anything else.

Speaker 1 (27:21):
Okay, all right, what are your what are your aspirations
after you graduate? Like what is it like, what is
it that you want to do, like, you know, career wise.

Speaker 6 (27:32):
I want to be a teacher after I graduate. I
want to go to cal State Samernardino to continue my education.

Speaker 1 (27:41):
I what what grade? What grade is it that you
want to teach?

Speaker 6 (27:44):
So at first I was thinking of teaching five year olds,
but then.

Speaker 1 (27:48):
That's that's a rough, rough crowd.

Speaker 6 (27:50):
Yeah, I think it'll be fun. But I also was
thinking about teaching two to three year olds.

Speaker 1 (27:55):
Because rougher crowd. Yeah.

Speaker 6 (27:57):
But I got the opportunity to here on campus to
have my practicum class for child development and I was
put into the two to three year old classroom and
it was actually really fun. I loved every moment of it.
It was like twelve, two to three years old. But
they were they were fun, they were energetic. It was
really easy for me to to talk to them and

(28:20):
to like teach them because you also get the opportunity
to make activities. And for me, it felt easy. It
just felt like something I can do.

Speaker 1 (28:30):
For those in your situation that are dreamers that are
going through the situation, or for those that are listening
to this podcast right now that maybe no dreamers or
have dreamers in their in their families. You know, what,
what can you tell them? What like from your own
personal experience, what what can you tell them, you know,

(28:51):
to to give them advice or you know, maybe connect
with them to to kind of ease their situation.

Speaker 6 (29:00):
Well, I would say just be there for them, support them.
But one thing for me that has been a little
hard is my friends and family have constantly been sending
me these pictures of oh, Ice was here, Ice was here,
And I understand they're doing it out of a good place,
but sometimes, like if it's not confirmed that it was

(29:21):
really them, I think it's better not to send it
to that person because for me, what it's been doing,
it's just been causing me a lot more anxiety. And
Ice might have not actually been there. A lot of
the photos I've seen, Ice wasn't really there. It was
just other people, like undercover cops or police, just doing
their job. And people will say it's Ice. So you know,

(29:44):
if you're going to send them that information, just confirm
that it's real. Confirm that it's actually happening.

Speaker 1 (29:50):
So that way you don't send misinformation or disinformation.

Speaker 6 (29:54):
Yeah, that way you don't send misinformation and you don't
make your friend or family member freak out and start
panicking and have more anxiety because a lot of the
things I've seen that they're here in Victorville, and one
of them came out to not be true, and it
just caused me a lot of anxiety. I didn't even

(30:15):
want to come out for a long time. I didn't
want to go shopping. I was stuck at home. I
just stayed there.

Speaker 1 (30:23):
It's part of the reason why, you know, I wanted
to do this podcast, even though even though I'm no
longer in my capacity currently doing news anymore here in
southern California. One of the things and I had left
right around the time that you know, a lot of
the immigration things started to kind of heat up around here.
You know, I would get leads and I put quotes

(30:43):
around that all the time, like oh this is happening.
And one of the things I would say, it's like, hey, okay, great,
give me some proof if you can physically get me
the proof that shows that everybody has a video camera
now right, it's in the phone. Yeah, give me the proof.
Show show me the bulletproof vest that say ICE or

(31:04):
Homeland security. Show me that you know they all have zooms.
You don't have to be right there, you'd be across
the street, But show me that. Because people will post
videos all the time, they post them on social TikTok
it's tick cram Facebook. Everybody does this. I noticed people
don't do that. They don't send the videos because they

(31:25):
don't exist.

Speaker 6 (31:26):
Yeah, they'll just take a picture of someone driving their
car and they'll be like, oh, Ice was spotted on
this street.

Speaker 1 (31:31):
And it's like, okay, well, then there's no story here.
And I'm the first one, and I've had these conversations
like off the record with local law enforcement. They know
me very well, like I'm the first one to sit
there and call this out and then go to the
authorities to question him for a story. I'll be the
first to do it. But I can't do a story

(31:53):
if I don't have the hard proof. If I don't
have the hard proof, there's no story. And what I
find out none nine point ninety nine percent of the
time out of one hundred percent, there's usually there's usually
nothing happening, Yeah, because there's no proof and that and
that's what it comes down to. It's like, I know
everybody has cameras. You can take pictures. I can. I

(32:16):
can justify if if the proof is there. But if
you don't have the proof, you're you're just you're just
typing words. Yeah, you're just typing words, and you're just
making stuff up, you know, And maybe it really did happen.
But if you're not gonna be able to show proof,
there's there's no story here. So and and I and
I think there's a lot to what you just said yourself.
Somebody who is DAKA like, don't post something, don't don't

(32:41):
post unmarked vehicles of a possible law enforcement operation and
and call it ICE when it's maybe when maybe it's not.
Because for in your situation, that's just gonna cause a
lot of anxiety, especially if it's not ICE.

