# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Elementary and middle schools can affirm school support for immigrant families by engaging students and families in activities, lessons, and displays that reflect and celebrate diversity. Schools and districts can also provide families with easy-to-understand information about their rights and immigration legal services in their primary language, host family events and trainings with local nonprofit organizations, and ensure that teachers and other staff know about said resources (more info in next section).

High schools can create welcoming and inclusive environments through targeted lessons and leadership activities ( Beyond Differences ). Older students can be provided with tools to initiate at-home conversations about family preparedness planning in the event that they are impacted by immigration enforcement or deportation (see next section). Finally, students and parents in immigrant and refugee families should receive counseling support about preparing for college, financial aid options, and career pathways.

Engaging immigrant families in a culturally sensitive manner can strengthen trusting relationships and enable educators to learn about parents' and caregivers' concerns and aspirations. Effective practices include:

Establishing direct lines of communication with students and families in English and other languages

Partnering with immigrant-serving community organizations to inform families about their rights and immigration options

Involving bilingual family resource center staff, family liaisons, and trained parent volunteers to engage and support families on a range of issues

Widely communicating all school and district policies and resolutions related to inclusivity, student safety, and records confidentiality

Districts and schools should establish protocols for ensuring student safety if a student is in school when a parent or guardian is detained by immigration officials, the emergency contact cannot be reached, and/or there is no one available to transport a child to their home or to school. All staff and families should have a clear understanding of the process.

As outlined in from The Children's Partnership and the California Immigrant Policy Center, the emotional and physical well being of children is negatively affected by threats of deportation and anti-immigrant scapegoating. Schools can provide essential support by increasing district-based behavioral health services and/or referring families to affordable mental health specialists and counselors.

Educators can play a key role in directing students and families towards legitimate legal advice and away from fraudulent and exploitative services. Many immigrant families are "mixed status" with U.S. citizens, lawful residents, and undocumented people all in the same household. Undocumented immigrants should get an immigration "checkup" to learn about possible protections and options.

Local legal service providers may offer clinics or drop-in hours where a person can quickly speak with an attorney and then be provided with next steps to access services. Schools and districts can help identify reliable, low-cost nonprofit immigration legal services organizations through the following online sources: Ready California ; National Immigration Legal Services Directory and Catholic Legal Immigration Network . They can also distribute about avoiding fraudulent immigration services.

Some states and school districts have responded to concerns about the safety of immigrant students and families by adopting "Safe Haven" or "Sanctuary" resolutions. These resolutions specify how a district plans to implement policies, procedures, staff training, and community engagement on a range of issues, including the process for sharing (or not sharing) students' information with immigration enforcement officers and responding to school-based immigration enforcement activities (see below). This EdSource article gives a good overview of these types of resolutions. See also, NEA Safe Zone School Districts , an Immigrants Rising guide for educators , and this from the National Immigration Law Center.

Immigration enforcement on school grounds may interfere with a student's right to an education granted under Plyler v. Doe. If students are afraid to attend class, the "chilling" effect that occurs may lead to a denial of students' constitutional rights. Current U.S. Department of Homeland Security policy limits immigration enforcement at "sensitive locations" , including schools, school bus stops, medical facilities, places of worship, religious or civil ceremonies, and during public demonstrations. The U.S. Department of Education has released a fact sheet on safe spaces for families and school staff . This is an internal policy first adopted in 2011 and has since been reaffirmed by the current administration. However, because it is an internal policy, it is not binding and may be changed at any time. Districts should have a clear procedure in place for if immigration officials try to enter a site or request student records. (A sample template can be found in this publication from the California Charter School Association and Stanford Law School .)

As outlined in from The Children's Partnership and the California Immigrant Policy Center, children's mental health is negatively affected by the current environment of increased immigration enforcement and fears. Schools can provide support by providing the opportunity for families to connect with mental health specialists and counselors.

Schools should establish a protocol for student safety if a student is in school
when a parent or guardian is detained by immigration officials, the emergency
contact cannot be reached, and/or there is no one to either get the child home
or to school. Staff and families should have clear understanding of the process.

Many immigration and community-based organizations will make "Know Your Rights" presentations at schools for free. Schools can also use the ILRC toolkit to provide general information to families. Families know and trust their local schools and school personnel, and by hosting a presentation, schools can ensure that their families are prepared for any eventuality. For specific immigration issues/questions raised by families, it is important to refer families to immigration attorneys or a DOJ-accredited representative.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How Educators Can Help Undocumented Students and Their Families - Informed Immigrant

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Elementary and middle schools can affirm school support for immigrant families by engaging students and families in activities, lessons, and displays that reflect and celebrate diversity. Schools and districts can also provide families with easy-to-understand information about their rights and immigration legal services in their primary language, host family events and trainings with local nonprofit organizations, and ensure that teachers and other staff know about said resources (more info in next section).

