Ana Ramirez poses on Friday, Oct. 26. Photo provided by Ana Ramirez and taken by Maria Dimas
This summer my organizing friend and I were talking about what I had gone through last year when he told me something that changed my perspective on it. He told me that what happened to me happens to our immigrant communities every day, but the only difference is that my situation was the “perfect” situation- I was a student in a university. That was the only reason the world cared, but the world ignores the labor injustices our immigrant communities face on a daily basis because they are farmworkers, in the hospitality industry, or whatever else. That is why I decided to take legal action against Western Washington University. Not for money or the publicity it brings but because this happens to my community all the time. The only difference is that many immigrants in the fields or wherever else do not have the resources and support that I have to be able to hold employers accountable, the way that I have the resources and support to hold the university accountable for what they made me go through last year. Because we as immigrants do not often hold employers accountable, employers everywhere feel that they can continue to perpetuate labor injustices against our immigrant communities. I will not stand for this from the university. For me, this was never about money. If I cared about money I would have quit a long time ago to go work under the table. And although this entire thing is centered around me this has always been about something bigger than myself. For me and many undocumented students not only across campus and across the state but across the nation what happened to me was our greatest nightmare- the realization that deep down at its core our universities do not care about us as undocumented students as they claim they do. But if I do not do this, the university and the world will never learn that we as immigrants will no longer stand for the injustices perpetrated against us. I do not like doing this, I never have. But this fight is not about me, it never has been. This whole thing hurts, it still hurts. It hurts to know my university, who loves to claim their undocumented students and loves to claim their support for us, took the first chance they had to single me out and throw me under the bus and they did not even hesitate. It hurts to know my own board did so as well. It hurts to know so many people stood against me purely because I do not have a piece of paper that read U.S. Citizen. I am very grateful to the Fair Work Center and my attorney Danielle for all of their help navigating the legal system and my legal options in this situation. I am very disappointed and hurt by the fact that I can not file a lawsuit against Western Washington University because if I did, it would have to be in Whatcom County Superior Court, where Rob Olson was appointed a judge earlier this year. For those unaware, Rob Olson was the legal mastermind behind me not being able to get paid. As someone who is going to go into the legal field, it hurts to know that I cannot turn to the justice system for justice. I have always been the person to believe in justice through the system because we are on the right side but it is very hard to stay optimistic when I cannot even turn to the justice system for justice. My parents are both farmworkers, and it hurts to know (and it hurts them even more) to know that I have to face the same struggles that they face in the fields while in a university in pursuit of the American Dream. While this whole thing comes at a high personal cost for me, the cost of letting the university get away with it is even greater, and it is a cost I can no longer afford to pay.
Undocumented, unafraid, & unapologetic,
Ana Ramirez
“You claim I’m stealing jobs though. Peter Piper claimed he picked them he picked them, he just underpaid Pablo. But there ain’t a paper trail when you’re living in the shadows. We’re America’s ghostwriters, the credit’s only borrowed. It’s a matter of time before the checks all come…thin red line on the flag you hoist when you kill but still we just say, ‘look how far I’ve come’….’cause immigrants, we get the job done…” -Immigrants (We Get The Job Done) by K’naan, Snow Tha Product, Riz MC & Residente