Speaker 6 (32:57):
Yeah, it has caused me a lot of anxiety and
just seeing these posts floating around, like I understand, people
have good intentions. I understand, but you're causing so much anxiety,
so many panic attacks, so many things, and you don't
really know if it's actually them. My mom talked to me,

(33:17):
and because I was having a lot of panic attacks
and I was in my head a lot, she talked
to me and she told me that I can't just
believe everything I see on the internet because it might
not be real. And she's actually the strongest woman I know,
because with everything going on right now, she has her
head held high. I haven't seen her, you know, get
in her head about it. She's been helping me a

(33:39):
whole bunch. She's been my support system. And seeing how
strong she is and how she's facing this head on,
even though it's something that terrifies her, like it gives
me the inspiration to keep going and keep fighting this.
And I wish people would just hear your story more,
understand more about how you were in your childhood, what

(34:01):
happened in your childhood, how how did you react to
these things. I'm being viewed as a criminal, but I'm
not even a criminal. I'm just a student. I'm just
trying my best. I'm a daughter, I'm a sister. I'm
doing the very best that I can to be better
than those before me and my mom she did. She

(34:23):
had this really big sacrifice that she did. That's what
it was to me. It was a really big sacrifice.
It's not a crime.

Speaker 1 (34:30):
Have since all this, since all this immigration stuff has
been you know, happening and kind of been at the
forefront of like top stories you know in the media recently,
have have have you been not you specifically, but you
in general have been targeted? Like have have have people
said things to you, like you know, racial things like

(34:53):
verbal I guess verbally attacked, you know, have said things
to you to insult you.

Speaker 6 (34:59):
There was a person before I already blocked her and everything,
but she found out that I'm a DACA student through
her boyfriend who was my ex and she went through
our messages. So she found all that out, and next
thing I know, she's calling me a piece of trash.
You know, she was calling me a piece of shit.
She was saying I wasn't worth living. And then I

(35:22):
responded and I said, Okay, I don't understand where your
hate is coming from because I don't even know you.
But I told her, like, leave me alone, and she
was like, oh, do you want some papers? Like I'll
go give that to you, but sarcastically, like very rudely,
and then I kind of told her to fuck off
and blocked her.

Speaker 1 (35:39):
Where do you think because listening you're very mature for
your age. I think that's just obvious listening to this
conversation with you, Where do you think that that type
of hate comes from? Like where do you think you know,
going straight there, like you know papers or whatever, Like

(36:00):
why do you think? Why do you think that's where
the insults come from? Like I just why is it
so easy to just attack that aspect of who you
are as a person.

Speaker 6 (36:10):
I think it's a lot of misinformation. A lot of
people are just throwing out there that Mexicans are criminals.
You know, if you have brown skin, you're judged. And
a lot of people are out there just throwing, oh,
don't trust her because she's Mexicans, she's gonna do this
and that, and they're just telling lies. They're not trying
to get to know you as a person. They just
see your skin color and you're automatically a terrible person

(36:33):
because of people in the past, history wise people in
the past, what they've done to Mexicans, what they've made
us look like. There's like a lot of misinformation, there's
stuff missing from history, and you just get judged. It's
just a lot of people throwing out rumors and nobody
gets to actually know your story, know where you come from.

(36:57):
Why did you make that decision to cross the border.
Nobody gets to know that. It's just you cross the border. Okay,
you're a criminal.

Speaker 1 (37:05):
That's it, all right, Valerie. I want to thank you
so much for sitting down and spending some time with
us today to tell your story and to kind of
give us a little insight and a little perception on
where DACA is in this country and how somebody, a

(37:27):
young person is kind of navigating this world that we're
in right now with illegal immigration, and how the country
is taking it all in. So I just want to
thank you for doing that here with us today on Ramplify.
Thank you so much.

