On Thursday, Jan. 25, eight students from the University of California, Riverside (UCR) attended the University of California (UC) Regents meeting to support Regents Policy 4407: Policy on Equitable Student Employment Opportunities. During the meeting, Regents Policy 4407, which would provide equal employment opportunities for undocumented students, was suspended by the Regents Board for a year. In attendance from the UCR community was Providing Opportunities, Dreams and Education in Riverside (PODER) and Associated Students of the University of California, Riverside’s (ASUCR) External Affairs.
Emmanuel Aguilar-Ampudia, Co-President of PODER, explained how PODER members were made aware of the addition of Regents Policy 4407 to the Regent’s agenda. Aguilar-Ampudia stated that an emergency Opportunities for All (OFA) meeting on Thursday night was called when news came that Regents Policy 4407 had been added. Despite this last minute addition, they claim that no public announcement was made. Ampudia explains, “the whole UC student association [External branches] … didn’t know until [ASUCR Vice President of External Affairs] Ángel [Rentería] told all of them.” Quick discussions of what to do next ensued within the organization. Five PODER members were able to receive flights from ASUCR External to attend the UC Regents meeting, landing Wednesday morning in San Francisco.
Once in San Francisco, Maria Hernandez Brambila, Co-President of PODER, highlighted the sense of unity she felt with other UC students. “We made a lot of connections in regards to undocumented students from all 10 campuses … that were able to make the drive.”
Mario Arce Acosta, Treasurer of PODER, also shared his experience. “The room for the UC Regents meeting was charged with emotion on the students’ side, given that we were all there for topics revolving around basic rights, employment, death, war and hope.” Acosta explained that though PODER members had signed for public comment for Wednesday, they were unable to attend due to flight delays.
Recalling the atmosphere outside the board meeting, Acosta highlighted the presence of police officers outside of the office, describing it as a “whole department of [officers] … It was ridiculous.”
During both days of public comment sessions, Melissa Castillo, a member of OFA’s internal work group, noted how only a few people from the hundreds of signed-up individuals were selected. “We were able to enter the room and [hear] public comments about other student issues, but unfortunately, they didn’t really allow us to speak up on [OFA] on both days,” Castillo said.
As a form of “civil disobedience,” PODER wore blue shirts reading “Opportunity for All” and had duct tape over their mouths to send a message to the regents during open session.
While some members of PODER went to San Francisco to attend the Regent’s meeting, others on Wednesday night, Jan. 24, hosted a candlelight vigil at the Bell Tower from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. in an effort to promote awareness of the ongoing situation. Other UC schools had also joined in at the same time to host their own vigils that night.
As the vigil came to an end at UCR, an anonymous undocumented student gave their thoughts about the regent’s voting on Policy 4407, expressing that “this is a great opportunity for [the regents] to see that … as much as they want to shut us down, [we are] still here. We’re still here to stand. We’re here fighting for what they had already promised us … If they’re able to take this from us, what else are they going to take away from us?”
As Policy’s 4407 decision was delayed to a year, PODER is in discussions about future steps. They plan to work alongside ASUCR External as there have been conversations among both organizations about teachings during Immigrant Awareness Week with the goal of informing UCR students about the matter. Castillo also added, “I would really appreciate it if we [started] reaching out to more council members around Riverside. [We could be] putting this information out in high schools and middle schools because there’s another generation of undocumented students that will be coming in, and they should be getting informed about this.”
For future updates and events from PODER, follow @poderatucr. For information regarding resources for undocumented students and updates on OFA, check out UCLA Dream Resource center on instagram, @UCLA_DRC and Undocumented Student-Led Network @undoc_sn.
