Morelys Urbano, junior multimedia journalism student, has been a catalyst for change across Morgan State University’s campus and beyond, outing her status as undocumented and fighting for resources for students in similar situations.

She has spoken her truth to those in power since stepping on campus, urging students and faculty to recognize immigration as a “Black issue” that affects the university’s campus.

After forming UndocuBear in 2021 to uplift undocumented voices for change, she organized and led over 200 students to Washington, D.C., where they marched for immigration reform and “to remind President Joe Biden that immigration is a Black issue,” according to the organization’s Instagram.

Kara Turner, senior vice president for enrollment management and student success, credits Urbano for speaking out about what Morgan can do to support undocumented students. Turner encourages Urbano and other students to continue to voice their opinion in productive ways.

“It was really an eye opening moment for us because we didn’t even really know that we had undocumented students necessarily,” Turner said, describing when Urbano criticized Morgan’s resources in a town hall meeting.

 According to Turner, Morgan’s faculty are not notified of the presence of undocumented students and therefore can’t confirm there are any on campus unless students voluntarily disclose their immigration status.

“The reason students hesitate to come forward, or ‘out’ their immigration status is because “it comes with a lot of untold and complex issues,” Urbano said. “There’s a lot of people that are afraid and I don’t blame them.”

Despite paying taxes, undocumented individuals are not permitted to use their tax identification number to maintain employment. Since making her immigration status public, Urbano said, she hasn’t been able to be paid for any job or internship, outside of a few scholarships.

“I cannot just pop up and start working at McDonald’s because that’s gonna bring trouble for whoever hires me, ” she said. “So at the end of the day, it has been something that has affected me on that personal level.”

She said the benefits of her advocacy will always outweigh any disadvantages.

“Sometimes I question how my life would have been if I would have just stayed quiet,” Urbano said, reflecting on her decision to make her status known, but “I will never regret it.”

She expressed that speaking from personal experience has given her more pride in her status.

“So because I have been able to always speak from my experience and my own story without having somebody else advocate for me, that has given me the capacity to navigate and enter spaces in a way that I don’t limit myself like I used to.”

Urbano recommends that Morgan reach out to students who apply for admission without providing a social security number; they could share possible resources so students don’t have to disclose their status to receive help.

“We don’t necessarily need to comply [with] this idea that America has the ‘perfect immigrant’ and the ‘perfect advocate’,” she said. “Not everybody is willing to advocate for themselves or for others, and that doesn’t mean that they’re less worthy of having an education.”

The Migration Policy Institute estimates there are over 11 million undocumented or ‘unauthorized’ people living in the United States, over 1.5 million of which they estimate to be between the ages of 16-24.

“We want to make it a norm to have immigrants achieving a higher education in this country instead of just an exception.”

As an undocumented Afro-Latina in America, Urbano’s experience has inspired her activism, while recognizing the nuances of every immigrant’s situation.

A Dominican Republic native, Urbano migrated to Spain at 12 before migrating to America to reunite with her mom. She emphasizes that in some ways her experience has been privileged compared to other undocumented immigrants. As a European citizen, she said, she has many privileges others do not.

A year after her arrival in the United States, Urbano began advocating for immigrant rights. However she never knew the full reality of her status until she applied for college.

She’s is grateful for the resources available to undocumented immigrants, but emphasizes that accessibility continues to be a struggle within the community.

“It’s sad because a lot of people have the potential and even the desire to achieve a higher education, but they just don’t have the tools or they’re not informed of the things that are accessible to them,” Urbano said.

This year Morgan partnered with TheDream.US, a college and career readiness program dedicated to serving undocumented youth, to provide scholarships to 15 undocumented students who are Maryland residents.

The university’s Center for Career Development now offers an internship stipend program which is “highly selective and competitive,” according to the website, and awards selected students up to $2,000 for an unpaid semester-long internship and up to $3,000 for a full-time summer internship.

Turner encourages undocumented students seeking help to self-report to the extent that they feel comfortable. “We want to hear from them because we’re here to support them,” she said.

Urbano said Morgan has been very helpful about listening to student concerns and is proud that they have been able to partner with Dream.US and offer additional student support.

She believes undocumented people are politicized no matter what, and she hopes to see Morgan take a more bold approach to  “humanize our stories a bit more and make it less political.”

“We’re still human beings, we’re still students, we’re still residents of the state of Maryland,” she said.

Urbano urges HBCUs to recognize that immigration continues to affect their students. She said often undocumented students choose PWIs over HBCUs because HBCUs have less accessible support for their community.

She hopes to continue to bridge the gap between the Black undocumented community and HBCUs so students can have the freedom to choose. “We just want to make  [education] inclusive for everybody,” she said.

Urbano has also hosted Cara con Cara, a Spanish news segment on WEAA, Morgan’s campus radio station, “to serve as a bridge between Spanish speaking cultures and HBCU communities,” she said. She’s currently working with BearTV on a global news series, beginning with a series of segments in Spanish in hopes of continuing in other languages.

The journalism student  is grateful for the support she’s received from students across campus and beyond, although she has faced obstacles .

“There [are] a lot of misconceptions, there is a lack of knowledge, there is a lot of ignorance, but that comes with almost everything,” she said.

After over two years in the process, Urbano has received a work authorization card which has allowed her to obtain her first legal job in the United States. Her permit grants her authorization to work in the U.S. for four years while her green card application continues to be processed.

Urbano was granted the permit under the strict eligibility and guidelines of the Special Immigrant Juveniles government program, an often lengthy and expensive process.

She described the ordeal as “dehumanizing,” as she had to plead her case for authorization in front of a judge, describing her trauma and proving that she had been neglected.

Urbano was able to begin the process because she worked with Maryland CASA, a nonprofit that advocates for abused and neglected children, that helped cover some of the legal costs.

She wishes Morgan had more financial and legal aid for students in similar situations, highlighting the importance of immigration as a human right that can affect one’s ability to pursue and complete higher education.

Urbano began a position at Morgan’s School of Global Journalism and Communication’s Center for New Media on Nov. 8 as a documentary researcher.

“White America talks a lot about immigrants coming to this country to steal jobs and opportunities,” Urbano said. She realized recently how many opportunities including jobs, internships and scholarships have been taken from her because of her status, emphasizing that even organizations with the best intentions still exploit immigrant labor.

She plans to pursue a career in journalism, with potential plans of pursuing a PhD in cultural studies after graduation, where she will conduct research to serve the Black undocumented and Latinx communities without having to censor herself for a broader audience.

“I deserve an education the same way that everybody else does.”