Speaker 6 (37:42):
Yeah, thank you for having me. I feel good that
I'm able to use my voice. I really wanted to
come on today to talk for all of us who
are too scared to for everybody who's just hiding at home.
I just wanted to use my voice for something good.

Speaker 1 (37:56):
The ram fam is behind you. Just know that okay, yeah,
thank you.

Speaker 3 (38:02):
Is raptifying, the vol Cost Act, Victor Value College Victoral.

Speaker 1 (38:08):
So what does it mean to be invisible? Because for
some students it means staying silent about who they love
or how they identify. And for others, it means navigating
college while being told they don't belong here at all
because of where they were born. So, according to the
Human Rights Campaigns twenty twenty three, youth report more than

(38:29):
fifty percent, so half of LGBTQ plus youth reported being
bullied at school and nearly one in three considered dropping
out because of the harassment that they faced. That's according
once again to the Human Rights campaign Meanwhile, for undocumented
and DAKA students, the barriers to higher education are just
as real and just as heavy because over four hundred

(38:51):
and eight thousand, four hundred and eight thousand, think about
that number of undocumented students are currently enrolled in colleges
and universities across the nation. That makes up nearly one
point nine percent, almost two percent of all college students.
According to the American Immigration Council. But here's a catch.
You see, only five to ten percent of undocumented high

(39:13):
school graduates actually even make it to college. Did you
know that? Because I didn't. And of those who do,
only thirteen percent will complete an associates or bachelor's degree.
And let's not forget that the financial gap. Right, most
undocumented students, even those with DACA status, they just don't
qualify for federal student aid. That means that they're often

(39:36):
left juggling multiple jobs, navigating stress, and fighting to stay
enrolled without access to the resources that their peers usually
take for granted. Let's be real. But here at Victor
Valley College, Liz Dewarding she's doing something about it. She
serves as the director of Tutoring and Academic Support at

(39:56):
VVC and her newly created scholarship, which is be Yourself Scholarship.
It's not just about helping students pay for school, no,
you see, it's about seeing them specifically. I want to
emphasize that seeing them, like visibly seeing them students who've
had to hide who they are just to stay safe,
or who've lived in the shadows due to their documentation status,

(40:20):
or yes, I think I said that right documentation status. Yes,
sometimes I get my words messed up. The scholarship is
a declaration. It basically is you belong here. So today,
on this particular portion of Ramplify, we're gonna sit down
with Liz d'wharty to talk about turning all of that
into action and how one person's vision is helping some

(40:41):
of the most marginalized students finally be seen, supported, and
empowered to thrive. Joining me here is Liz Dwarty. Thank you.
How are you can speak in the mic?

Speaker 8 (40:51):
It's okay, great, Thank you so much Andrew for having me.

Speaker 1 (40:54):
Yes, I'm going to just put on blast here something
that you sent to me in an email about the
scholarship because there's passion in what you wrote me. Here.
You wrote, one thing that affects our campus and our
students and nationally is is the invisible individual and that's
due to their immigration status and as you said, historically

(41:15):
marginalized social stigma like the LGBTQ plus community. You said
to me that this scholarship is for students who have
been invisible to society for various reasons, to protect themselves
from hate or bullying and harassment because they choose to
be different and identify according to who they are as
a person, and that this scholarship is a step forward

(41:37):
to creating a sense of belonging for these students and
also it provides support for their needs to thrive with
educational expenses towards their personal and professional goals. So you
were just sitting there one day and just said that
something's got to be done, like walk me through this. Sure.

Speaker 8 (41:53):
Absolutely, I've been part of the VBC family already going
on twenty years. I am a manager and in my
leadership always look for opportunities to support our students with
the team, and of course I'm involved in the community
and on campus with various committees and also various workforce
you know organizations. And as I continue to work with

(42:16):
the foundation and also wanting to be a funder, I
thought to myself, where is the highest need right now
especially with our country with society, and something that keeps
coming up not only in the classroom because I also
teach the tutor training course and the students that I
serve in tutoring academic support with my team is our

(42:38):
LGTBQ populations and also our immigrant populations. I mean I
had a student and walk up to me about two
weeks ago, you know, asked me about tutoring and becoming
a tutor. But then towards the end, very confidentially said
I don't have a Social Security card and I thought.

Speaker 1 (42:54):
Wow, so they were an illegal status.

