ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
The past few years have seen a surge in misinformation and misconceptions being spread about immigration and people going through the process according to one local DACA beneficiary.
Local intern therapist Sarahi Aguilera has been working tirelessly to help combat that, and as she tells it, her work started early.
“I immigrated to the U.S. in either 2006 or 2007 with my family from Mexico. My parents were looking for better opportunities in terms of education and being able to provide for us, and we ultimately settled in Liberal. I graduated from Liberal High School, then attended Seward County Community College, and then after I finished there, I went to Wichita State University,” Aguilera said. “Before I went to WSU though, that’s when I started getting involved in immigration advocacy and sharing my family’s story and all of that, and that included lobbying in Washington, DC at that time because that’s when the first Trump administration struck down the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which I’m a recipient of. Ever since then, I’ve been an advocate for immigrants. I moved back to Liberal and worked as a victim advocate, and I worked with victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, etc., and that’s what sparked my interest in working in the mental health field. I went back to graduate school and now I’m working as an intern therapist providing bilingual mental health services.”
Being a voice, Aguilera said, was what prompted her to become an advocate.
“The final push, for me, was about wanting to take ownership of the narrative and not letting fear be a driving factor anymore. My advocacy work actually began around November 2017 with the first Trump administration, and having that experience of going to Washington, DC and meeting with lawmakers and talking about the actual faces of immigration that would be impacted by what the presidential administration was doing at the time,” Aguilera said. “All of that gave me the motivation to share my story in the hopes that other people would be inspired and be unafraid to speak up for themselves. I know there’s always that fear of deportation for some people, so if I can be that voice that helps someone speak up for themselves and share their story, that’s great. I want to help be an inspiration and help people, through sharing my story, get educated on immigration and share legitimate facts about what happens. I know a lot of times there’s that question of ‘Why didn’t you just apply for your citizenship?’ but a lot of people don’t realize the sheer amount of work and time and money everything takes when it comes to the immigration process. There’s also the misconception of immigrants using more than their share of public benefits, but that is absolutely false – undocumented non-citizens are not, and have never been, eligible for SNAP, and people must meet SNAP eligibility requirements such as limits on income and resources. I’ve also just recently shared my story and testimony in Topeka regarding my opposition to SB 254, which would take away in-state tuition for undocumented students. I want to be a voice that helps remove some of that stigma around immigrants, because there are so, so many misconceptions out there.”
Aguilera said public benefits abuse and non-payment of taxes are the two biggest misconceptions she hears and works to educate people on.
“The misconception about taking federal public benefits is a big one I hear, and so is the misconception of immigrants not paying anything in taxes, because undocumented immigrants paid $96.7 billion in federal, state, and local taxes in 2022 alone,” Aguilera said. “Those are the big two I’ve talked about, and I’ve also talked multiple times about all the different barriers people face when applying for citizenship. Despite what some people might think, it’s not just a one-time fee and one small group of forms and then you’re all done, it’s a process that takes multiple years, sometimes even more than a decade, and there’s so much that needs to be done before you’re even considered qualified.”
Aguilera has also used her voice to help crime victims.
“Back in 2021, I started working as a victim advocate, and I worked with people who had been directly impacted by domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking,” Aguilera said. “We were trained to help de-escalate crises and help victims navigate the legal system as they were facing everything, and that also included any medical exams. Although we were trained to help give that more immediate support, I felt rather stuck because I felt like I wasn’t providing people with the tools and skills needed to deal with the trauma afterward from what they’d gone through. I decided to go to graduate school, which I’m currently doing through Fort Hays State University, and I’ll be finishing up in May. It’s been great being able to learn about the ways trauma can impact the brain and be able to give people the skills and tools they need to navigate a panic attack or triggers, and being able to help build that bridge between healing and the traumatic experience. A lot of the clients we did see were only Spanish-speaking, so even though we had some amazing people working where I was before, they only spoke English, so there was that language barrier, meaning there were many people who were unable to actually use our services or get that needed support while going through everything. I felt horrible letting those clients go without giving them those tools to get through everything afterward.”
With experience in both fields, Aguilera said she has been able to use both in order to provide help to those who need it.
“One big thing for me has been being an advocate for mental health services and being able to connect that language barrier and being able to help those clients, because there is a lot of fear and anxiety going around in the community, so there is that question of how to take care of your mental well-being overall,” Aguilera said. “And I’ve been working a lot recently with families of mixed status, so those conversations have been about giving them the tools to help navigate their anxiety about what’s going on. While things might seem insurmountable, there are things people can do, and there are aspects people can manage in their lives to help ease some of their thoughts. My colleagues and I work independently, so I can’t speak to the total numbers, but since I’m the only bilingual person, I’ve been dealing with more of those mixed-status families, and I’ve definitely been hearing more about anxiety and fears about what’s been happening lately. More of my conversations lately have been in regard to policy and what the current administration is doing. Definitely, in terms of social media and the way information gets spread around, I feel like we’ll continue seeing that spike in overall fear and anxiety just because not enough people know what the true narrative is, and there are just so many misconceptions and stigma out there. People knowing the facts and getting accurate information about what’s going on is so important since there is so much going on at this time, so it’s difficult to not get overwhelmed. The hardest part for me has been making sure my clients know they have a safe space in my office, and honestly, I have some of the same fears they do. There are definitely some hard moments because I’m working to help my clients work through their anxiety while also dealing with some of that on my own, and at least for the near future, I don’t think there’ll be too much of a decrease in that.”
Overall, Aguilera said, she does not plan on slowing down.
“I want to continue educating people, sharing resources, and connecting with our community’s amazing leaders to help host workshops and meetings to help with all of that,” Aguilera said. “Education is power, and that while that can feel slightly overwhelming at times, it’s imperative to know and share the truth, especially with what’s going on with the current administration. Being able to provide that information will help break some of those barriers and some of the stigma, and that’s something that’s sorely needed. Education is important because you always want to be prepared, and you also want to be more proactive than reactive. Also, sharing false information harms more people than it helps, and we want to help make sure everyone knows what’s actually going on and everyone knows their rights.”
