Leticia Herrera: Integrated Supports Outreach Specialist SBCSS

Don English, Director of Children Deserve Success, interviews Leticia Herrera, a DACA recipient and educational advocate, about her journey and advocacy for immigrant youth. Leticia shares her experience growing up undocumented in the Coachella Valley, her challenges in accessing scholarships and loans, and her advocacy efforts, including founding the first cohort of the Dream.US scholarship recipients. She discusses the impact of DACA's potential removal in 2017, her sister's passing, and her subsequent legislative advocacy. Leticia emphasizes the importance of community support, mentorship, and the need for legislators to understand the contributions and challenges faced by immigrant youth and families.

Transcript

SPEAKERS, Leticia Herrera  Don English

Don  00:09

Hello. My name is Don English, Director of children deserve success, and executive director of the San Bernardino county wide gangs and drugs Task Force. And I want to welcome you to our children deserve success. Podcast once a month, we will be sending out these recordings regarding all things related to child welfare and attendance, school attendance. Review Board, foster youth services, McKinney, Vento, homeless programs in our county and the San Bernardino county wide gangs and drugs Task Force. This month's focus will be an interview with Leticia Herrera, a proud DACA recipient, a fierce educational advocate and a rising leader in the immigrant rights movement. From classrooms to Capitol halls, Leticia has dedicated her voice, time and heart to fighting for equity, access and justice for immigrant youth and families. And she is with the San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools, Leticia. Thank you for being here. Welcome, welcome, welcome.

Leticia H.  01:15

Thank you so much for the invite. It's such an honor to be here and share my story and continue to advocate for our students 

Don  01:21

absolutely so let's just jump right into it and share a little bit, if you would, about your journey as a DACA recipient, and how that experience shaped your passion for educational advocacy.

Speaker 1  01:35

Thank you. Well, first, I'll start with I was born in Mexico, Oaxaca, Mexico, and I grew up in the eastern Coachella Valley, so I arrived in Coachella Valley in 2005 I always knew that I was undocumented, but I never really understood what it meant until I was in high school in 2012 that's when President Barack Obama announced the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. Again, I had no idea what it was, but my mom was like, You need to apply, and you're going to go to this appointment, that appointment, and I received my work permit, and again, didn't really understand that until I was in a senior. That's when I was an avid we started to talk about college, about FAFSA, about grants, loans, and I realized that because I was undocumented, I did not qualify for FAFSA, I did not qualify for any loans, especially because my parents also didn't had any credit, so I did not even qualify for private loans. So that's where I started to become an advocate in the school, while being a student in Desert Mirage High School, and I started to talk to my counselors. We need resources. We need more information. And because of my advocacy and research, and I logged in on the internet, I found the dream.us so I actually was the first in the first cohort, a recipient of this pilot program that is still in place. So I was able to receive up to $30,000 to pay for my school and Cal State sermon. Dino was a partner college, and I attended that university. After that at Cal State San Bernardino, I continued my advocacy to bring resources, because that was in 2015 that was the first year the Cal State San Bernardino had a Undocumented Student Success Center. So it was new. There was a lot of resources missing, so I became a community leader and an advocate to bring more resources, not just to undocumented students, but all students, also our students with TPS, with certain visas, with disabilities. So that's how I started my journey.

Don  03:56

Wow.... what are some of the key challenges you face navigating the educational system as an undocumented student, and you talked about some of the barriers earlier, and how did you overcome them?

Leticia H.  04:09

I feel like I faced a lot of challenges being a first generation student because my parents, they don't know English, my mom and my dad, they barely finish Elementary in Mexico. So that alone was already a challenge when I found out what it really meant to be undocumented. Some of the challenges was scholarship access. I was very limited on scholarships because some of the scholarships required for you to be a US citizen, times are changing, but we still need change to remove that citizenship requirement to allow our students to apply to scholarships. So that was one. The other one was loans. That was another challenge for me, because even though I did had a. The the dream.us scholarship. I still had to pay for my books, room and board and my personal expenses. So that was also a challenge, a challenge that I did face somewhat in high school was our educators. I think it was still something new, and now with the political, political climate, there's I work with students as well. In the community, there's a lot of misinformation out there, so that's something that I also face, and I've seen students face because there's this rumor, our information, letting our students know that if they don't have DACA, they cannot go to college. And here in California, that is not correct. We have our AB 540 the California Dream Act and other resources that our students can still attend college. So that's also a challenge that I face. A lot of misinformation in the internet. 

