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In a time where intense political tension surrounds the future of immigrants and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, one student organization is taking a stand for immigration rights. Advocates for Immigrants & Refugee Rights (AIRR) at Florida State University Law had their first lunch meeting of the semester to discuss and debunk many stigmas surrounding immigrant and refugee populations. AIRR proudly hosted two FSU alumni to lead the discussion regarding immigration policy, Vania Llovera M.S. and Leonardo Arias L.L.M. Both Llovera and Arias work extensively in the realm of immigration. Llovera is currently the Assistant Director of the FSU Center for the Advancement of Human Rights and is the Executive Director for the Big Bend Coalition Against Human Trafficking. Arias is a recent FSU Law graduate that practices in civil litigation, family, immigration and nationality. Arias explained how the United States’ system to process immigrants is overtly unjust and requires applicants to struggle through years of paperwork, political abuse and a slim chance of acceptance. Applicants can wait upwards of 21 years to even get a response. “I want the immigration system to be more fair,” Arias stated. “The current system is incredibly biased against immigrants and makes it difficult to come into this country. As an immigrant, I see this place as my country. I left my old country for political, social and economic reasons and I don’t intend to go back.” Arias arrived in the United States from Cuba several years ago. Similarly, Llovera follows up Arias’ discussion by directing focus to the human side of immigration. She states that the anti-immigration wave comes not from an economic standpoint that most argue for, but by social and racial friction. Of the 800,000 DACA recipients (also called Dreamers), over 90 percent of them are employed. Deporting all of the Dreamers would cost the U.S. economy over $400 billion in the workforce. Llovera continued on by pointing out how immigrants into the U.S. often are victims of widespread violence and corruption. “A lot of illegal immigrants say that they are here for better opportunities," Llovera said. "What they don’t say is that they might’ve died if they had stayed in their old country. They wouldn’t be here without a good reason.” Llovera’s family fled to the U.S. after the Salvadoran Civil War broke out in the 1980’s. When asked about the anti-immigration wave that’s been navigating the globe, Llovera replied expressing how unfair politics are in regard to immigration. “I’ve never seen anything this harsh against immigrants. I don’t know how it got this bad but it’s all political nonsense," Llovera said. He explains that he hopes that people realize how much of a mistake anti-immigrant systems actually are. He cites the the ‘build a wall’ campaign as part of the hysteria around immigration. "There’s no geographical way he can do that across the border," Llovera said. "Even so, why is Canada not being blocked?” This comes as a response to President Donald Trump’s longstanding promise to build a 2,000 mile long wall across the Mexico-United States border. President Trump has infamously had an anti-immigration stance since his first campaign day. Back in September, President Trump announced that he would be ending DACA, the Obama-era act that protects children of illegal immigrants from deportation. While recent polls not only show that around 70 percent of Americans are in favor of DACA, they also greatly prefer paths to citizenship for illegal immigrants rather than deportation. Even so, President Trump has made deportations the forefront of his administration. Last week, Rosa Maria Hernandez, a ten-year-old with cerebral palsy, had to undergo emergency gallbladder surgery. Her parents brought her into the U.S. when she was a baby. When Border Patrol stopped her ambulance and discovered that she was an undocumented immigrant, they escorted her to the hospital, guarded her room and proceeded to detain her. Hernandez, a young child with a severe illness stolen from a hospital, may be the next deportee. The recent spike of strident anti-immigration policies goes beyond DACA and the millions of Americans that will suffer as a result. Lawmakers and leaders of Florida stand together in defiance of this plague. On September 6, one day after President Trump announced that he would be ending DACA, FSU President John Thrasher emailed his students about his unwavering devotion. “As a state and nation, we have already invested in the education of these students as they pursue studies in business, education, high-tech and other critical areas," Thrasher said. "Let’s allow these young people to continue to contribute to the economy and their communities as they pursue their dreams here in America. I think it’s the right thing to do and we will help out students with resources and other services during this period of uncertainty.” On October 10, eight Florida mayors signed a petition demanding that congress act to protect DACA. The petitioners include Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, Aventura Mayor Enid Weisman, Miami Gardens Mayor Oliver G. Gilbert III, Miramar Mayor Wayne M. Messam, Oakland Park Mayor John Adornato II, West Palm Beach Mayor Jeri Muoio, Sunrise Mayor Michael J. Ryan, and Weston Mayor Daniel Stermer. In the letter, they state an appeal to protect Dreamers as well as immigrants in this country: “We write on behalf of the nation’s mayors to urge you to quickly pass bipartisan legislation that would enable Dreamers, who are people who have lived in America since they were children and built their lives here, to earn lawful permanent residence and eventually American citizenship if they meet certain criteria. We pledge to work with you in this effort and to do whatever we can to assist you in seeing it enacted into law." The future of dreamers and immigrants remains a constant battle between mayors and organizations like AIRR against the Trump administration. Source: http://www.fsunews.com/story/news/2017/10/29/student-organization-shows-support-daca-recipients-and-immigrants/811195001/