For California’s immigrant students, college plans carry more worries

A desk displaying instructional materials in a class for newcomer students in northern California Photo by Lauren DeLaunay Miller California Wellness Review This story originally appeared in the California Wellbeing Document A note on source protection In this story we speak to four high school students In order to protect the identities of the students who fear repercussions based on their immigration status we have withheld their full names and the name of their school in addition to generalizing the area where they live High school seniors around the country are graduating a rite of passage that marks a profound shift It can feel as if everyone is asking them what comes next For immigrant students these discussions have an extra layer of complexity this year At one Northern California school lately arrived immigrant students are thinking about safety politics and the society of belonging considerations that weren t front of mind as they filled out their applications in the fall before President Donald Trump took office In addition to fears about being deported or being separated from family members the students now worry about financial aid complications and whether their immigration status will prevent them from getting professional licenses in the fields they hope to survey Specific have changed their plans deciding to stay close to home and attend neighborhood college instead of attending a four-year university Others feel grateful they live in California which has historically provided more guidance and what a great number of feel is a more welcoming conditions for undocumented students than specific states But all of the students interviewed expressed various concern about what their next measures could mean for their safety The stress of worrying about immigration issues can make it more arduous to focus in class reported Beleza Chan communications director at Immigrants Rising a nonprofit organization that helps undocumented college students in California It can be hard to stay motivated when the future feels so uncertain she disclosed And yet continuing to pursue your dreams is one way to fight back Chan added A California safety net interrupted When A who is came to the U S alone four years ago his eyes were set on college To him that meant enrolling directly into a four-year university But for majority of of this year A had started letting go of that dream His legal protections are only temporary and without a green card he wondered if straying far from the home he s built with his aunt and cousins was the best idea I have a lot of mixed feelings he announced Then A learned that he had been accepted to Cal State Chico and a local organization would cover part of the cost With encouragement from his advisors A decided to enroll But just as A was wrapping his head around the idea that his dream of attending college and living on campus was coming true he learned that a special agent from the Department of Homeland Prevention had visited his old address where the agent left his business card with a relative who still lives there A is working with his attorney to figure out his next actions but in the meantime his fears feel closer than ever An immigrant trainee identified only as A to protect his identity logs into a computer at his high school in Northern California Photo by Lauren DeLaunay Miller California Fitness Assessment S has similar concerns She entered the country on a temporary visa with her mother a green card holder nearly three years ago She without delay applied for her own legal permanent residence but the application is still pending In the meantime her temporary visa has expired leaving her in a delicate legal situation Her lawyer has recommended that if her green card doesn t come through soon she should go to her home country and wait But that would mean putting her college dreams on hold and returning to a country where she has scant family members left According to the U S Citizenship and Immigration Services the average wait time for this type of green card application is years Before this year S had no concern talking to others about her immigration status Her application was pending and even though she knew she had overstayed her visa she assumed it would be fixed soon But she s felt the civilization shift I feel like now I cannot be really open and talk about my experience because of how things have changed mentioned S Early on in her college application process S was thinking big Determined to scrutiny citizens robustness and medicine she applied to colleges across the country from schools in the University of California and California State University systems to private universities on the East Coast But after the polling she started doing more research trying to understand not just what financial support each school offers but how that school does or doesn t outwardly welcome undocumented students She also craved to know more about how states have responded to Trump s deportation agenda As the acceptance letters began to pour in S learned that she was being offered a full scholarship to UC Santa Barbara Her excitement has been tempered however by the looming question of her legal status If her green card is approved before classes start in August she ll enroll But she s already booked a plane ticket home realistic about her chances and seeing no other choice Public colleges can offer solutions for immigrant students When C who is crossed the southern perimeter into Arizona with her mother two years ago she was nearly nine months pregnant After spending largest part of her life concerned for her safety C mentioned I m a huge fan of all calm places She detected that in Northern California where she made friends in her high school s newcomer campaign C s teachers helped her find daycare for her daughter and advocacy with housing and food I would give anything so that my daughter doesn t have to go through the same things that I went through C mentioned Going into her last semester of high school C had already decided on her plan after graduation area college As multiple of her peers are excited to embrace their independence