As President Donald Trump begins his second term with a declaration of a national emergency at the southern border and a steadfast pledge of mass deportations, California’s colleges and universities have been holding workshops and partnering with legal service nonprofits to help undocumented students on their campuses stay in school.
Across the University of California and California State University systems, as well as at many California community college campuses, Dream resource centers support the state’s estimated 100,000 undocumented students and students from mixed-status families. An estimated 3.3 million Californians live in mixed-status households, according to data from Equity Research Institute, a USC research group. These centers assist students with filling out financial aid forms, referrals to nonprofit immigration law firms, access to mental health support, and provide spaces to bond, do schoolwork or take a break.
Several Dream center coordinators and their nonprofit legal partners said they have seen unprecedented demand for legal services from undocumented college students since Trump’s election victory in November. Legal service providers say their free consultations are booked for several months with students seeking to understand the level of risk of deportation faced by them and their families.
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