Targum spotlight: RU Dreamers at Rutgers—Newark rebrands with new name, same mission

RU Dreamers, an on-campus student organization at Rutgers–Newark, has become Rutgers Immigrant Student Empowerment (RISE) in an effort to expand its reach to the larger immigrant community on the Newark campus.

Yulisbeth Rojas-Romero, a School of Arts and Sciences junior and president of RISE, said the previous name had frequently confused students about their eligibility to join the organization. Some students thought they had to be "Dreamers" or of undocumented status to join, she said.

The term "Dreamer" typically describes undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children and grew up here. Some "Dreamers" are Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients or people who would have been eligible for the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, which failed to pass Congress.

Rojas-Romero said that despite the name change earlier this year, RISE's mission remains the same: to advocate for immigrant students, provide them with the resources they need to succeed in school and maintain a safe space for them, regardless of status or background.

Rojas-Romero, a DACA recipient, said she joined RISE soon after hearing about it and now ensures that the organization is carrying out its mission.

"There's a lot of students like myself … who either have DACA or are fully undocumented, who don’t know how to navigate higher education, who have questions (and) who don’t have support," she said. "That's what RISE is here for."

Itzel Hernandez, an immigrant rights organizer with the American Friends Service Committee in Red Bank, said when immigrant students get to college, they feel discouraged from going any further, and her job becomes convincing them to have confidence in their futures again.

"Many of them were never told that they can go to college," Hernandez said. "There's a lot of misinformation at the high schools, at the middle schools (and) at the primary schools about whether these students are going to have a future."

More resources, more allies and more schools committing themselves to providing equitable education is one way to help immigrant students get to and through college, Hernandez said.

Rojas-Romero said RISE carries out its mission by holding informational events, helping students find jobs and helping DACA recipients renew their applications. RISE partners with the Rutgers Immigrant Community Assistance Project (RICAP), where students can seek free and confidential legal consultation, she said.

The organization is also political, frequently attending national protests and pushing administrators to implement changes that will benefit the immigrant community at the Newark campus, she said.

The group is currently calling for staff to complete mandatory training to facilitate a better understanding between staff and immigrant students and help undocumented students cover the costs of an education at the Newark campus, according to Rojas-Romero.

Though the administration has not given the organization direct answers about whether the changes will be implemented, Rojas-Romero said that RISE will continue to call for the changes, citing recent updates, including the hiring of Jason Hernandez, the director of RICAP.

"I know that they are capable of delivering what we ask," she said. "It's just a matter of persisting and having these meetings and asking for what we want."