a letter to my students about the new executive orders

posted on Jan 27, 2025

danny caballero

When President Trump was elected the last time, I failed to address the concerns of my students in class. That time was terrible, but also long ago in our memories. That time, much of the worst of what I feared was constrained. But the most recent executive orders coupled to the actions (e.g., attempting to enter elementary schools, raiding workplaces) that he is directing agencies to take are a very different matter.

People said watch the actions, not the words. Doing so is terrifying.

I also know that my students are not all the same. Some of them might be hyper-informed and deeply concerned. Others might be blissfully unaware. Some might be deeply affected by these orders. Others might be less so. Some might be supportive of these orders. Others might be deeply opposed.

My point is writing this letter and reading it to them today is not to assume that they are all in the same place. It is also not to assume they view this how I do. It is to say that they belong and are welcome at MSU, and that I will fight for them to continue to be so.

Letter

Hi Y’all,

Before we get started today, I wanted to say a few things about the recent executive orders issued by President Trump. I wrote this down because y’all know I swear like a sailor and I do it even more when I’m angry.

President Trump’s executive orders are wrong. They target the most vulnerable and marginalized among us. They target folks of color, our lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, and transgender family and friends, and immigrant and undocumented communities including the ones I lived and grew up in. They target the progress we’ve made to reduce bias and barriers, to provide equal opportunities, and to develop a more inclusive society.

They reject the history of our country. They dismiss the forms of human slavery that built this country’s wealth. They ignore the taxes and literacy tests that kept black and brown folks from participating in democracy. They supplant experience and expertise with loyalty and obedience. And they are an attack that I take personally.

My family is from Deep South Texas where until the late 80s border crossings were common. We have family on both sides of the border. My family has lived there since before the Texas was a state; before Texas was a country; before the US was a country; and before Mexico existed. My family’s history is rooted in the indigenous Tejano people who were colonized by white Spanish and American settlers. Slavery, indentured servitude, sharecropping, and America’s separate but equal policies are part of my family’s history. My family were farmers, city employees, grocery clerks, and bakers.

The progress that America has made is why I am teaching this class today.

This kind of thing has happened before. In the late 2000s, President George Bush signed an order allowing local police to initiate immigration checks. The state of Georgia passed a Show Me Your Papers law consistent with that EO that was later struck down. At the time I was in graduate school at Georgia Tech. My partner, our first daughter, and myself lived in an immigrant and undocumented community in Northeast Atlanta. The neighborhood was quiet but often patrolled. One day coming home from work on my bike, I was stopped by local police and asked for my papers.

Now, I had been stopped by police at least two dozen times by that time in my life. I’ve gone through the “yes, sir” and “no, ma’am” bit alot.

I am an American citizen. But, the police requested another form of identification other than my Georgia driver’s license, which had the address of the home that I lived in as proof. I was less than a mile from my home. I had no other papers. They asked to search my backpack; I refused. I asked to speak to their supervisor. He arrived after I had been detained for 15 minutes. I was released with no apology.

I have no idea what the next few weeks are going to hold, but the last several days have shown us that attacking the most vulnerable among us is the plan.

Now, you might have lots to say about that. You might be more informed. You might be less informed. You might have very strong opinions on this to share. You might be scared. You might be angry. You might be ambivalent. All of that is okay. Honestly, the weirdest part of this whole thing is that most of us, 99.9% of us, are the most vulnerable. We have to recognize that. We have much more in common with folks in this classroom, across our campus, and in our communities than we do with the folks who are engineering our division.

So, I want to be very clear. In this class, in our time together, you belong here. You belong in our classroom, you belong in our department, and you belong here at MSU.

Let’s get some water and then get started.