News Release
Contact:
ccc.undocu@gmail.com
https://www.ccc-uss.org

November 19, 2020

City of San Luis Obispo Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Funding Received for High-Impact Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Program for the 2020-2021 Funding Year

San Luis Obispo, Calif.,⸺The Central Coast Coalition for Undocumented Student Success (CCC-USS) is pleased to announce that we have been awarded $10,200 in funding from the City of San Luis Obispo for programming that advances diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) in the City. 
​
With this funding, CCC-USS will be convening an Undocu Community Summit in the fall of 2021. The Summit will bring together college dream centers, K-12 educators, organizations, and community members within the city of San Luis Obispo and neighboring communities including north and south county partners.  

The Undocu Community Summit will be a phased event beginning in Spring 2021 where the coalition will bring together key stakeholders for discussing and developing the full program for the summit. The one-day summit will take place in fall of 2021, either virtually or in-person at a sensitive location such as Cal Poly, Cuesta College, or another educational facility depending on COVID guidelines.

Goals of the summit: 

1. Raise awareness of and address issues facing the undocumented community in San Luis Obispo
2. Celebrate undocujoy and hear from the undocumented community directly
3. Bring together the undocumented community and allies in one place (virtual or physical) in order to collaborate, build community, and help all organizations and individuals working with the undocumented community to achieve goals that will have a lasting impact on community
4. Explore opportunities to integrate organizational data and community knowledge to form a more holistic understanding of the range of undocumented experiences in our community, as well as specific barriers that we can collectively address in future work together

The coalition building that the Undocu Community Summit will afford, provides us a moment to gather and form strategic partnerships to collectively identify solutions to best support and address the needs of the undocumented community. 

Look for updates on this work on our website: https://www.ccc-uss.org 
 
About CCC-USS
Founded in 2015, the Central Coast Coalition for Undocumented Student Success (CCC-USS) is a collective of advocates and educators that challenge anti-immigrant and oppressive ideologies, institutional practices, and everyday actions that threaten undocumented and historically marginalized communities. Through our work together, our vision is to create social change to ensure educational equity for all students and build capacity to support undocumented students in our region. CCC-USS was founded by staff and faculty from Allan Hancock College, California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly), and Cuesta College and includes K-12 representatives and other community partners in San Luis Obispo and Northern Santa Barbara counties. 
 

UPDATE (11/10):

Thanks to your efforts, a special meeting was called for Thursday, November 12th at 1 pm. John via zoom at: 
https://cccconfer.zoom.us/j/8055463100

Attend and speak during public comment requesting the Board of Trustees to censure Trustee Sysak and for Sysak's resignation. 



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Board President Peter Sysak is facing public pressure to resign in light of his racist social media posts. Over 150 Cuesta faculty, staff, students, and SLO County community members attended the November 4th board meeting calling for Trustee Sysak's resignation during a public comments session that lasted over an hour. (SLO Tribune Article here).

Trustee Sysak's disparaging comments targeted the undocumented community, trans people, Black people, and Muslims, in addition to supporting known white supremacists groups. It is unacceptable. 

We continue to support the students, faculty, and staff of Cuesta College and their right to a Board of Trustees that respects them. 

ACTION:  E-mail the Board of Trustees to request a special meeting to publicly address Peter Sysak's behavior and demand his immediate resignation. 

E-MAILS:

psysak@cuesta.edu (Peter Sysak District 4) 

bgeorge@cuesta.edu (Dr. Barbara George District 2) 

patrick_mullen@cuesta.edu (Patrick Mullen District 3)

angela@mitchella.com (Angela Mitchell District 1)

mstrobridge@sbcglobal.net (Mary Strobridge District 5) 

ASCCPres@cuesta.edu (Student Representative) 

president@cuesta.edu (Jill Stearns, Cuesta College President)

tfrederi@cuesta.edu  (Executive Assistant to the Cuesta President)

elopez@cccco.edu (Ebony Lopez, Assistant to California Community Colleges Chancellor Eloy Oakley)

TEMPLATE:

Dear Board of Trustees,
As a member of this community, I e-mail you with deep concern about Peter Sysak’s racist behavior and the damaging impact it has on the BIPOC community in San Luis Obispo county. There is a lack of faith for Cuesta College's ability to continue being a safe and equitable space for students from marginalized backgrounds. I demand a special meeting to address the abundant public concern regarding board President Peter Sysak’s recent actions. Board President Peter Sysak must resign. 

(You may choose to include any connection with Cuesta or your district) 

CCC-USS is in solidarity The undersigned are in solidarity with all protesters unjustly charged by San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow. 

Read and sign the petition:
http://chng.it/HTSMscV57W

On Thursday October 15, 2020 charges were brought against additional protesters, 84 days after the July 21 protest and based on an independent investigation stemming from the District Attorney’s office.  The recent charges against Amman Asfaw, Marcus Montgomery, and Joshua Powell represent targeted harassment against young Black men that is inconsistent with the values of San Luis Obispo. 

Since June 1st, the San Luis Obispo police department and District Attorney’s office has attempted to intimidate and violently suppress public organizing that draws attention to and challenges racial injustices. The arrests and charges against Tianna Aratta and Elias Bautista, along with other protesters, show a clear targeting of Black and brown youth activists in our community. The new charges are an explicit political statement meant to silence anti-racist activism in the county. 
As residents of San Luis Obispo County, we have a social responsibility to hold local law enforcement and the District Attorney’s office accountable for their continued violence and judicial overreach against Black and brown lives. 