Don  05:56

Wow, you've, you know, you've been a powerful voice in the community and in legislative spaces. But what? What kind of you know, when we talk about legislation, it's not so easy for everyone, because it's so detailed and in depth. Um, what inspired you to step into that particular realm of advocacy?

Leticia H.  06:17

Yes, so what really inspired me was what happened to me in 2017 I always advocated for resources and talk to the president of the university or the counselor. But what really motivated me was in 2017 when our 45 president decided and came and announced that he wanted to remove DACA. There was a lot of fear in the community, so that's something that motivated me to get involved in the political spaces and learn about politics, learn about legislation, even though I learned it in high school. I feel when it affects your life, myself included, and my friends and the community that I build at Cal State, San Bernardino, we learn about it. But my sister, my older sister, she was also a DACA recipient. She in 2017 she had a five year old. She was the ELAC president. She was working part time, and she was attending community college. She was really worried about her life, and unfortunately, my sister passed away in 2017 and I feel like that motivated me to advocate for the community, because I saw her how stressed she was the last couple, I guess, months that she was alive, and that's what motivated me. So in 2018 I did a lot of advocacy and press conferences with our local congressman, Pete Aguilar, and then I did an internship with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute. And that motivated me, that opened my eyes into legislation, because growing up, I had no idea about politics, about what was even a elected official, or there's different levels. So that motivated me, my experience with what happened to my sister, and my experience with the chci in Washington, DC, and working alongside with our local congressman, Pete Aguilar.

Don  08:33

I'll tell you, Leticia, it is very rare that you're in the space with someone who has had not endured trama I mean, just it's just rare. So sorry to hear about your sister. What roles have mentors, educators or community organizations played in your path as both a student and an advocate? And I want you to really focus on a particular individual, or individuals, not just globally, but if you could talk about an individual who had a real impact on you,

Leticia H.  09:06

yes, t he first person that comes to mind is Maria Barragan. She was the coordinator at the undocumented student success center. And believe it or not, I'm a really shy person. I always prefer to be in the corner, quiet, but she was such an amazing leader that she advocated for more resources that Cal State Sovereignty know for us, more opportunities for us to become a better leader and learn about professional and personal development. So she did that for me. She was there when my sister passed away in 2016 I was very fortunate to do Advanced Parole, and I went to Mexico after 15 years, and going back to a country that you don't know was very challenging, but she was there, and she still. Here to support me, to tell me to apply for that position that I'm qualified, or to advocate and share my story and come out of the shadows. Here in the dreamer movement, we use that term a lot, coming out of the shadows, letting our educators, our peers, know what we have faced. So that's that's somewhere that comes in mind. You talked

Don  10:24

a little bit about how your immigration status impacted your ability to access resources. What about students now and families who feel so unsafe? And what are you hearing about that?

Leticia H.  10:39

Yes, I also work for a nonprofit organization here in San Bernardino, and I'm still very involved in the community. There's a lot of fear right now, especially with everything going on. Families are afraid to ask for resources. Family students are afraid because we have a new generation graduating high school without DACA. Since 2017 our students are graduating without a work permit and without a protection from deportation. So a lot of our students, what I've seen in the community here in the Inland Empire and also in the Coachella Valley, is that our students sometimes don't want to pursue higher education because, unfortunately, they don't see what they can do without a work permit. However, there has been a lot of organizations like Chila that they have advocated for bills to pass. So now the students who attend a four year university, they can work as independent contractors, doing an internships and then getting a stipend that doesn't require a e verification. So now, with everything going on, our families are afraid, unfortunately, and what I've seen also is a lot of organizations, or organized community organizing. For example, I come from grassroots organizing with nonprofit organizations that organize. Know your rights at churches here at the county, I've seen that as well. At the school district, they bring this attorneys that way, our families know what's their rights and also what's the students right? My message for the students would be to continue to pursue their dream. There are tons of resources for our undocumented students, TPS students and students with certain visas. 