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Haga clic aquí para leer esta guía en español
Finding and getting into the right college or university can be a daunting task, but it can also lead to extremely rewarding opportunities for career and personal advancement. There are many national programs and state laws that allow undocumented students to attend the college of their choosing. The following guide aims to help these students navigate the many exciting options available to them, in order to reach their educational goals.

According to the National Immigration Law Center, undocumented individuals are defined as foreign nationals who entered the U.S.:

without inspection;

with fraudulent documents; or

legally as nonimmigrants, who then violated the terms of their status by letting their visas expire.

Beyond legal realities, it's important to remember that many undocumented students are victims of circumstances beyond their control. Most of them were brought to America by their parents at a very young age. They've learned English, completed high school, integrated themselves into communities, and they consider themselves Americans.

By recent estimates, 11.3 million undocumented individuals live in the United States. About half come from Mexico, and many others hail from Central America, South America, and Asia. Notably, the undocumented population in the U.S. is relatively young - around 80 percent are 44 years old or younger.

Currently, undocumented Americans pay $12 billion each year to the Social Security Trust Fund. According to a study by The College Board, undocumented students would pay even more in taxes and help stimulate the nation's economy if given access to higher education. Additionally, these students would likely undertake community service and display an inclination toward civic engagement.

Undocumented students with excellent grades, ample volunteer experience, and high test scores will find that their path to earning a degree may not be as difficult as they expect. While some states - Alabama, South Carolina, and Georgia - prohibit undocumented students from enrolling in public colleges, the majority welcome them and have protections in place to ensure they can reach their full potential. Regardless of their level of social and cultural assimilation, however, undocumented students may face some challenges when it comes to paying for college. For example, undocumented college students are not eligible for federal financial aid and can only receive state financial aid in a handful of states.

According to The College Board's report, Young Lives on Hold, about 65,000 undocumented students graduate from U.S. high schools every year, and just 5-10% of them enroll in college. While that low number can be primarily attributed to systemic roadblocks, it's likely that another significant contributor is the common misconception that college simply isn't a realistic option for these students. Raising awareness of the viability and value of higher education for undocumented students is the first step to promoting their welfare as productive members of the nation's workforce.

about 65,000 undocumented students graduate from U.S. high schools every year, and just 5-10% of them enroll in college

Not only is a college degree desirable, it's on its way to essentially become a requirement in the U.S. job market. According to a report by the Georgetown Public Policy Institute, 65% of jobs in the U.S. will require some form of education beyond a high school diploma by the year 2020. That same report also states that, at the current production rate, the U.S. will lack five million workers needed to fill those jobs by 2020.

With that in mind, it's all the more important that undocumented students explore the options and resources available to help them obtain a degree.

Overcoming Obstacles

Many students believe that their undocumented status will prevent them from attending college. These students may live in fear of being exposed and deported should they apply. This should not be a concern for potential college students as it is against the law for colleges to report a student's immigration status without their permission.

Additionally, they could perceive college as cost-prohibitive because their status makes them ineligible for federal financial aid.While federal financial aid is not an option, there are many financial aid options including scholarships, grants, and private loans to make college more affordable. Undocumented students who are committed to attending college and who fully comprehend the challenges to come can make their educational dreams a reality.

The Path to Citizenship

Many citizens and immigrants consider green cards to be the obvious answer for students who want to become permanent residents in the United States. However, under current law, it's virtually impossible for undocumented individuals to get a green card. In fact, even applying for one presents a risk that an undocumented individual and their family could be deported.

To apply for permanent residency, undocumented students must first leave the country and apply from a foreign consulate. Current law requires that if a person has been in the U.S. without documentation for more than six months after their 18th birthday, they will be banned from returning to the U.S. for three to ten years. This individual would also become ineligible for a green card as soon as they've left the country.

There is no direct path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants; even marrying a citizen does not guarantee that a green card will be approved. Undocumented students, however, do have cause for hope. In 2012, President Obama announced the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Through DACA, qualified undocumented students cannot be deported without legal cause for two years. The program does not lead to citizenship, but it protects undocumented students' presence in the United States.

The DREAM Act

The federal Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act, also known as the DREAM Act, serves as a symbol of hope for undocumented youth. If the act is passed into law, it would give those who were brought to the U.S. as children the opportunity to earn citizenship in the country they know as home.

The DREAM Act, initially proposed in 2001, has gone through many incarnations, all of them rejected by Congress. The latest version, recently introduced as the bipartisan DREAM Act of 2017, represents another opportunity to pave the path to citizenship for undocumented students.

