On Friday, September 8, at 3:10 pm, over 500 students walked out of their seventh period classes at Chamblee Charter High School in support of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, more commonly known as DACA, an executive action put into place by President Barack Obama in 2012.
The program, which grants work permits to people who were children when they entered the U.S. illegally while simultaneously protecting them from deportation, was rescinded by President Donald Trump on Tuesday, September 5. The move, which sparked outrage from immigrant rights groups across the country, also mobilized a group of Chamblee students to stage a protest in support of the DACA and against the controversial move by the Trump administration.
One of the students, junior Eric Patlan, has been personally affected by DACA and was adamant in his support of it.
“I protested to defend DACA for my brother,” said Patlan. “Without my brother, things would have been harder for us, and now that he has DACA, it’s been helping him out more financially.”
Because of DACA, Patlan’s brother, along with hundreds of thousands of other young people who came to the U.S. as children, have the opportunity to apply for work permits and obtain driver’s licenses. According to U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services, over 844,000 initial requests for DACA consideration have been accepted since its conception, and more than 600,000 renewal requests have been approved. It has been utilized by people from 24 countries, with Mexican immigrants comprising the vast majority of applicants.
Sophomore Yammile Garcia, whose parents and older sister immigrated to the U.S. before she was born, named poverty, war, and education as major reasons for why so many have left Mexico in the last few decades.
Garcia, along with a group of fellow students, planned the walk-out to stand in solidarity with those who have benefitted from the program, including her sister.
“We know a lot of people who are under DACA, and we want them to have the same rights as us,” said Garcia. “My sister does have that [DACA]. She’s going to get her permit taken away. She has a driver’s license and her work permit, and that’s how she has a job right now.”
When students approached the school administration to propose this plan, it was approved, as long as those who took part in the rally behaved themselves. Assistant Principal Winston Spears was pleased with the overall execution of the student-led protest.
“I thought it was very well-organized,” said Spears. “They had an agenda, they did not bad mouth the president or anything like that, there was no profanity being used.”
Spears was so impressed by the event, that he even posted about it to his Facebook and Twitter accounts. He also noted the greater implications of what this kind of organizing action means for students, and the potential it shows for the future.
“One, it gave me a lot of respect for the students,” said Spears, “and I think anytime they want to do something like that and if they want to organize like that, I’m good with it. I think they did an outstanding job. I think that if they carry it on, it shows you some future leaders.”
Even those who have not been directly affected by DACA walked out in support. Senior James Ware left his seventh period class for many of his friends who have been positively impacted by the Obama-era development, and who are afraid of what could happen now that it has been ended.
“I was out there because I have a lot of friends that that [DACA] affected and they were pretty upset about it,” said Ware, “so I went out there to support them.”
Ware was impressed by the size of the rally and the emotional stories people told about how DACA had made their lives better.
“Their stories really touched me,” said Ware. “I didn’t even know who those people were, but they all had their own story.”
One of those people with a story to tell was Patlan, who called the overall experience “mesmerizing.” He was inspired to see action being taken by so many students.
“I was astonished that we were actually doing this,” he said. “We were out here trying to do something, to make a difference.”
Ware acknowledged what this event demonstrated about the future of students and the maturity that is being fostered in high school.
“That they [students] care. We’re pretty much growing into adults. And we’re starting to care what goes around in the world. And we care about each other.”
