A handful of people attended the Dreamers Conference held at LMC in the Student Union on Oct. 25, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The conference provided immigrants with resources through keynote speakers and workshops.
To kick off the event, there was a keynote speech. President Pamela Ralston started with remarks. Then, Puente President Natalia Longoria welcomed the crowd in Spanish, and Rion Mendoza welcomed the crowd in Tagalog and sign language. After the introduction, Jose Cordon, Antioch’s poet Laureate, spoke.
He spoke about how proud he is of his immigrant community and the students at LMC and also on his immigrant background and his experience being raised in two cultures. He also acknowledged the fear immigrants have over the current state of our country.
“Yes, there’s a lot of fear right now. But if you can harness that fear, if you can harness it, if you can use it, our bodies are equipped to take advantage of it,” said Cordon, emphasizing the importance of organizing and mobilizing against the injustices in the community.
Diana Honig, the LMC Governing Board Member, was inspired by the keynote speech and learned a crucial lesson. “I think the main message from our keynote speaker was utilizing fear in a positive way, and taking that fear and putting it towards action,” said Honig.
After the keynote, Rosa Amandariz, the senior Dean for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging at LMC, directed the crowd to the next part of the conference and went over the schedule.
There were five workshops to choose from: Getting Started in College, Paying for College, Experience setting up an ITIN, Know Your Rights and Cultivating Mental Peace. Afterward, there was a Student Panel at 2 p.m. and a resource fair at 2:30 p.m.
The Getting Started in College workshop was run by Director of Admissions and Records Rikki Hall, Longoria and Jasmine Morales. Morales led the first portion. She showed the students how to properly apply to LMC and the steps they needed to take to register. The second portion was about applying for a California Nonresident Tuition Exemption. Hall ran this portion and discussed the requirements for accessing AB540. Then, at the end, Longoria talks about the Puente club and how it’s a good resource and community for immigrants to thrive in.
During lunch, they served Pupusas and lumpia. Many attendees were grabbing resources from the organization’s tables. Many organizations attended and tabled at the event, such as La Clinica (California Health Center), the Mexican Consulate General in San Francisco and the Immigration Institute of the Bay Area.
The Introduction to ITIN and Independent Contracting, led by Natalia Soto and Melissa Castillo, dove into how to apply for an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number. A tax number issued by the IRS for people required to file taxes but aren’t eligible for a Social Security number. Soto and Castillo walked through the ITIN application process and explained how having it can help with independent contracting. After the presentation, they went into a Q&A session.
The people who participated in the Panel were Soto, Brianna Luna and Eilette Bustos, with the questions being asked by Pablo Flores and Raul Arana. These questions delved into the experiences of undocumented immigrants and the challenges of navigating a new country. Luna wanted the crowd to take away something special.
“Hopefully, one thing I would say is to be proud of our identity, to be proud of who we are, because being undocumented is our identity. It is our culture, it is our credential, and we should never be ashamed of who we are and who we represent,” said Luna after the panel.
The Dreamers Conference spread and taught various resources to immigrants in need. Ivan Urrita, an office of Inclusion worker, commented on the importance of conferences.
“It’s kind of a scary time for a lot of people. But I think it’s important that we have events like this today, to show that Los Medanos is here,” said Urrita.
