Advisors must educate themselves on the rights, needs, obstacles and opportunities faced by undocumented students as well as the benefits and risks of becoming an ally.

The following are examples of the work that lays ahead for allies.

1. An ally becomes informed about the rights afforded by law to AB 540 students.
2. An ally does not encourage students to act on matters that may compromise them when they have the opportunity to adjust their status.
3. An ally finds legal alternatives that assist students to meet academic requisites when the students are excluded by law from regular participation in employment, federal and state aid, federal programs, paid internships, travel, or the use of identification forms that they do not have.
4. An ally listens openly, yet does not interrogate the student about his immigration status.
5. An ally does not “out” the student to others, without the student’s permission.
6. An ally follows up on referrals to assess the effectiveness of the referral.
7. An ally is committed to maintaining confidentiality and respecting the privacy of people who are undocumented.

Resources are available to educators who wish to start ally training projects. The AB 540 Ally Handbook and Facilitators Handbook from California State University, Long Beach is in the public domain. It may be reproduced without written permission of the author, and only an acknowledgment of the source is necessary:

AB 540 Ally Handbook (1.91 MB | .doc)
AB 540 Ally Training Project – Facilitators Handbook (168 KB | .docx)
AB 540 Resource Guide for Advisors of Undocumented Students (754 KB | .pdf)