Speaker 8 (42:56):
Yes, right, the status. So I cannot pay that student.
We can hire that student that way. But then I thought,
you know what, it's time to create a scholarship. I've
been approached by Will Smith from the Pride Center here
on campus and also other uh you know transgender students
that you know have that invisible status that want to
be seen, and I want to be better of creating

(43:16):
a culture of sense of belonging and safety.

Speaker 1 (43:19):
I'm also an ally.

Speaker 8 (43:20):
I turned the Pride of training with Jane Montgomery, which
I am very grateful for. And if we are not
doing enough, if I'm not doing enough as a leader
on campus for students, I want to make sure that
I am. So I went ahead and I met with
Will Smith and Ari, who's one of our transgender students
on campus, Black transgender students, and Ari came up with

(43:40):
the name and it's the Be Yourself Scholarship, and so
that is created now through the Foundation. Irene in the
Foundation office helped me with that, and students will be
able to apply if they're an immigrant, you know, DACA
dreamer AB five forty coming from the high school and
also part of our LGTBQ community. So we want to
make sure we support these students that have been historically

(44:02):
invisible to be seen. They're here with us, we're here together,
and we need to make sure that they're thriving also
personally professionally to meet their career goals.

Speaker 1 (44:10):
That's very bold, you know. And I haven't done research
into other community colleges, you know here in California to
see who has maybe adopted something similar as far as
their respected foundations go. But yeah, I think the ever
evolving community that is the High Desert, right. I think
post COVID, a lot of people started moving up here.

(44:32):
You know, there was a huge increase of people from
all over, mostly Southern California, you know, as we say
down the Hill, you know, the Inland Empire, the Los
Angeles area moving up here. And with that comes different cultures,
different backgrounds, right, whether it's an illegal status or are
not illegal status. In my time in show business in

(44:53):
LA I learned very quickly. It's a melting pot. And
maybe this is you know, premature of me to say,
but I do believe that with today's youth here up
in the high Desert, that it's starting to become its
own melting pot. Is that fair to say? Absolutely?

Speaker 8 (45:08):
I totally agree. And you know me working also historically
with our pre college to college students. A story that
I shared with ASP about a day ago with one
of our former students. He also was an immigrant and
then he was able to gain a residency status and
then went off to became a citizen and then served
our country. And this is somebody that came from Columbia
where there was cartels, his family came to the United

(45:30):
States for that American dream.

Speaker 1 (45:32):
Alm.

Speaker 8 (45:33):
Yes, BBC alum, he actually has come and been one
of our speakers here for our students for TRIO and
then former Hispora High school alumni as well. And then
he's part of our LGTBQ community and he is currently
serving and leading a fellowship program in Harvard. And he
graduated from American University, which again this is somebody that's

(45:55):
coming out of their comfort zone, coming from that low
income background, first generation and earning that degree and now
serving the community. He started his own nonprofit on Capitol Hill.
It's called pay Our Interns. So making sure that students
who are wanting to go into the political realm and
government are a public administration that they are also getting

(46:16):
paid for their hours that they're putting into their careers.

Speaker 1 (46:19):
That's pretty special, you know, And I think people don't
realize that's the magnitude of the doors we open and
the floodgates that also open when you become a student
here at the college, is that we try and build
opportunities for you. And you're extending that all of branch
even further by now trying to reach the LGBTQ plus

(46:41):
community with the scholarship as well as undocumented and DACAS students,
providing them extra access to funds to help feel whatever
possibilities or opportunities they want to pursue here, whether it's
at the college or beyond once they leave here.

Speaker 6 (46:57):
Oh.

Speaker 8 (46:57):
Absolutely. You know what's interesting about a meeting today is
that he gave me a call this morning. He gave
me a call. I told him about this. He goes, Wow,
that's amazing. So now he's like, you got to come
visit me at Harvard and I said, you know what,
I'm going to make that way.

Speaker 1 (47:08):
But he's at Harvard. Yes, he teaches at Harvard.

Speaker 8 (47:11):
Or he's he's leading a fellowship program wow for students.

Speaker 6 (47:15):
Yes.

Speaker 8 (47:15):
So so he's telling me.

Speaker 1 (47:17):
You know what, I got to get him on the podcast.

Speaker 8 (47:19):
Yes, you do, so you have to but talk to
him today. So I said, you're an inspiration and then
I get this you know podcast with you, So you're
an inspiration to Andrews.

