Building Back Immigration Roundtable at Walkers Square
[From left to right: Local 212 FAST Fund Director Liz Franzcyk, Secretary-Director Tom Perez and AFT Local 212 President Lisa Conley]
The Building Back Immigration Roundtable with Tom Perez, former US Secretary of Labor and current Senior Advisor to the President of the United States and Director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs was held at MATC's Walker's Square Education Center on Monday, August 5.
Local 212 President Lisa Conley was an invited panelist sharing the AFT, broader labor, and frontline postsecondary educator perspective on the impact of newly released Biden-Harris executive orders that will bring much needed supports and relief to DACA recipients and other Dreamers, their families, and by extension, the communities, states and nation that they call home. The new Biden-Harris orders, taken with those enacted earlier and forthcoming, will also benefit K-12 districts and Higher Ed institutions such as MATC.
Learn more about the Biden-Harris executive orders HERE
For local coverage of the event at Walker's Square CLICK HERE
Because DACA and Dreamers do not qualify for Federal Financial Aid, and often do not qualify for available scholarships, they are forced to work long hours to pay out-of-pocket for school. These long hours compete with school demands, and a single unexpected financial emergency can derail DACA and Dreamer student's plans to stay in, succeed and graduate from college. While some colleges and universities like MATC have much needed emergency fund programs, the support provided is often insufficient, limited by time or dollar caps, or tied to stringent deadlines and qualifying criteria. FAST Funds like Local 212's fill the gaps that other supports can't.
[AFT Local 212 President Lisa Conley and Local 212 FAST Fund Director Liz Franzcyk introduce Secretary-Director Tom Perez to FAST Funds]
