QUEENS COLLEGE–Amid the latest immigration executive orders, Queens College has reaffirmed its support for immigrant students by expanding legal resources and strengthening protections for undocumented and non-citizen students.
For over 30 years, CUNY Citizenship NOW! has been offering free, confidential legal services for immigrants. In 2024, it established an office at QC to assist students with visa and citizenship applications. As part of its continued commitment, the office, in collaboration with the Immigrant Student Support Initiative and QC’s Urban Studies program, organized a series of “Know Your Rights” workshops. The latest workshops, held on Feb. 5th and Feb. 18th, were led by an attorney from CUNY Citizenship NOW!. A session on Dec. 16, 2024, featured Assemblywoman Catalina Cruz and immigrants’ rights activist Enrique Peña Oropeza, an MA graduate in Urban Studies from QC.
In addition to these workshops, the Professional Staff Congress (PSC), the professors’ union, has organized sessions to help individuals understand their rights both on and off campus. To further support CUNY students and PSC members facing immigration-related threats, the PSC established the Immigrant Solidarity Working Group, which encourages community engagement and organizing.
QC students are acutely aware of the impact of current national politics, as many are directly affected. In response, they are actively sharing resources, exchanging knowledge, and providing mutual aid to support one another.
