Participation in the 2017 LIBRE trip was limited to DACAmented students. The decision to only take DACAmented students was because we did not know if new travel restrictions would be put in place, or what the Trump administration would mean for the DACA program. While in Arizona, we meet with members of the Undocumented Students for Education Equity (USEE) and learned about their in-state policies in their state. The resulting exchanges of information and history of state policies regarding in-state tuition was illuminating for both groups of students. In Wisconsin, AB 75 was approved in 2009 to extend in-state tuition to eligible undocumented students, but that was rescinded in 2011 with the passage of AB 40.[i] Similarly, Arizona had passed Proposition 300 in 2006 to prohibit public institutions from providing undocumented students with in-state tuition rates.[ii] When we met with the students, the students from USEE were fighting for in-state tuition for DACA students. This case went all the way to the Arizona Supreme Court, which ultimately denied in-state tuition for DACA students. The network between our DACA students met the DACA students from Arizona continued after trip and several students begun working at a national level with United We Dream, which works to provide a voice for undocumented students, develop leadership skills, and build organizing skills.

References:

[i] “Wisconsin Policy,” last modified January 11, accessed September 1, 2019, https://www.uleadnet.org/map/wisconsin-policy.

[ii] “Arizona Policy,” last modified April 10, https://www.uleadnet.org/map/arizona-policy.