Student campaigns for rights of immigrants, immigration reform

Allie Lewis

In the weeks following the presidential election, students at the University of Rhode Island have gathered to show support for members of the LGBT community, women, African-Americans, and other minority groups. For freshman computer science major Rodrigo Pimentel, however, fighting for the rights of immigrants in this country has been at the forefront of his concerns.

As an undocumented immigrant himself, Pimentel said the reality of deportation is much more likely under the administration of President-elect Donald Trump, but that he’s committed to working towards reform and making is voice heard on the issue.

“I make my voice heard because I believe that educating is an important first step in actually making progress in any legislative or legal issue,” Pimentel said. “There are a lot of misconceptions on immigrants right now and a lot of those are perpetuated by the Trump campaign – especially his insistence that we do not contribute. I do pay taxes. My father pays taxes. He hires employees.”

According to the Institute on Taxation & Economic Policy, undocumented immigrants contribute nearly $12 billion in taxes each year, which they will never be able to file for on tax returns.

In 1998, Pimentel arrived in the United States with his parents when he was just 10-months-old. Using the skills he developed as a stonemason in the Azores, Pimentel’s father was able to start his own business. Pimentel’s mother has been able to help run the family’s small business as it’s grown over the years, and they’ve been able to hire people onto their staff. They recently bought a home. Pimentel is enrolled in college. They are assimilated.

“My worse possible case scenario would be being deported and having to leave the only country, the only nation, the only home I’ve ever known,” Pimentel said. If deportation were to ever become a reality for him, he believes it would happen from a chance encounter, rather than a massive deportation.

Currently, Pimentel has Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) thanks to an executive order signed by President Barak Obama in June of 2012. Working in two-year increments, DACA allows children who entered the United States by no choice of their own to legally look for work, obtain a drivers license, or continue their education.

In Pimentel’s opinion, there is no harm in speaking up for what he believes in since the government already knows where to find him. He wasn’t deterred from telling students about his immigration status during a student walk out for solidarity in November, and he wasn’t afraid to tell a variety of news outlets at a Resist Hate event last month either.

Formed after the presidential election and organized by Providence’s Fourth District Representative Aaron Regunberg, Resist Hate is a coalition of individuals meant to “resist the hateful policies and the undoing of decades of human rights battles in this country.”

Although there are many issues supported by the Resist Hate coalition, Regunberg shares a similar sentiment to Pimentel in the need for immigration reform in Rhode Island, never mind the nation.

Rhode Island is widely misconceived as such, but it is not a sanctuary state in which immigrants can freely search for work without fear of deportation. The state does, however, choose not to comply with all of the regulations put forth by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“America is a nation of immigrants, Rhode Island is a state of immigrants, Providence is a city of immigrants,” Regunberg said. “My family, almost like every other family in America, came here as immigrants. How we treat new comers to our country is a reflection of our deepest values.”

According to Regunberg, working closely with Providence Public Schools has introduced him to many students who are now fearful that their families will be torn apart because of deportation.

Under Trump’s 100-day plan, he calls for the defunding of all sanctuary cities and states. How Rhode Island would play into this given our pick-and-choose cooperation with ICE is unclear, but Regunberg believes the legal process would be long and complex if this were to go through. He’s in favor of law enforcement agents not become immigration agents as well.

In defense of this, Regunberg believes that there is strength in numbers. The more cities that allow sanctuary, the harder it will be for the government to punish any of them.

“The more jurisdictions that are doing this, the harder and more politically difficult it is to punish any of them,” Regunberg said. “Just like in any organization, the more people there are, the harder it is to come down on any of them.”