Speaker 1 (47:26):
So thank you for stop it. Stop it. I'm a
hard I'm a hard cookie. So I don't know, Haley.
Is that is that what they say? Hard cookie?

Speaker 8 (47:35):
Haley? My favorite day is be president?

Speaker 5 (47:38):
Wait?

Speaker 1 (47:38):
Hold on, I have to understand the lingo here? Is
it hard cookie?

Speaker 8 (47:41):
Smart cookie?

Speaker 1 (47:42):
I'm a smart cookie? Yeah, but I got like tough skin.

Speaker 8 (47:45):
Like smart harde.

Speaker 1 (47:47):
It took you guys like six months to adjust to
my personality. I have to say when I've never she said,
fortune cookie, you never know. You never know what you're
gonna get when you crack me Outen.

Speaker 8 (47:58):
When I first met you, I was like, whoa, where's and.

Speaker 1 (48:00):
How did you get here?

Speaker 8 (48:01):
And then when I found out you're starting like, oh
makes sense. So now I love it.

Speaker 1 (48:05):
Oh well, thank you so hey. I want to say
thank you so much for coming on the podcast to
talk about these these topics that become very conservative. No,
let's not talk about that taboo type of issues like
LGBTQ plus and and the rights and and illegal immigration
and stuff. But these are these are the issues of
today's world that we live in. Absolutely so it has

(48:27):
to be at the forefront. It has to be discussed
because if we don't talk about what's going on, how
is there supposed to be changed? How is there supposed
to be evolution? And by you sitting here just discussing
what we're doing at the college in a little way
to help our immediate community, that makes all the difference.

Speaker 8 (48:44):
Yes, and I appreciate being here. I think for me
this is a step further to creating that safe space
that you mentioned, because even for me as a leader,
I think, like, how can I take it a step further?
Because they are invisible, they want to be seen. We
have to create that sense of belonging. Too many years
have been where you know, we don't want to talk
about it, and I don't want to be that person
not talking about it. They say that when you are
in a leadership position. You know you're there as an advocate.

(49:06):
You got to advocate for those underrepresented populations in our students.
And you know we're here together.

Speaker 3 (49:13):
This is the volcast at Victor Valley College. Victor Valley College.

Speaker 1 (49:21):
I'm here with VBC student Yasmine arna ut Is how
you pronounced the last name? Yeah, all right, she's uh.
You're on a SB also, right, yes, student services senator. Yes,
all right, you're also a veteran of the US military. Yes, yeah,
thank you for your service. By the way, I wanted

(49:42):
to talk to you about what we're doing here on
this episode because you have some experience with immigration yourself
in life. I ended up doing some research on an
educator California Community Colleges System Esther Vegas Sandoval from College
of the Sequoias sociology professor and researcher. She did a

(50:05):
PowerPoint a while ago earlier this year. Not a mental
health professional, just wanted to get that clear, just a
sociology professor and researcher about undocumented students. She also specializes
in the LGBTQI plus community, but we want to focus

(50:26):
a little more heavily on undocumented students for the sake
of this special episode, Being undocumented can be or feel
like a secret is one of the things that she
had mentioned in this PowerPoint that she had done at
a fellow community college. She talks about disclosure. She says
that disclosure is the act of giving someone new or

(50:49):
secret information. It entails revealing such information and thus making
it known. She says that things to keep in mind,
disclosure can be enabling, helpful, and constraining given present challenges
and barriers. She talks about fear, like rejection, and complexities.
She says that fear can encourage and discourage disclosure, you know,

(51:12):
like some try to overcome or reject fear by coming
out talking about, you know, being an undocumented student. I
just learned recently. Actually I was corrected by several people.
And I'm sure that in this episode up to this point,
I may have probably disrespected some people by using the
words illegal immigration when in reality undocumented is the words

(51:36):
that I probably politically correctness should have been using. But again,
in this time that we're in, you know, we're so
there's a learning curve and try to trying to learn
what we should be saying versus what we have been saying.
Going back to what she was talking about shared vulnerabilities. Regardless,
undocumented students are bound by their experiences with illegality. Shared

(52:00):
vulnerabilities include limited ability or inability to work legally, seek internships, travel,
pursue graduate school, limited access to financial aid and or
economic stability, risk of deportation for self and others, bullying, exploitation, harassment, discrimination, stress,
and trauma. We'll get to that a little later. Yeas me,

(52:21):
I talked a little bit with you about this before
I invited you to come onto the podcast, and I
appreciate it. Thank you so much. What kind of experience
do you have about immigration because you were you were
born in a different country, right, No, No, no, my parent,
I'm sorry your parents.

