Things That Matter

Arizona’s Supreme Court Has Barred Universities From Offering DACA Students In-State Tuition

By April 10, 2018 at 2:27 pm
@azcentral / Twitter

Beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program are now facing a whole new battle. DACA recipients who live in Arizona will now have to pay out-of-state tuition in their home state, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled on April 9.

According to The Washington Post, 2,000 DACA recipients in Arizona — who either go to a state school or community in college — will now have to pay three times the amount. For example, The Post reports that tuition at Arizona State University is $9,834 for in-state students. For out-of-state students, tuition is $27,618. At Maricopa Community Colleges credit for Arizona residents is $86, for out-of-state students, it is $241.

Chief Justice Scott Bales said he made the ruling now to give Dreamers “as much time as possible for planning.” The full ruling will be made in mid-May, The Post reports.

Advocates are stunned by the decision to hinder the access to education for DACA recipients.

According to the National Immigration Law Center (NILC), 20 states and Washington D.C. offer “tuition equality” for undocumented people. Those states are California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, and Washington.

For some people, the decision is a rallying cry to fight for a permanent solution for the undocumented community.

And many are very disappointed that the rights of DACA students are now in jeopardy.

DACA recipients are in large numbers students or in the workforce. They have no criminal records in order to qualify for DACA. Yet, DACA has been in the news as political figures have tried to muddy the water around DACA to tarnish the importance of the program.

Karina Ruiz, executive director of the Arizona Dream Act Coalition, gave a news conference following the announcement.

Ruiz said that the ruling “shows that the politicians are going to continue their attacks on our community.” She said the higher tuition is now going to hinder students from going to college. However, she added that her organization is going to raise money to help with the additional cost. “We’re going to find help for you.”


READ: First DACA Recipient To Be Deported Sues Trump Administration

What do you think about this tuition hike for Dreamers? Let us know in the comment section below!

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Supreme Court Blocks Trump Administration From Eliminating DACA

Things That Matter

Supreme Court Blocks Trump Administration From Eliminating DACA

By June 18, 2020 at 10:50 am
BY  | June 18, 2020 AT 10:50 am
Ethan Miller / Getty Images

For three years, people with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status faced an uncertain future. The Trump administration was involved in legal battles after abruptly eliminating the program. For the third time this week, the Supreme Court has handed down a major loss for the Trump administration as they protected DACA from Trump’s attack.

The Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration cannot end DACA.

The 5-4 decision is the third major legal loss for the Trump administration this week. SCOTUS ruled earlier this week that LGBTQ+ cannot be fired for their sexual orientation or gender identity. The court also refused to take up a case challenging California’s sanctuary state law letting the law stand.

The decision to temporarily protect DACA was a split decision with all of the conservative justices (Clarence Thomas, Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch, and Samuel A. Alito Jr.) voting in favor of the Trump administration. Justice John Robert joined the liberal justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, Stephen Breyer, and Elena Kagan saving the program from the Trump administration, for now.

In the ruling, written by Justice John Roberts, the court cites that the acting secretary of state violated the Administrative Procedures Act when ending the program. Basically, the announcement was lacking substance and did not address key parts of the policy. This made the announcement void of an argument supporting the dismantling of the program.

The ruling is only temporary relief for the hundreds of thousands of young people on DACA.

While the program has been spared, it is not completely saved. The decision from the Supreme Court today focuses on the way DACA was eliminated, not the actual elimination. This means that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) now has time to reevaluate its case against DACA to try again.

“The Court still does not resolve the question of DACA’s rescission,” Alito wrote in his dissent. “Instead, it tells the Department of Homeland Security to go back and try again.”

The conservative justices, while dissenting, did release statements that agreed with parts of the decision to block the Trump administration from eliminating DACA. The Trump administration first announced that they were ending DACA in 2017 with a press conference on the border led by Jeff Sessions.

Justice Sotomayor made her own headlines after calling the case a racist attack.

“I would not so readily dismiss the allegation that an executive decision disproportionately harms the same racial group that the President branded as less desirable mere months earlier,” Justice Sotomayor wrote in her concurrence of the decision.

Organizers and activists are giving credit to the DACA community for this victory.

The DACA community has led the charge to protect their status in the U.S. The movement has largely been done thanks to the work of DACA recipients fighting for their right to be here. For many, it is the only country they know after arriving to the U.S. without proper documentation when they were young children.

The president has tweeted his clear displeasure on the Supreme Court that he tried to stack in his favor by appointing two justices.

Both justice Kavanaugh and Gorsuch were Trump’s appointees. After three losses from the Supreme Court, President Trump followed his usual playbook and accused the Supreme Court of not liking him.

Now, it is time for Congress to act.

With DACA recipients temporarily spared sudden deportation, Congress must act and pass legislation protecting Dreamers from being deported. The Dream Act is one piece of legislation that offers DACA recipients a pathway to citizenship, something most Americans agree with.

