Fusion, the channel launched by Univision and ABC News last year, recently profiled Emilio Vicente, a gay, undocumented student running to become student body president of his college in North Carolina. In the piece, Vicente talked about coming out as undocumented and gay in this Southern state. His run for that office did a lot to educate the campus, the state and the nation about the plight of many people who share one, two or all three of his identities, as he mentions in the video.
In addition to the profile, the video provides interesting facts that place his experience in context. For example, only 16 states currently allow undocumented students the opportunity to pay in-state tuition, North Carolina is not one of them. As a result, Vicente was facing a hurdle of paying $40,000 a year which is more than his whole family makes in a year. In his case, he was able to get scholarships to cover the cost. Another data point highlighted by the video says that North Carolina is among the states with the highest number of applications for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA-as explained by Immigration Equality it is a federal policy that gives some protections to undocumented young people so that they can work and study in the country but does not provide a path to citizenship).
BuzzFeed has since reported that he lost the election. The article in BuzzFeed adds more information about Vicente's history and activism. You can tweet Emilio Vicente your support for his historic effort @emilio4sbp. Although he didn't win, his run and continued activism are contributing to the push for the intersected struggles for comprehensive and inclusive immigration reform and LGBTQ rights, dignity and access.
You can watch the video here:
You can read the article on Buzzfeed here: