Paola Garcia, 21, is a senior at Transylvania University in Kentucky. She’s an undocumented immigrant who arrived in the United States at the age of two. Garcia is a recipient of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that Barack Obama introduced.
Since Donald Trump moved to rescind DACA, close to 800,000 young adults who identify as Americans fear deportation. Garcia is one of those DREAMers who know no home besides America, and who not only worry about their future in this country but must also tolerate racial abuse by others. Name-calling, insults, discrimination, and threats fueled by the POTUS.
Garcia was a recent victim of blatant racism after a student from her university shared her profile on a white supremacy fanpage on Facebook. His name is Taylor Ragg and is no longer enrolled in the school. The message that accompanied his post on the racist page was:
Everyone go report this illegal at my school bragging about breaking the law.
Transylvania University has had its fair share of racial issues in the past, a recent one occurring April of 2017. A Caucasian former student of the school walked into a campus coffee shop with knives and a machete. He allegedly asked the people present about their political views before injuring two women.
In that case, like in this one, the attacker was a Trump enthusiast. Trump supporters now feel entitled to lash out at immigrants at their leisure. One man in Oklahoma verbally abused a Latina woman despite her legal status in the country. A McDonald’s employee also harassed an American citizen because English is her second language.
Fortunately, both incidents did not go beyond racial slurs and insults. However, the damage it can afflict on a person is irreversible. In a touching video, Paola Garcia teared up as she begged for help during this incredibly difficult time.
She speaks about receiving multiple messages that night from members of the hate group threatening her with ICE and saying she needed to leave the country. Garcia attempted to report this to the school, but they didn’t believe he violated any policies of the university. Ragg eventually left the campus for good, but the administration failed to inform the media if he was expelled or left voluntarily.
Racists are ruthless with Donald Trump in office, so it’s important that immigrants find the courage to raise their voices. Fear of deportation stops many from exposing these racists, but silence won’t fix the situation either. Standing up for what is right like Garcia did should be a leading example to those sailing on the same boat.