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• 1 2018-03-09T00:42:12-05:00 Cair Conference Continued... 1 image_header 2018-04-19T02:41:32-04:00

  CAIR: Beyond Borders

  Through this conference, we sought to engage discussions about borders: what are they, what are they known for, and what else could they be. We also want to humanize the experiences with borders by bringing the stories of migrants who constantly cross borders. We believe that the national narrative on border building is facile.
  Instead, we aim to bring to the forefront, the different voices and different faces migration. We believe the solutions for immigration reform go beyond borders.

  The two keynote speakers were: 

  JUSTINO MORA, an immigrant rights activist, entrepreneur, self-taught software engineer, and co-founder of UndocuMedia. Through UndocuMedia, Justino leverages the power of social media and tech to inform, educate, and mobilize the masses on immigration and other social justice issues. Justino studied Computer Science and Political Science at UCLA. In 2008, Justino became involved in the fight for immigrant rights and helped lead and organize the campaigns that culminated in the passage of the CA Dream Act and other pro-immigration legislation. In 2012, Justino worked on the “Right to Dream” campaign that proved pivotal in pressuring the Obama Administration to grant DACA for undocumented youth. Through his advocacy, Justino has helped thousands of undocumented youth applyfor DACA, and scholarship resources, apply to college, and become activists themselves. *He will also be running a workshop on building your social media toolkit.

  JENNICET GUTIÉRREZ, a transgender activist from México who currently organizes with Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement. Her recent work has centered on advocating for the release of transgender immigrant women from immigration detention centers. Jennicet has not only continued with the important work of uplifting and centering the voices of transgender womenof color in all social justice work, but is also rmly committed in ending the deportation, incarceration, and criminalization of immigrants and all people of color.
  
  [Descriptions were provided by the CAIR Conference Program.]

  Self-Reflection

  On April 7-9th, 2017, with the financial help of the EDI Office seven Act on a Dream members were able to go the 7th annual CAIR Conference in Pomona College. There were known as the "Harvard Seven." Following a weekend of undocumented pride, advocacy, and empowerment, this group came determined to bring the CAIR Conference back to Harvard, for it was originally founded here. 
  
  We submitted a proposal to Pomona College in hopes of bringing it back. However, it wasn't until September 5th, 2017, that the urgency to act and hold this conference to promote immigration advocacy at Harvard and across the nation took over Act on a Dream. Rallies, support groups, and advocacy events had left us distraught with the deadline that hung over our heads: March 5, 2018. We needed to do something. 
  
  In October, we received the ok-go to plan the conference and we decided to do something unprecedented. Instead of planning for a a year or a year and a half like the previous conference, we decided that we would hold it February 23-24, 2018, about a week and a half before the end of DACA program as stated by President Trump. That gave us less than 6 months to plan, but it would allow as many DACAmented students and activists as possible to be able to safely travel across the country without the fear of repercussions, a safety afforded to them through this program. Any later and attendance would be greatly diminished. 
  
  So less than 6 months were given to plan and run a conference that sought to bring 250 activists, allies, scholars, administrators, high school and college students from all walks from life. We wanted to show: We are beyond borders. This number was 1.5 times the number of attendants than the previous conference. But, we knew that this was a crucial time period for many people and we wanted to ensure we could as many activists, allies, scholars, administrators, high school and college students together to strategize ideas, share connections, and voice concerns and goals for the future. 
  
  Conscious about the different narratives and multitude of identities that intertwine with immigration issues, we sought to create panels such as Navigating Academia after College, Know Your Rights Workshop, Lobbying 101, Story of Self Workshop and Different Faces of Migration. 
  However, before we could all of that, logistics hit us like a slap in the face. We were a group of 15-20 students, with only 3-4 members with any actual experience on planning a conference of this scale. Financials forced 4 students, Anshi Jimenez, Elmer Vivas, Daishi Tanaka, and Ana Andrade to be in constant communication with administrators, particularly the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion and Office of International Education. We had the task of finding corporations around campus and larger ones that would sponsor us in 2 months. Food, places to hold events, speakers, and outreach to students and activists across the nation, kept us running around around trying to meet the goals coordinated with administrators. Weeks passed and meetings with administrators results in new deadlines, frustrations, and more jobs for students. 
  
  Winter break was over and this consumed our life. School took a back seat for a bit. It was crunch time. Emails were sent, spreadsheets were always out, folders needed to be ordered, name tags, schedules, speakers and their flights, accommodations were on the to-do-list. So, we worked and worked, 
  
  For me, I found solace in the urgency, the work and the end goal. 
  
  Throughout the last semester and this one, I was struggling emotionally and this made me feel competent, part of a larger movement, but the work itself was draining. The week and a half before, we found ourselves in a cramped living room at someone's dorm figuring out last minute plans after dinner until 1am. That's when I realized my solace was in fact making me even more emotionally tired. All the activism and hurt that revolved in this activism was being internalized by a lot of us. 
  
  We were tired and wanted to rest, but we had the Conference, homework, and expectations. So, we kept working because we knew if we stopped, it would be difficult to start again. 
  
  Feb. 24th. Feb. 25th. The Conference came and went. It was a success.
  We met people, connected, rejoiced in a place that contained so much sorrow at times. I'm still tired emotionally and physically. Part of it preceded this Conference, but sometimes it feels like its a high price for social activists on campus. Thinking about it makes me wonder, how much of this was imposed by myself and how much of this was the environment in which we find ourselves in. 
  
  CAIR was the project, we as Act a Dream and its extension board, worked for months as an effort to be part of the nationwide conversation of immigration in the United States. Don't regret it, but makes me think was it worth the deterioration of my mental health?