Fewer undocumented students have DACA. California colleges want to help even if options are limited.
Eduardo Posadas, 22, and Auner Barrios Vasquez, 21, are undocumented students, but their paths diverged when they turned 15. Shortly after his birthday, Posadas became eligible for a federal program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, which provides benefits for undocumented youth who have pursued an education or served in the military.
By the time Barrios Vasquez turned 15, just months later, Donald Trump was president and the window for new DACA applications was closing. In the years following his 15th birthday, DACA faced a series of legal challenges that effectively kept the program alive for anyone who applied before 2017, while excluding nearly all new applicants, including Barrios Vasquez.
Today, a growing number of students at California colleges and universities are ineligible for DACA. An estimated 17,000 people in California do not qualify because of decisions by the Trump administration and the courts, but many more people (nearly 100,000 Californians) are ineligible for other reasons, said Ariel Ruiz Soto, senior analyst at the Migration Policy Institute. That is, the program has residency and age restrictions.
The population of DACA recipients is aging and shrinking, and there are limits on what schools can do to help those who don’t qualify. As the federal program dwindles, California universities and legislators are looking for creative (and sometimes controversial) strategies to support undocumented students.
On each of the University of California campuses, most California State University campuses, and more than half of the state’s 116 community colleges, there is a center where undocumented students can access help managing grants, financial aid, and legal resources.
At the College of San Mateo’s Undocumented Community Center, Posadas and Barrios Vasquez are sitting across from each other at a table, eating pizza and watching action movies. Above the heads of the two men, painted in large colorful letters, reads, “No human being is illegal on stolen land.”
“Sometimes I forget how much (DACA) helps me compared to other undocumented people,” said Posadas, who said he usually thinks more about his status every two years when it comes time to renew his DACA application.
For Barrios Vasquez, immigration status has limited his options. “You have to accept fate,” he said.
Is the dream of undocumented students dead?
California has the largest population of undocumented college students, approximately 83,000 people, according to an estimate using data from the American Community Survey. UC, Cal State and the community college system do not officially track the number of undocumented students and instead use various indicators to estimate it. They also do not track the number of DACA recipients.
From the time the federal government implemented DACA in 2012 until Trump’s election in 2017, the narrative around undocumented students centered on that program, said Alonso Garcia, senior director of the Foundation for California Community Colleges. Now, as that population declines and a new group of undocumented students emerges, he said community colleges are shifting their focus.
The language is changing, too. The term “Dreamer” emerged more than two decades ago when lawmakers and advocacy organizations first introduced the DREAM Act, a federal bill to provide a path to citizenship for undocumented youth who came to the United States as children. That bill, and the various versions that followed, failed in Congress, but helped build momentum for DACA, which targeted undocumented youth even if it only provided temporary relief. Now the poster children for the Dream Act and DACA – the original “Dreamers” – are in their 20s, 30s and 40s, but many politicians use the word “Dreamer” more broadly to refer to all undocumented students or youth.
“Recently, I’ve been learning more about what it means to be a ‘Dreamer’ and it seems like a narrow definition,” said Auner Barrios Vasquez, a student at the College of San Mateo.
Barrios Vasquez said he used to identify as a “Dreamer” when he was younger, thinking the word might have some power and help him get legal protections, such as DACA. “Recently, I’ve been learning more about what it means to be a ‘Dreamer’ and it seems like a close definition,” he said. He prefers “undocumented.”
In 2019, state lawmakers passed the Dreamer Resource Liaisons bill and have since allocated more than $35 million for colleges and universities to designate places and people on campuses to support undocumented youth.
Nimsi Garcia works as one of those liaisons for undocumented students at Cañada College in Redwood City, although her position is funded differently. In the San Mateo Community College District, which includes Cañada College, College of San Mateo and Skyline College, she estimates there are nearly 1,000 undocumented students, only “a very small fraction” of whom are DACA recipients. She used to run the “Dream Center,” but this year, she said, the district’s three colleges agreed to rename their spaces “Undocumented Community Centers.”
Working without authorization
Except in limited circumstances, undocumented students cannot work unless they have DACA. Last year, Barrios Vasquez had to turn down an internship as an engineer at a tech startup because it required a Social Security number. His dream internship is at Stanford, where he eventually wants to transfer and continue studying computer science, but he assumed the internship also requires work authorization, so he never applied.
DACA does not provide a pathway to becoming a U.S. citizen, but it does grant Posadas work authorization, making him eligible for many on-campus jobs and some internships. However, as a computer engineering student, he said the best internships are at national research labs and only U.S. citizens can apply.
“Sometimes I forget how much (DACA) helps me compared to other undocumented people,” commented Eduardo Posadas, a College of San Mateo student.
To prioritize undocumented students and help them earn money and gain internship skills, the College of San Mateo created a scholarship program in 2021, which offers $7,500 a year in additional financial aid to anyone who volunteers approximately 10 hours a week. It’s an alternative solution for students who can’t legally work on campus, said Paola Mora Paredes, program services coordinator at the College of San Mateo who serves as a liaison for undocumented students.