for the first time C is experiencing something that educators say several of their newcomer students feel a hesitancy to uproot themselves after years perhaps a lifetime of seeking a safe stable place to live C s population college of choice has a Head Start venture for her daughter and staying at home means she can pursue her development while continuing to live in a group she knows and trusts C expects to be eligible for in-state tuition in addition she has received a scholarship from a local philanthropic organization that will help her with living expenses C plans to eventually transfer to a university to complete her bachelor s degree and become a mentor in her Northern California town One day she hopes to teach at the same high school she s enrolled in now and help other newcomer students feel welcome An immigrant apprentice identified only as C to protect her identity fiddles with a locker in the hallway outside her classroom Photo by Lauren DeLaunay Miller California Healthcare Account For specific students though the decision to attend society college can feel like a bit of a disappointment J came to the U S with her parents when she was just a insufficient months old and growing up she d unfailingly felt like an American She didn t think much about her legal status until she needed a Social Precaution number to hold a job get a driver s license or apply for college She dreamed of higher learning not just for herself but to make her parents proud Even if I don t know what I want to do yet I know that I am going to get that guidance she announced J is one of approximately undocumented students who will graduate from California high schools this year Only of those students will pursue higher mentoring compared with of students statewide who enroll in college after high school according to the California Undocumented Higher Tuition Coalition Financial aid has invariably been a big part of undocumented students decisions Chan disclosed These students are not eligible for federal financial aid but California and other states allow selected undocumented students to pay in-state tuition or access state financial aid Now those local decisions could be usurped by the federal leadership The Trump administration has reported it will punish states that maintain these policies on April Trump issued an executive order pressuring California officers to cooperate with the administration s agenda though no changes have yet been made To manage these complexities J and her classmates have been working with advisors through her school s Upward Bound effort part of the federally funded TRIO programs which provide tools and guidance to students from low-income backgrounds pursuing higher tuition Oregon and California had waivers that allowed students to participate in the activity regardless of their immigration status But in late March the U S Department of Learning revoked that waiver All of the students interviewed for this story have been communicated they can keep participating because they re already enrolled but going forward schools will need to verify all students immigration status and only enroll U S citizens U S nationals and legal residents When J was first accepted to Sacramento State she was thrilled but then she began to worry about her safety Her family worried that being hours away from home in a bigger city could put her at greater danger of deportation and J began considering her local region college as a safer and more affordable option For now J has enrolled in her local public college in the hopes that by the time she finishes her associate degree the doors to a bachelor s degree will open for her Being undocumented is hard but area helps For A the stress of entering the next phase of his life can feel isolating It s really hard because you re trying not to think about that instead of just thinking about school stuff you know he disclosed You have a little bit more weight in your mind Amid political uncertainty educators still have the power and the responsibility to create a space that feels safe and welcoming for all of their students declared Xilonin Cruz-Gonzalez deputy director of Californians Together an advocacy group In during the first Trump administration Californians Together launched a project called Advocacy for Immigrant Refugee Students to train educators on immigration plan and techniques they can create safe spaces for their students Chan says that a big part of creating that safe space is providing accurate up-to-date information Immigrants Rising has just now launched a new tool that helps college-bound immigrant students and educators wade through complicated eligibility information Chan has determined that undocumented students mental medical affects their academic performance The group has been compiling research showing that depression and anxiety can lead to lower grades higher dropout rates decreased motivation higher levels of self-harm and worse physical medical among undocumented students But despite the well-studied need for mental soundness services a scrutiny from UC Irvine manifested that undocumented students in higher teaching use such services less frequently than their documented peers Students expressed low perceived need because they normalized mental strain as a natural product of their unstable immigration status wrote the assessment authors Several viewed healing as futile because it could not address underlying immigration-related issues But that doesn t mean students have to face those challenges alone Immigrants Rising hosts regular virtual meetups for undocumented students around the country to share openly with one another Numerous college campuses in California do similar work through UndocuAlly and UndocuLiaison programs that assign college staff members to be the official points of contact for undocumented students We can t solve all the aggressive immigration policies that are out there Chan disclosed No amount of breathing exercises is going to get rid of that But having public helps This story is part of a partnership between the California Medical Analysis and Chalkbeat and is supported by the Solutions Journalism Architecture s HEAL Fellowship on youth mental fitness