As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to hear cases on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (aka DACA), Northwestern students voiced their support of the program in a march from the rock to the Multicultural Center (MCC) led by Advancement for the Undocumented Community at Northwestern (NU AUC). Once at the MCC, students participated in a write-in to the Supreme Court, urging justices to consider the impact of their decision on undocumented students.

On Tuesday, Nov. 12, the Supreme Court is going to hear two cases on the legality of the Trump administration’s ending of DACA in 2017. First, they are going to hear a case on whether or not the court can review the decision to end DACA, then they will hear a case on whether the decision to end DACA is legal.

This could lead to one of three possible outcomes. The court could decide they can’t review the DACA decision, meaning that the current administration will control what happens with pending renewals. Alternatively, the court could decide they can rule on the decision, and then rule that the termination of DACA was lawful. This would still leave a lot up to the current administration, but there would be no renewals or new applications to DACA. Finally, the court could decide that they can rule on the decision and that the termination of DACA was unlawful. This would allow for the possibility of new applications and renewals. NU AUC delivered all this information to students at the march by handing out flyers.

NU AUC was formed last spring by a group of students – Álvaro Marcelino Hernández (‘21), Jesús Rivera (‘21), Diana Torres (‘19), Teresa Vergara Miranda (‘22) and Christina Gutiérrez (‘20) – to provide support and resources for undocumented students and students who come from mixed status families. This fall, Fuego, a Chicago-based network of youth activists, reached out to NU AUC asking if they wanted to take part in the nationwide DACA walkouts Friday. The event at Northwestern ended up becoming a march, instead, drawing dozens of students.

One of the AUC’s goals on Friday was to simply raise awareness – to get people thinking about DACA and the Supreme Court’s choice.

“This is only the beginning,” SESP senior Christina Gutiérrez said, speaking to the crowd on Friday. “Throughout our whole academic year, this is gonna be an ongoing process, because they have until June of 2020 to make a choice. So, once we leave today, keep this in the back of your heads.”