San Mateo’s program is modeled after a statewide initiative, known as the California Dreamer Service Incentive Grant, which was launched the same year and initially provided up to $3,000 a year in financial aid for undocumented students in exchange for volunteer hours. UC and Cal State students also offer undocumented students the option of obtaining loans of up to $4,000 a year at low interest rates.
Some UC students want their universities to go even further by allowing undocumented students to work on campus, even if those students lack work permits. Academics say such a policy could work legally. In an open letter, law professors from across the country wrote that “the time has come” to try: “Every year, more and more students enter undergraduate and graduate programs without DACA.”
After a tumultuous meeting earlier this month, some members of the UC Board of Regents told student leaders they want to have a plan for undocumented students implemented by January, though they said they do not speak for the rest of the board. Amy Bentley-Smith, a spokeswoman for the Cal State system, said they are closely monitoring the process. Melissa Villarin, a spokeswoman for the community college system, said the decision on the state’s two-year schools “is made at the local level.”
Leaving funds unused for undocumented students
Luis Romero, 35, has been a student at Cañada College for about seven years and although he wants to work on campus, he cannot. Romero arrived as an undocumented immigrant in 2012, at the age of 24, and does not meet the residency requirements for DACA.
“I read the requirements (for on-campus work) and said, ‘OK, I have what you need,’ but I can’t go,” he said.
He relies on a volunteer scholarship, similar to the grant Barrios Vasquez receives, as well as income working as an independent contractor, tutoring Spanish.
Romero also receives no financial assistance from the state. A March report by the California Student Aid Commission found that only 14% of undocumented students receive state financial aid. Most undocumented students did not apply for state aid, and of those who applied and were eligible, only 61% ultimately received it. All undocumented students, including those with DACA, are ineligible for federal grants and loans.
The report says some students don’t know they are eligible for state financial aid, while others don’t know what to file. Romero still does not qualify because of residency and education requirements included in the law.
Working as a busboy and gardener, he enrolled in college when he was 27, a few years after arriving in the United States. He began attending school to learn English and become a waiter at the restaurant where he worked. He said it was only later that he realized he wanted to pursue an associate’s degree.
This fall, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law a bill that aims to consolidate parts of the financial aid application process for undocumented students, although the changes will not affect the legal requirements that currently disqualify Romero. To receive state aid, students must attend school in California for at least three years and receive a degree. He will only be eligible for state financial aid after completing his associate’s degree, which he plans to do next year and then transfer to UC Berkeley.
Other state programs for undocumented students are also under-subscribed. In 2021, its first year, the Dreamer Service Incentive Scholarship program had the capacity to award scholarships to as many as 2,500 students. Only 146 participated, said Shelveen Ratnam, spokeswoman for the California Student Aid Commission. Last year, the commission reformed the program to award more money and allow more students to apply, though it still serves fewer than half the students it could.
The Cal State and UC campuses allocated about $7 million for the loan program in the 2021-22 academic year, but students used only about $4.5 million, according to Bentley-Smith and Stett Holbrook, a UC spokeswoman.
Preventing Deportation
Any undocumented student can face deportation, but those without DACA are most at risk. Following the Trump administration’s decision to close DACA, the UC system sued the administration in an effort to protect its students from deportation. In 2018, state lawmakers began awarding grants to California community colleges, UC and Cal State University campuses to support legal services for immigrant students, totaling more than $72 million over the past five years.
Alonso Garcia of the Foundation for California Community Colleges said the system has provided more than 10,000 free legal consultations. In some cases, Garcia said, undocumented students may be eligible for visas without knowing it.
For Barrios Vasquez, the fear of deportation is tangible. He said that once, a few months after Trump took office, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents came to the door of his apartment complex and knocked on his door while his parents were out. He ran to the back of the house and entered a closet, finishing his task using a flashlight.
As he spoke, Posadas listened quietly: because of DACA, he is unlikely to be deported, but he thinks of his parents, who are also undocumented. Like Barrios Vasquez, they have no protection from deportation.
In 2021, President Joe Biden sought to reinstate DACA and Barrios Vasquez quickly prepared an application. Just before an appointment to move forward with his application, a judge ruled against the program, halting any progress on his application.
“I felt like I had once again been robbed of an opportunity, but it wasn’t up to me,” he said. “At that point, what could I do?”
The judge’s decision on DACA will likely face more appeals in the coming years and could fall to the U.S. Supreme Court.
In the meantime, Barrios Vasquez continues to pursue the American dream, he said. With the help of the Undocumented Community Center, he is learning how to form his own business so he can work as an independent contractor once he graduates from college. It’s an imperfect loophole that some undocumented professionals use to work in the United States, though it has disadvantages. “It’s not firm or stable,” he said, but it’s one of the only options he has.
Caption:
- Auner Barrios Vasquez, 21, at the College of San Mateo on Nov. 28, 2023. Barrios Vasquez is one of many young people who do not qualify for DACA. Photo by Amaya Edwards for CalMatters
- Decals and flyers on a table at the College of San Mateo’s Undocumented Community Center on Nov. 28, 2023. The center offers undocumented students access to financial and legal aid, as well as guidance in managing grant applications. Photo by Amaya Edwards for CalMatters