EOiTOR-fN-CHIEF ERIKA WILLiAMS
MANASING EDITOR LARISA KARR
MANAOINO EDITOR EMILY HENDERSON
MANAGING EDITOR CHARLIE HEARD
NEWS EDITOR MAGGIE HADDOCK
OPINION EDITOR CATHERINE PIGG
SPORTS EDITOR SAMANTHA SAVERY
A8F EDITOR KARRtGAN MONK
ASSISTANT A&F EDITOR SARAH SHADBURNE
LAVODT 8 DESIGN EDITOR BRYCE ALBERGHINI
PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR MfCK haseloff
COPY DESK CHIEF REBECCA ANDREWS
ADVERTISING MANAGER Katie ritchie
MULTIMEDIA EDITOR ele choplin
MULTIMEDIA EDITOR James hughes
SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR karen lopez
DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Elizabeth walker
FACULTY ADVISER michael GOUGe
The Blue Banner is UNO Asheville's
student newspaper. We publish each
Tuesday except during summer
sessions, finals week and hofidav
breaks. Our office is located in Karpeh
Hall 019.
The Blue Banner is a designated forum
for free speech and welcomes letters to
the editor, considering them on basis of
interest, space and timeliness. Letters
and articles should be emailed to the
editor-in-chief or the appropriate section
editor. Letters should include the writer's
name, year in school, and major or other
relationship to UNCA. Include a phone
number to aid in verification. Alt articles
are subject to editing.
WE STAND WITH
DACA RECIPIENTS
EDITORIAL STAFF
uncathebluebanner@gmail.com
President Trump announced
last Tuesday his administration
would begin the process to re
peal the Deferred Action for
Childhood Arrivals program.
DACA was first implemented
in 2012 under the Obama admin
istration to protect undocument
ed immigrants who had entered
the country as minors.
Under the Trump administra
tion, these protections could be
taken away.
Despite the administration al
lowing a six-month window for
Congress to act, the simple dec
laration to end this program is
enough to strike concern into the
hearts of hundreds of thousands
who will be affected.
The Blue Banner does not, in
any way, support Trump’s deci
sion to end DACA.
Though the editorial board has
political differences, we affirm
this is a critical and imperative
human issue, and not one of par
tisanship.
We believe every American
— even those who may have
entered the country illegally —
have inalienable rights to the
pursuit of happiness.
We stand by our friends, col
leagues, and students in the com
munity affected by this rhetoric.
Chancellor Mary K. Grant sent
an email to students on Thurs
day, providing a six-sentence
acknowledgement of the DACA
repeal, accompanied by a vague
affirmation of our university’s
core values and mission for di
versity and inclusiveness.
We respect and appreciate this
acknowledgement by Chancel
lor Grant, but feel this email fell
short of producing a call for ac
tion, yielding deeper insight or
implementing means by which
students can combat the repeal
of DACA in a democratic man
ner.
Expressing hopefulness is
comforting, but does not serve
to clearly assert solidarity with
members of the student body
who are fearing for their future.
Moving forward, we wish to
see further public conversation
about this issue on campus.
Mark Meadows, Republican
U.S. Representative for North
Carolina’s 11th congressional
district, expressed support for
Trump’s decision and encourag
es congress to consider action on
immigration reform — includ
ing the wall— before visiting the
president’s plan to repeal DACA
during this six-month window.
He is up for re-election in 2018.
We strongly encourage stu
dents and staff to partake in the
local democratic process and
vote during this election.