During Monday dinner I joined Esmeralda and my other fellow scholars for a discussion on current Sanctuary Movement. A little background, Sanctuary movement is a political campaign started during 1980s aiming to protect American refugees and preserve human rights. Interestingly, I learned from Esmeralda that Ithaca was one of the active cities that participated in the movement even then and was called a “Sanctuary City”. Through the time, Sanctuary movement gradually adapt to the surrounding political and social environment. The Sanctuary Movement that Esmeralda wanted to discuss with us is the Cornell campus movement that protects undocumented students from being discriminated and losing privacy.

Esmeralda told us that she was involved in drafting the petition document to the school, demanding for more protection for undocumented students as this moment. I was surprised to learn that the university may be open for the federal government to gather private information from undocumented students should they ask for it. Although I am not familiar with that student group, as an international student, I kind of relate to the difficult situation some other student groups are facing. And I truly hope that we would be discriminated. But at the same time, I am not yet strong enough to impact those decisions or the officials. The best thing I can do now is to work hard, and as Esmeralda told me, “stay vigilant”. And one day I can succeed at what I do, I can do better good for my groups of people.