Don  12:33

You've had the chance to engage with policy makers, and you talked about that Pete Aguilar, you talked about earlier, what message do you wish every legislator truly understood about immigrant youth and their families?

Leticia H.  12:46

I feel like something that we have said a lot is that we are here because we love this country. We want to contribute back to our community, even undocumented individuals, they pay in taxes with an IT number, I would want to say to them that they have to understand the stories and what our families face. For example, our students are here. We have students in our K through 12 that are undocumented, and their goal is to contribute back to the community. They want to go into a four year university, vocational  school, or some even want to join our military system, but they can't, so it is very important, hopefully, to have our legislator compromise and do maybe a partisan legislation and provide a pathway to citizenship, citizenship to our community and also our immigrant families. I come from the Coachella Valley, where they're farm workers. I've also worked in the fields, and it's not an easy job, especially the Coachella Valley, where it gets up to 115 120 degrees and our families still show up and work.

Don  14:08

You know, we have a lot of youth who want to use their voice but are unsure where to start. How would you direct them in terms of where would they start to utilize their voice to really advocate for themselves and others. 

Leticia H.  14:22

I want to tell our students that they have and youth that they have a lot of power. From my personal experience, I didn't know the power that I had with my story and organizing with the community. I would tell them to be confident. It's hard to tell them not to be afraid. But once you've joined the movement, and once you find people like like themselves or yourself, you get empowered, because you will realize that the dreamer movement, or the Immigrant Movement, it started years ago in the early 2000s Um, this is why we have AB 540 because of community organizing, because you have gone out there to protest. So I would tell them to find their community and advocate. Talk to our legislators. I've done lobbying with our local assembly members, legislators, and find what they're passionate about. For example, if it's immigration, the environment or bringing more resources to the community, they can do that. And there's tons of nonprofit organizations that do a lot of advocacy children is one of them, and immigrants rising, and there's other organizations depending on the topic that they are passionate about, I would encourage them to lift their voices and talk to our legislators and make change in the community. It's very important, and their voices value valuable. Their story is valuable, valuable, and it will inspire many others to do the same. 

Don  16:02

What popped in my mind was, you know, we had some protests, right? We have protests from our students, and by law, they can protest peacefully for one day without receiving any kind of unexcused absence, so to speak. And so I think that's important, when we talk about these protesting for our kids, our students, that it's important that they do it the right way, yes, so that they're there properly, and the focus is on what they're trying to achieve versus how they're trying to achieve it. So, so Leticia, I heard that there's a historical achievement that you might want to share with us. So would you please share the historical achievement that that you have?

Leticia H.  16:48

Yes, I'm very honored to share that my graduation cap stole is was displayed at the Smithsonian Museum at the presente day a Latino history of the United States, which was open and is operated by the National Museum of the American Latino. So it is being displayed in Washington, DC. It's such a big honor, because I feel like this is also not just my accomplishment, but it's a community accomplishment, because immigrants contribute a lot to our nation. So I'm very proud. I took my whole family last May in Washington, DC, so they can see my cap and stole and a lot of my sorority sisters were there as well, celebrating this huge achievement. Because again, immigrants and also being a DACA recipient, we contribute a lot to this nation, and we care about our communities.

Don  17:49

What an honor. So glad you had the opportunity to share that. Thank you. All right. Last question, Miss Herrera, what's one action step you hope listeners, whether they're educators, parents or community members, what do you want them to take away after hearing this conversation?

Leticia H.  18:10

One takeaway is to be open mind about experiences that our students are facing, and know about the resources available for undocumented students and undocumented families. There's a lot of scholarships out there. One of the organizations is immigrants risings. They provide mental health services, not just to students, but also to families. They have a guide on how to go to college and navigate the education system and being undocumented, but also understanding that there might be colleagues that they may not know that there are undocumented, so be mindful in creating a safe space for our students and families so they can come and ask for resources, ask for help, especially during this time.

Don  19:02

Thank you for being here. Thank you, and I want to thank you for listening. We hope you find this information valuable. If you have any topics or questions that you would like addressed, please email them directly to cwa@sbcss.net as always, we hope you stay well and continue to transform lives through education.