READ: ICE Is Threatening To Reopen Deportation Proceedings Against All DACA Recipients Regardless Of DACA Status

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DACADREAMersImmigran RightsimmigrationTrump Administration

Arizona Karen’s Husband Blames Wife’s Mental Illness For Racist Tirade

Things That Matter

Arizona Karen’s Husband Blames Wife’s Mental Illness For Racist Tirade

By June 8, 2020 at 2:55 pm
BY  | June 8, 2020 AT 2:55 pm
Greg Conn / Facebook / FOX 10

Update: June 10, 2020, 12:03 p.m. PST: Tamara Harrian became a household name when she was slapped for telling a woman to go back to Mexico. The Arizona Karen caused anger after confronting a Native American woman in a convenience store and flew into a racist tirade unprovoked.

Bob Harrian, Tamara’s husband, spoke out about the incident defending his wife.

Bob spoke with FOX 10 Phoenix about the incident that has gone viral. Bob gave a tearful interview with the FOX affiliate defending his wife and her actions.

“Karina, I don’t know what to say. I’m just so sorry,” Harrian told FOX 10. “I’m just so sorry that this happened. You never walked into that store thinking something like this was going to happen. I understand, and I’m sorry. I’m sorry for what she said. It was very hateful. It was — it’s indefensible, but I just have to tell you this. It’s her mental illness. A year ago, she would never done — never have even thought of that.”

Karina Rodriguez was at a convenience store when Tamara began to berate her, according to a video posted on Facebook. Tamara told Rodriguez that she needs to go back to her country. Rodriguez argued back saying that Native American people are literally from the U.S., unlike people of European descent. The confrontation escalated into Rodriguez slapping Tamara after Tamara grabbed her by the arm and tried to continue the argument.

Original: Racism is a rampant problem in the U.S. The nation is being to confront that reality after the death of George Floyd. Protests have raged in major U.S. cities against the systemic racism that has been deadly and dangerous for minorities. A white woman in Arizona is facing her own repercussions after telling a woman to go back to her country.

A white woman in Arizona was slapped after telling someone to go back to their country.

Racism is alive and well, this just happened at the shell gas station in Phoenix, Greenway and 7th st. ****please share, let’s make her racism known ***. ABC15 Arizona ABC News NBC News Fox News #racism #ignorance

Posted by Greg Conn on Saturday, June 6, 2020

Racial tensions are boiling over across the country. Social media and smartphones are making it possible to push these examples of blatant racism. It is 2020 and people still think it is okay to verbally and physically attack people for their skin color or ethnicity.

The latest example of U.S.-grown racism comes from Phoenix, Arizona. The woman, who is being included in the growing list of problematic Karens, faced physical punishment for her offensive comments.

The woman confronted another customer telling her to go back to her country and that’s when things got heated.

The video starts with the young woman asking the older white woman if she is the manager. The white woman claims to be and begins to tell the young woman and her friend that they have to leave the store. According to comments from people who live in the area, the employees of the convenience store say she is not a manager at the store.

“Excuse me but you did say that she needs to go back to her country,” says the person recording the confrontation. “What is that?”

“This is my country,” the young woman being yelled at says. “Literally, Native Americans are from this country. White people are not from this country. Don’t serve her. Don’t serve her racist a**.”

The smack at the end of the video has people of color on Twitter celebrating.

Towards the end of the video, the white woman approaches the young woman and tells her that she is going back to Mexico. As she leaves, the spins around and claims she was touched by the young woman, and everyone in the store denies it. When she gets in the young woman’s face again, she is slapped and mumbles, “Oh my god” repeatedly as she walks out of the store.

Everyone in the store was supporting the young woman.

The man recording, identified as Greg Conn on Facebook, is heard siding with the young woman again at the end. The woman is stunned as she leaves the convenience store after being slapped for telling the woman to go back to Mexico.

“Yup. You deserved it,” the man says to the white woman as she leaves the business. “You pushed her and she slapped you. That was self-defense on her part.”

Some people on social media think that the woman got off easy with one slap.

It might be one slap, but you can hear the generations of trauma pushing her hand. Others are celebrating the young woman telling her that she is not from this country as her ancestors originated in Europe and colonized the U.S.

It shows that despite a deadly pandemic and major Black Lives Matter demonstrations, some people can’t let go of their hate.

“Oh my god,” indeed. It is 2020 and people have had enough with racism in our society. Thousands of people have maintained sustained marches across the country demanding change in policing and justice for Black and brown people killed by police for their skin color. Yet, this woman is still telling Native American people to go back to their country.

READ: Foul-Mouthed Karen Yells At People To Stop Playing Bad Bunny And Play ‘American’ Music Instead

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ArizonaKarenNative AmericanRacism