UndocuQueer Conference/Issues in the Intersections
Policy and Advocacy Region V Region V
October 6, 2017
With President Trump rescinding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, those who are undocumented and queer are in a precarious position. DACA was enacted under President Obama for those who immigrated to the United States as children. Through DACA, they could finally work and also, stave off deportation. Now Trump is stopping the program. By stopping the program, DACA recipients may be faced with deportation to a country they have never known, and also a place that is homophobic and/or transphobic.
Of the 800,000 recipients of DACA, it is estimated that 75,000 identify in some way with the LGBTQ+ community. Additionally, Jessica Prois’s (2017) explores these intersections in her article, “When You’re Queer and Undocumented, the DACA Stakes are Higher.” One of her interviewees stated he would be worried about going back to South Korea because he would have to serve in the military and the military expressly prohibits same-sex acts.
These intersections are the focus of a drive in conference in Pullman, Washington. The UndocuQueer Conference aims to highlight those in these parlous positions. As higher education administrators we have to educate ourselves on these intersections, because our students are neither queer nor undocumented in a vacuum. In addition, holding one of these identities tends to erase the other one. In other words when a person is queer, it is not assumed that they may be undocumented and vice versa.
If you want to learn more, you are invited to attend the UndocuQueer Conference on Saturday, October 14th in Pullman. More information can be found at http://undocuqueer.wsu.edu! If you cannot attend, there are a few resources below that can assist you in learning more.
Resources:
Equality Archive: https://equalityarchive.com/issues/undocuqueer-movement/
Prois, J. (2017, September 8). http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/asian-queer-immigrant-daca_us_59b19e84e4b0b5e53104c574
United We Dream: https://unitedwedream.org/about/projects/quip/