Speaker 7 (52:38):
Right.

Speaker 1 (52:38):
See, I have done so many interviews recently, so your
parents tell me a little bit about your immigration experience.

Speaker 7 (52:45):
So my parents both came from different countries, and my
dad immigrated from Lebanon and my mom immigrated from Mexico.
My father applied for citizenship and kind of waited and
came here when he was granted citizenship, and my mother,

(53:07):
on the other hand, just kind of came and she
didn't have papers, so my dad helped her.

Speaker 1 (53:14):
When she came Like was it like on a boat plane?
Like just walked across, Like do you know her story?

Speaker 7 (53:21):
Yeah? They so, my mom's like from Cooleema, Mexico and
she was just brought up in poverty. So they, I
guess pretty much like snuck over, walked on foot and
landed in California.

Speaker 1 (53:39):
How long was she here before she was able to
get all of her information sorted out? Do you know?

Speaker 7 (53:45):
It took almost ten years?

Speaker 1 (53:47):
Wow for her. You ever have those conversations with your mom, like,
you know, was there ever a fear during that era
in her life when she was here? You know? And
it wasn't it was an a legal situation. Wasn't a
legal situation for her?

Speaker 7 (54:04):
Well, I've I've reached out to like other family members
and they kind of went through very similar you know,
because they all came together. So they're definitely is fear.
They just laid low.

Speaker 1 (54:17):
And I'm assuming, like so many before your mom and
after your mom coming for a better life, was she
trying to run away from something that was threatening or
was it just she she she wanted to just start over.

Speaker 7 (54:31):
Uh. I think it's a mixture of all of that.
I know, she just had it really hard out there,
so she was just looking for opportunity, trying to better herself.

Speaker 1 (54:45):
Brother sisters or are you an only child?

Speaker 7 (54:47):
I am an only child from my parents.

Speaker 1 (54:50):
So you were the favorite something like that. Something like that. Yeah,
I want to stress in trauma. That's something else I
wanted to talk about, and we're going to to that
here a little bit. As far as he shared, vulnerabilities
go terms and identities for undocumented immigrants, they don't have

(55:10):
legal authorizations to live or work in the United States.
What did your mom do for those like ten years,
Like as far as work goes, when like, do you
know what she was doing to try and make money
and make a living.

Speaker 7 (55:23):
Well, my dad was you know, he kind of kept
us afloat and she would do little side jobs for cash,
like babysitting.

Speaker 1 (55:36):
Under the table. Yeah stuff. Yeah, and.

Speaker 7 (55:41):
For the most part, he kept her head above the water.
We'll see.

Speaker 1 (55:46):
Yeah, all right, that stress and trauma that I mentioned
just moments ago, I just learned this looking at this
this PowerPoint that stress. Stress is not equal to trauma
and trauma is not equal to PTSD. You see stress,
According to this PowerPoint by this educator, esther Viegas Sandoval

(56:13):
from College of the Sequoias, who is so kind to
give us permission to discuss this for the podcast. Stress
is a physical or mental, or rather emotional response. It
typically is to a change or a difficult, challenging, difficult
or challenging situation. Stress is often defined as experiencing a
state of worry or tension and trauma. Trauma is not

(56:37):
the specific event, condition, or circumstances. It is the individual's
response to these things and the lasting effects on the
human body. It results from stress that overwhelms our ability
to cope. I don't know about you, but I feel
like I've had my fair share of stress or trauma. Personally,

(56:57):
I can't relate to an undocumented immigration, but I feel
like I've experienced my fair share of stressor trauma myself.
You smile at me, like like you can relate.

Speaker 7 (57:10):
Yeah, definitely on the stress and trauma. I know. Like
for my parents, it was challenging. My mom didn't speak
any other language but Spanish, and my dad spoke a
few different languages, but there was a learning curb. So
even when he would like find employment and he was

(57:32):
doing okay, there was always you know, that communication barrier,
or sometimes people would just judge him just by the
way he looked without even really giving him a chance
to like show what he was about.

Speaker 1 (57:46):
Yeah, that always makes it tough. Just what's that cliche?
You can never judge a book by its cover, but
yet people judge a book by its cover, right?

