Working to Level the Playing Field: Standing Against Immigration Discrimination
Fall 2020 Dominican Magazine
Faculty and alumni are addressing social inequities in a time of crisis Dominican University is one of only 26 higher education institutions across the country to be selected by the Association of American Colleges and Universities to participate in the Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation (TRHT) project, a comprehensive, community-based process committed to addressing historic and contemporary effects of systemic racism, and to advancing transformational and sustainable change.
Working to Level the Playing Field: Standing Against Immigration Discrimination
Suhad Tabahi is an assistant professor in the School of Social Work. A Palestinian American Muslim, she has conducted significant research on migration issues. She was joined by Roberto Sepulveda MBA ’10, and Arianna Salgado ’15. Sepulveda has led diversity and inclusion initiatives at a number of corporations including United Stationers and Sara Lee and is now involved in local politics. Salgado is a social justice activist who garnered legislative support for the Dream Act during her undergraduate years at Dominican.
Sepulveda reflected on how the pandemic’s enforced shutdown has impacted immigrants’ struggles. “This time for reflection has allowed individuals to start mobilizing. The immigration system has been revealed to benefit certain people and groups, while leaving others out. It’s brought together people and groups from different generations—unity in the community. There’s a real opportunity to dismantle institutions that have not favored people who look like me,” he said.
Salgado brings legislative history to her analysis of current U.S. policy. “The notion that all immigrants are welcome to start anew and have a prosperous life gets complicated once you look very deeply into the history of citizenship laws. You start to realize that the United States has always had an idea of what a ‘good immigrant’ should be and that it has never been anyone who’s Black, Brown or any minority.” She added, “The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, passed under President Clinton, marries the criminal system and the immigration system. We can see who is hyper-policed and who is not. Black immigrants are stuck longer in detention centers and disproportionately deported.”
In response to Radford-Hill’s query on how best to support immigrants on a path to citizenship, Tabahi said it begins by educating ourselves. “Many immigrants have already been here for 20 to 30 years. Oftentimes, as are many people of color, they have an added burden to prove their worth. We neglect to address them based on the assets that they bring and the resilience that they have.”
Sepulveda closed the conversation with a passionate statement about recognizing the role of the immigrants in times of national struggle. “We should also remember the immigrant community who cleaned up after the destruction of 9/11 and those who worked in the Twin Towers. They have been erased from the narrative. We need to remember that during this pandemic the many essential workers who kept our families safe and fed and made sure the economy did not completely collapse are immigrants. I want to make sure that when we look back at 2020, we remember our community and the role we played.”