ORLANDO, Fla. — As lawmakers in Tallahassee work on legislation to bolster President Trump’s efforts on combating illegal immigration, concerns are growing among migrants in Central Florida. That concern includes students who are recipients of DACA, or the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

What You Need To Know

  • As lawmakers in Tallahassee work on legislation to bolster President Trump’s efforts on combating illegal immigration, concerns are growing among migrants in Central Florida

  • That concern includes students who are recipients of DACA, or the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program

  • Through the Hope CommUnity Center, Silvia Ruiz Villanueva helps students who have aged out of local public schools to continue their DACA required education

  • Ruiz worries the steps that state leaders are now taking will prevent young people from getting the help they need to establish their lives in this country

Through the Hope CommUnity Center, Silvia Ruiz Villanueva counsels dozens of young people who’ve moved to the United States from other countries. She says many of them are now worried after President Trump removed schools, along with hospitals and churches, as safe spaces exempt from potential immigration raids. She says one student at a Central Florida high school said a teacher addressed the issue with students.

“’If ICE ever steps into this room, you students don’t say anything, you have the right to remain silent, and I as the adult will do the talking,’ And I think it’s something we never imagined,” said Ruiz.

Ruiz knows well the fear some students are facing. She and her mother left Mexico 20 years ago to join her father in Florida.

“17 years he worked the same job, and that was welding, so when my mom and I decided it was time to be reunited with him, we came to the U.S.” said Ruiz.

Through DACA, Ruiz has been able to go to school and work in the United States. But with DACA’s future in the courts, and immigration enforcement ramping up at the state and federal level, she is worried about her future.

“That really puts me in a position where at any moment my status could be deemed invalid, and I could be undocumented, and that puts everything at risk,” said Ruiz.

Ruiz says she understands why leaders in Tallahassee and in Washington want to crack down on illegal immigration.

“People who do things who are not well or that are harming others, yes they deserve to go through the justice system, they deserve to go through that process, but we have to be very clear that not everyone, and mostly not everyone, falls under that category,” said Ruiz.

But she worries the steps those leaders are now taking will prevent young people from getting the help they need to establish their lives in this country. Through the Hope CommUnity Center, she helps students who’ve aged out of local public schools, and have legal asylum to be in the United States, to continue their DACA required education.

“This group usually is very perfect in attendance, high in attendance,” said Ruiz. 

"Yesterday, a little less than half of our students showed up. And it wouldn’t surprise me if it’s happening in schools as well.”

She is determined to continue her work despite her own uncertainty as she urges leaders to consider everyone when ramping up immigration enforcement.

“You can’t put everyone in a box, and I think that’s one of the biggest things that if I had any say in this, I would really push for people to understand,” said Ruiz.