While the Oct. 5 renewal deadline looms over Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals beneficiaries, the Tulane student body came together at the DACAmentary event to raise funds for supporting its community.

The Undergraduate Student Government and the Graduate and Professional Student Association jointly hosted the DACAmentary event at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 2, in City Diner. The event screened “Underwater Dreams,” donated by 50 EGGS Films, in an effort to raise money for DACA Tulane students and other DACA beneficiaries in the New Orleans community.

All funds raised, including the five dollar ticket fee for the event, will go toward aiding DACA beneficiaries in paying for their $495 renewal fees and other potential legal costs.

“In light of the announcements from Donald Trump about the DACA repeal and the changes with immigration law going on in this administration, we saw a need to fundraise to help support students who might need the financial support with their legal fees and with their renewal fees,” said sophomore Juharah Worku, a senator for USG.

More than 60 students attended the event, which raised a total of $1,613. USG and GAPSA will donate the money to the Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans, which is currently aiding DACA beneficiaries in the Tulane area and greater New Orleans community.

Beyond financial help, students looking to support the DACA community are encouraged to reach out to the Undocumented Students Support Committee at Tulane.

The assistance, however, does not stop at a financial or organizational level. Vice President of GAPSA Ana Maria Lopez recommends reaching out to fellow peers and faculty for social support.

“Something that can go a long way, this would be for faculty and staff and [teaching assistants], would be to be vocal about the fact that they are supportive of DACA and undocumented students,” Lopez said. “So asking them to write a little excerpt in their syllabus so that when a student sits in their classroom and they go through the syllabus they know that this is a DACA-friendly professor, this is a DACA-friendly TA, that would go a long way. So be vocal and supportive along with the financial support.”

Earlier in the semester, USG passed a finance recommendation to allocate $3,500 from USG reserves to a DACA fund available to students in the event of an emergency. Worku and others hope efforts to support undocumented students at Tulane will not end with the finance recommendation or the DACAmentary event. 

“Financially, there is a lot of instability that comes along with that and just being a student here at Tulane and having your experiences influenced by that, we wanted to make sure both as members of the committee USSC and our respective student body roles that we’re supporting our students in the times that they need us most,” Worku said.