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Behind the Little Blue Booth- Dear Immigrant Student

By Jocelyn Contreras

Ring Road’s booths were shaded by tents as students bolted by, but the Soar Center’s little blue booth was shaded by the medium-sized trees in front of the Langson Library where you can see how the bridge connects the university to the outside world, or in this case the University Town Center.

(By Jocelyn Contreras)

Carol Rocha passed out turquoise flyers with March 6th’s week on it as she asked passing students, “Would you like to come to this week’s Immigration Awareness Week to Stand in Solidarity?”

Students didn’t take the flyers or some just ignored the fourth-year Social Ecology major, but mostly every student that passed the little blue booth looked at a sculpture of the word “Home” along with the quote “Our home is built with Love and Dreams” placed on top of the table.

(By Jocelyn Contreras)

In addition to this sculpture, there was a flyer with the most intense image of a hand reaching for a butterfly as the lower half of the wrist is burning in flames with the word S.A.F.I.R.E. in block letters on bottom.  

Diana Soto, co-chair of Students Advocating for Immigrant Rights and Equity (S.A.F.I.R.E.) and a second-year Psychology and Social Behavior student, worked behind the scenes of the little blue booth. She worked in collaboration with other campus organizations like Higher Opportunities through Peer Empowerment (H.O.P.E 4 Us), the Soar Center, Undocumented Student Support Programs, Student Services, and many of the school’s departments for the Immigration Awareness Week events.

Diana stood in front of a thirty-something crowd in the Dr. White Room of the Cross Cultural Center for one of the events: “Dear Immigrant Student.” UCI faculty read supportive letters to the students “to [let them] know that faculty and staff support them” said Diana. The second co-chair of S.A.F.I.R.E., Nidia Bello, said, “The idea of this event came from the fact that students are the ones who usually tell their stories and we put ourselves out there and, you know, it’s a lot of emotional labor and mental labor. So, we thought that this time, we can switch it around and have the faculty say how will they help and support us.”

“Help and Support Us”

Professors, many from the department of Chicano/a, Latino/a Studies, sat in the crowd with the students where food and drinks were served. Several professors went up and presented their letters to the crowd. Demonstrating their support for the undocumented students, applause and tears rose from many of the students and professors. Laura Enriquez, assistant professor of Chicano/a, Latino/a studies, introduced herself and began to cry as she shared her experience to the students. One of the students in the front row did not hide her tears and stared at Ms. Enriquez, nodding her head with every line with the understanding that “we don’t want to build a wall, we want to build a bridge.”  

The letters recited were also posted around the white walls like a gallery walk where students read many, many letters from more than 30 faculty members. A handful of professors read their letters, but the posted letters were also from those who were unable to make it and still wrote their appreciation and love for these students. The crowd took their time around each letter with yellow post-it notes in hand to place a note next to a letter that resonated with them. A bunch of post-it notes were placed next to mostly all the letters, but there was one letter, at the back of the room, with only one post-it next to it. Written in black ink were two simple, yet vulnerable words: “Thank You.”  

“Thank You”

Nidia wanted this event to be a personal experience that brought staff and students closer together, breaking the professional barrier, and building a compassionate, empathetic bridge from human to human.

Why is this conversation important?

Diana, “I think it is important to talk about because these are real issues that are affecting real human beings and it affects our lives a lot.” Nidia sighed and said, “People are getting deported, families are being separated and in terms of students, people should be caring about these students. Our community is being separated. This affects our well-being: mentally, physically, and academically. It should be them helping us take off this weight from our shoulders.” She placed her hands over her shoulders to show that this problem, piled with years of discrimination, separation and fear, is too much to carry and adds, “We are full-time students, sometimes we work, and yet we are still out there doing things like informing others and such. A lot of the times, I’m pretty sure you will find at least one undocumented student in your class.”