Speaker 7 (57:56):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (57:58):
Post migration stressors. So like in your case, like your
father migrated here right and did it the right way?
Culture shock still right, Differences in language which you literally
just said, money, norms and even weather, Feeling unwelcome and unwanted,

(58:18):
Reduction in size and quality of social network or support.
That's a feeling of stress. Immigrants can recognize bias and
stigmas immediately after arriving, feelings of isolation and prevent them
from seeking services or support. Limited employment opportunities that also
includes educational opportunities, and witnessing a violence and discrimination. How

(58:42):
long would you say, like when your parents came here
before they were able to kind of adjust to society
and things started to kind of normalize for them.

Speaker 7 (58:53):
I think my dad was able to bounce back and
kind of like learn how to adjust quicker than my
mom because he learned English. My dad left Lebanon because
of civil war, like back in nineteen seventy five, I
want to say, And so he had to go to

(59:13):
a different country while he was filing for citizenship and waited.
So when he was approved, then he came to the US.
But it wasn't automatically and it was a process, and
you know, he had his own family, so he helped
his whole family come to the US. For my mom,

(59:34):
it was more just like she was like fleeing, like
they just they were not in a good area. They
were seeking opportunity, you know, a second chance. So for her,
her stress was so for her go ahead, her stress
was definitely apparent because she didn't really to this day,

(59:58):
she doesn't really speak English very well. So it's just
the stress is there. You can tell when you know
she has to explain what she's doing or if she
needs something. It's if someone doesn't speak or understand Spanish,
there's a huge hurdle there.

Speaker 1 (01:00:19):
I want to talk to you about your position as
Student Services senator. You have it's it's a very broad,
very broad, uh position, very outgoing. So have you have
you come across any any students that may be in
an immigration type of situation or status here at the college.

(01:00:42):
Have you had any of those face to face or
one on one conversations or interactions, and if so, have
you been able to understand or hear their needs? And
is there anything that you're you're able to share with
us here on the podcast as far as like what
that what that looks like from your stance as a
student trying to help other students you're on campus.

Speaker 7 (01:01:02):
Uh, with like peer to peer? Yeah, yeah, definitely. You know,
it's just it's understanding like what resources are available and
to like not be afraid of them, because sometimes people
feel like it's a trap. It's like, oh, you're telling
me you know this is here for me, but it's
you know, are you going to call someone to pick
me up? Like what is it really? So it's just

(01:01:27):
reassuring like nobody's doing that here. It's just whatever info
you need or help, let's try to plug you into
those resources and keep you motivated and focused to you know,
whether you're working on your citizenship or whatever. It is,
just to keep them motivated.

Speaker 1 (01:01:50):
Very good. If anybody's listening to this podcast here in
the twenty twenty five twenty twenty six VBC school year,
who would like to reach out to you, you know,
regarding services and stuff. What is your student email so
they could maybe connect with you.

Speaker 7 (01:02:08):
Yeah, so my student is y As M E e
J nine nine sixty six. Uh student dot VBC dot edu.

Speaker 1 (01:02:19):
Yeah, as mean, thank you so much for being brave
enough to come to the podcast today and share a
little bit about your life and talking and elaborating a
little about undocumented status here in the country with us,
since that is one of the conversations that's happening right now.
Thank you so much, Thank you for having me Rampified.

Speaker 2 (01:02:39):
The podcast is film and recorded in Viduo, California. This
podcast makes possible with the support of the Associated Student
Body of Victor Valley College. The views and opinions expressed
in this production are those of the speakers and do
not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Victor Vallet
College or its affiliates. Ramplified is hosted by Andrew Caravella
and produced by Robert Aswool. The production crew include fod's

(01:03:00):
officers of the Social Student Body for the twenty twenty
five twenty twenty six academic here. Rampify Season two gives
special thanks to our sponsors, Victoria Cadillac vvc's Voting Department,
Joe and Cinney, Monty and Jacobovitzcara podcast audio distribution made
possible by KVVB Television. Additional sponsor that made possible through

(01:03:20):
Lowe's home improvement in Victoria. I'm Social Science Senator Seth Caveo.
For more information about this podcast, please contact info at
VVC dot vu.

Speaker 1 (01:03:36):
Support for Ramplify comes from Victorville Cadillac, offering new and
pre owned Cadillac vehicles with financing options including pre approval available.
More information about Victorville Cadillac's latest inventory is at vvcadillac
dot com