We must insist that all charges be dropped and no new charges are filed, and we must demand that our elected officials invest in communities of color and divest from the use-of-force (weaponized and judicialized) against protesters showing up for racial justice.  
We stand with all activists and organizers fighting for Black lives. 
#HandsOff
No prosecution for SLO County protesters showing up for racial justice! 

Call to Action:
In addition to signing this petition, submit public comments at the following meetings and/or send a letter or email to the following groups and individuals listed below. Insist these elected officials and task forces take action and voice their public advocacy for all the charges to be dropped against all anti-racist protesters targeted by DA Dan Dow and that no future charges are made. 
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SLO County Board of Supervisors 
Next meeting is Tuesday, October 20th at  9am; view the agenda
Info on public comment included in the agenda. Public comments may also be emailed or mailed in advance of the meeting.
Contact supervisors by phone, mail, and email. Find your supervisor.
SLO Mayor & City Council Members
Next meeting Tuesday, October 20th at 6pm; view the agenda
Info on public comment included in the agenda. Public comments may also be emailed or mailed in advance of the meeting.
Contact the Mayor and SLO City Council Members by phone, mail, and email.
SLO City Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Taskforce
Next meeting Thursday October 22nd at 5:30pm
Info on public comment included on the website above; agenda not yet posted. Public comments may also be emailed or mailed in advance of the meeting.
We also encourage you to contact the individuals below to express your outrage and raise concerns about the operation of the Office of the San Luis Obispo District Attorney.

CA State Attorney General Xavier Becerra
https://oag.ca.gov/home

@AG_Becerra on Twitter

State Senator Bill Monning
https://sd17.senate.ca.gov/ 

@billmonning on Twitter
State Assembly Representative Jordan Cunningham
http://jordancunningham.org/

@Cunning_Jordan on Twitter
Congressman Salud Carbajal
https://saludcarbajal.com/ 
@RepCarbajal on Twitter 
@repcarbajal on Instagram

The “DACA Decision Campus Action Plan” Template was developed as there is a strong likelihood that DACA’s rescindment will be affirmed by the Supreme Court – immediately impacting students and employees. 

It is anticipated that the Court will likely issue its decision sometime between now and June 2020, with a likelihood of an announcement coming soon. The justices could potentially declare that DACA is unlawful as the Supreme Court's conservative majority signaled in November 2019 their likely decision will end the DACA program.

In anticipation of the imminent decision, we are working collaboratively to prepare a plan of action template that can be implemented in phases, with the goal to be ready prior to the announcement with the most urgent plans of action. 
 
As the nation awaits the Supreme Court ruling on DACA, the lives of many undocumented students, employees and their collective families are in limbo. These individuals are a vital part of our community through their scholarship, labor, and their civic and cultural contributions to our state through their presence and vitality. We urge campus administrators to enhance the ways in which they serve, support, and uphold the rights for undocumented students and undocumented employees in preparation for the DACA Supreme Court decision.

We are sharing this information as a toolkit for your campus or department to build upon. 

CCC-USS template: https://tinyurl.com/dacaplan 

 Message from Central Coast Coalition for Undocumented student Success
Our hearts and thoughts go out to the people who have been affected by this unprecedented event and we appreciate the healthcare workers, local communities, and agencies who are on the front lines working to contain the COVID-19 virus.

This guide was developed in response for easy link access to resources and information needed during this time. Please check back frequently to the linked information as there is rapidly changing information. 

Short url to this guide: https://bit.ly/38TO3mX ​

On Friday November 8, 2019, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued its proposal to increase & add fees.

DACA Renewal fee 
will increase from $495 to $765

The citizenship application fee 
will increase from $640 to $1,170 & does not include biometrics!  

Asylum fee will be established 
And for the first time in history a $50 fee for Asylum

The fee plan will be open to public comment for 30 days starting Nov. 14.  The money raised through the new proposed fee schedule will be transferred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Visit the following url to comment:
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/11/14/2019-24366/us-citizenship-and-immigration-services-fee-schedule-and-changes-to-certain-other-immigration 

​The CSU Board of Trustees and the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration* joined over 164 colleges and universities from across the country in signing an amicus brief (amicus curiae) in the case before the Supreme Court — a “friend-of-the-court” brief which demonstrates unwavering support for the roughly 700,000 young immigrants who came to the United States as children and who hold Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status.

The Supreme Court is ruling on the legality of the Trump Administration’s termination of DACA — not the legality of DACA itself.

*Cal Poly and Cuesta College are members

The case will be argued at the Supreme Court of the United States on November 12, 2019 with the court potentially handing down a ruling as soon as February 2020, which will determine whether DACA recipients will lose the ability to live, study, and work in the United States. The imminent threat of losing DACA protection places students at risk of losing employment, food security, housing, access to health care, educational opportunities, and the sense of safety and wellbeing.

Lower courts have already found DACA to be both legal and constitutional. We urge the justices to confirm the lower court rulings and reject the Trump Administration’s efforts to terminate this successful program. 

CALL TO ACTION
We urge all Central Coast colleges, universities, and k-12 administrators to: 

1. Formally issue a public statement reaffirming their support of the DACA program.
2. Assist eligible DACA recipients to renew their DACA and identify funding sources to assist with renewal fees. 
3. In the event that DACA is terminated, we urge all Central Coast colleges, universities, and k-12 leadership to rapidly create formal action plans to ensure affected students are able to continue their education without interruption, and specifically address the financial and mental health needs and impacts caused by DACA termination.