When Jose Diaz came to the United States with his family for the first time at the age of 10, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals had not even been created yet. Now, 16 years later, he’s fearing the immigration policy could uproot his entire life.

The Barack Obama-implemented policy, which came to light in 2012, allows children who came to the U.S. with their parents to apply for two-year renewable periods of stay without facing the fears of deportation. For two years, President Donald Trump has threatened to abolish it.

“Suddenly, 2016 came along, and that was the year where it was either [Trump] being elected or [Hillary Clinton] being elected,” Diaz, a 2017 Central Connecticut graduate said in reference to the last presidential election. “I knew I didn’t want [Trump] because [he is] obviously talking bad about immigrants and taking away DACA and work permits for students.”

For Diaz, the idea that Trump could win the presidency was almost too much at times. The then 24-year-old said that, despite his protected status, he was living in constant fear.

“It started taking a bit of a toll on me,” Diaz said. “I remember that fall of the elections. I was not doing good in school. That’s when it all started. I had anxiety, [I was] not feeling good, not sleeping well, not eating healthy, not eating at all. At that point, I didn’t know what was going [to happen].”

Because of the terror Diaz said he lives in, he made it his mission to stand up and fight for what he believes in, starting on the CCSU campus.

“After the election happened, the very next day, that was the first time I organized a rally here at CCSU. I was able to contact presidents from the other organizations and clubs on campus,” he said. “We marched all across CCSU. It was very successful, and a lot of people had my back and listened to me.”

Diaz, however, was not alone in fighting against Trump’s immigration policies.

Alongside Diaz and other allies, CCSU student and former C.H.A.N.G.E. club president Victor Constanza began not only organizing rallies on-campus, but going beyond the borders of Central to fight for undocumented families facing deportation.

“C.H.A.N.G.E. itself had a giant rally a year ago in the Student Center Circle for two students. It was about DACA because it was actually being canceled [at the time],” Constanza said. “That sprung [multiple] immigration rallies and helped us make people aware of what the problem was.”

According to Constanza, one of the best things a community can do is rally around those facing deportation, which is why he aimed to organize so many.

But for Constanza, his work did not stop at CCSU students, as he began helping Malik Naveed bin Rehman and his family—Pakistan natives who are now seeking sanctuary in a church—fight to stay in New Britain.

“We wanted to create pressure and unity and show ICE [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] that this family is here to stay,” Constanza continued. “We’re united and we want them to be here.”

Aside from the rallies Constanza helped orchestrate, he also worked alongside the city of New Britain in hopes to better its immigration policies, specifically for Rehman and his family.

Collaborating with U.S. Representative Elizabeth Esty and Senator Richard Blumenthal, Constanza worked to create a resolution that would allow the family to stay.

“The aim was to have them pass it to show that the whole city wanted [the family] and then we would have a whole letter signed by the Aldermen to give to ICE as well,” Constanza said.

Despite this, the family was set to be deported a week after the Board of Immigration Appeals (BA) reviewed their case. According to both Constanza and Diaz, this is not an unusual situation. The family, however, was granted a stay by ICE earlier in the month of October.

“Let’s say you have a deportation date, [the BA] might not give you an answer [on your status] probably until like a week after you leave,” Constanza said.

Diaz, who recently submitted his DACA status for renewal, knows this better than anyone.

“[Your status] might expire before you get the new one because it takes that long,” Diaz stated. “The whole process varies between six weeks to four months if you’re lucky. For others, it takes about six months.”

When it comes to the BA’s decision on whether or not to grant a DACA recipient stay for another two years, Diaz said something as minor as a traffic ticket could cause the board to reject someone’s status.

“If they do find something in the background check, as minor as it is, they will use it as an excuse,” Diaz said. “[Even a] speeding ticket, any type of ticket could be a reason to not accept it. It’s to their discretion.”

And as long as Diaz wishes to stay in the U.S., he will have to continue renewing his DACA status every two years as there is currently no path to citizenship for dreamers.

“We cannot get a visa, we cannot apply for citizenship, we can not get any other type of status,” Diaz said. “That’s the way they designed it.”

Had it not been for the support of the CCSU students around him, Diaz said that he may have never felt as safe and protected as he does at CCSU.

“I realized that if I were in another campus, I don’t know what would have happened,” he said. “But I saw that as a start of the things CCSU could do to support students like myself.”

Diaz credits his safety to CCSU President Dr. Zulma Toro and what he said is her willingness to fight for undocumented students on-campus.

“From the conversations I’ve had with President Toro, she’s said that if an ICE agent came to the CCSU campus and tried to detain someone on campus, they would not be allowed to unless they first spoke with her,” Diaz stated. “That’s something that gives me some hope because it’s not like I’ll be walking on campus and something will happen.”

Since taking over as CCSU’s president, Dr. Toro, who hails from Puerto Rico, has let it be known to all students that DACA students have her full support.

In the past, she’s stated that the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system has a protocol to use in handling all ICE-related issues.

“I realize the uncertainty at the federal level is extremely distressing to them,” Dr. Toro said. “I hope our DACA [students] find some comfort in knowing that CCSU police will not inquire about a person’s immigration status or detain them based on an ICE agent’s request.”

Dr. Toro also said that her office handles all ICE agent requests and inquiries in consultation with University Counsel, adding that students, faculty and staff have been instructed to report any ICE agent activity on-campus to her office immediately.

In order for Dr. Toro to continue that support, Constanza and Diaz said that both the city of New Britain and CCSU should aim to become a “sanctuary city” and a “sanctuary campus,” an idea that calls for limited cooperation with federal immigration enforcement agents.

“New Britain can definitely become a sanctuary city,” Diaz said. “It doesn’t even have to be called that, but they can put some things in place to help become that.”

Constanza is also a strong advocate for this idea, saying that it would help both CCSU students and New Britain residents feel safer.

“We’ve tried to push that Central was an actual sanctuary campus,” Constanza continued. “[But] if Central does declare itself a sanctuary campus, [the university fears it] would lose funding.”

When asked about making Central a sanctuary campus, Dr. Toro said that as a state university, she does not have the authority to declare “sanctuary” status. However, the campus is considered but a “sensitive location.”

More than anything, Diaz said that he just wants people to understand that he and other DACA recipients are no different from U.S. citizens.

“We are students as well, just like everyone else. Just human beings overall,” he said. “It would be good to talk to someone who is a DACA recipient to find out more about their story. You might relate to them more than you think.”