DREAM Act Requirements

Threshold Requirements:

35 years of age or younger at the time the act is passed;

younger than 16 at the time of entrance into the U.S.;

enrolled in or a graduate from a U.S. higher education institute or have a U.S. high school diploma or GED

At time of application, undocumented individuals must have:

earned a degree from a U.S. college or university;

completed two years of a bachelor's degree or higher at a U.S. college

or university and be in good standing with the school;

served in a branch of the U.S. armed forces for a minimum of two years

In its present configuration, the path to citizenship provided by the DREAM Act would be a six-year journey. It would begin with granting "conditional" permanent residency to qualified undocumented immigrants who enroll in college or serve in the military. College or military requirements could be met in a variety of ways, including attending a community college or vocational school or serving in the National Guard. After meeting those requirements, conditional residency could be upgraded to permanent resident status, a key prerequisite for obtaining U.S. citizenship.

State DREAM Acts

The DREAM Act, should it become law, would also repeal Section 505 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA). That provision discourages states from offering in-state tuition or other higher education benefits to undocumented students by requiring any state that does so to also offer the same tuition rates to citizens and lawful permanent residents who graduated from the state's high schools but who do not now live in the state.

While the DREAM Act would not require states to provide in-state tuition to undocumented college students, it would repeal the IIRIRA stipulation that forces the states supporting undocumented students to support former state residents as well. This repeal would return authority for such a decision back to the states.
In the time since IIRIRA became law, nearly 20 state legislatures have decided it is worth the Section 505 penalty to offer undocumented college students and all other high school graduates from that state living elsewhere in-state tuition rates at public colleges and universities through their own state version of the DREAM Act. In these cases, state laws take precedent over the federal government's provisions.

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program

DACA: A Temporary Fix

After the 112th Congress once again failed to pass the DREAM Act, President Obama directed the Department of Homeland security to initiate the DACA program, which essentially provides guidelines for applying "prosecutorial discretion" when dealing with young undocumented immigrants. Prosecutorial discretion could be interpreted to simply mean not deporting someone without proper legal status if they meet requirements outlined in the DREAM Act for conditional permanent residency. Undocumented students may qualify for DACA consideration if they:

were under age of 31 as of June 15th, 2012;

arrived in the U.S. before their 16th birthday;

have lived continuously in the U.S. from June 15, 2007 to the present;

are physically present in the U.S. on June 15, 2012 and upon making a request for DACA consideration;

had no lawful immigration status on June 15, 2012;

are currently in high school, have graduated or obtained a certificate of completion from high school, have obtained a General Educational Development (GED) certificate, or are an honorably discharged veteran of the Coast Guard or U.S. Armed Forces;

have not been convicted of a felony, a significant misdemeanor, or three or more other misdemeanors, and are not considered a risk to national security or public safety

Navigating DACA

For guidance through the application process for DACA, United We Dream provides a variety of helpful resources, including:

an online screening tool to determine DACA eligibility;

a student hotline to call for answers to questions or concerns about DACA: 1-800-855-DREAM-D1;

text message updates for the latest DACA news

Qualifying for DACA does defer action for a period of two years. This means that those who meet the above criteria are not faced with deportation, and they are considered to be in the U.S. lawfully. They may also apply for employment authorization.

DACA status expires after two years, but renewal is possible. It is recommended that those who qualified for DACA submit their renewal forms no sooner and no later than four months before their two years are through. All forms are submitted to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website, and those applying for renewal must prove that they:

still meet the initial guidelines;

have not left the U.S. during their deferment (unless for short visits);

have lived solely in the U.S. since their initial deferment was approved;

are not a threat to public or national safety;

have not been convicted of:

a felony;

a significant misdemeanor (e.g., domestic violence, unlawful possession of a firearm, or a DUI/DWI);

three or more non-significant misdemeanors

Only the most recent version of Form I-821D will be accepted by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) when applying for renewal. Renewal requests that are received earlier than four months before the current deferment expires may be rejected, but the forms may be resubmitted at a date closer to expiration.

I had a particularly difficult time in high school because of the recession and tough anti-immigrant laws that made it difficult for my parents to keep a steady income. As a result, I moved to three different states and went to five different high schools. As a first generation student, my parents could not provide much guidance on the application process, so I had to rely on the help of my school counselors, teachers, and older brother.

In Georgia, undocumented students are prohibited from attending major public universities so I decided to research schools that were more friendly towards undocumented students. Sometimes I would call a university and ask about their acceptance policy towards undocumented students, which made it difficult for me when people didn't know what an undocumented student was, or rudely answered saying I could not apply. After some time, I looked into news articles and op-eds of university presidents that talked about helping undocumented students in higher education, which is how I ended up at SeattleU.

Location -- Finding a state where there aren't too many anti-immigrant laws was something I heavily considered when applying to college. Depending on how far away from home you are, it is important to remember that travel isn't always cheap and it can become very time consuming. Traveling to and from Georgia to see my parents for breaks was very expensive and I didn't always go home for breaks or holidays.

Cost -- If you don't have financial support from your family, it would be very difficult to pay for college and even more so if you are traveling to a different state. While Jesuit universities are more willing to accept and offer some financial support to undocumented students, they are still very expensive.

Diversity -- Finding somewhere where you feel like you belong is very important, especially if you don't get the opportunity to travel home and see family. I spent many holidays alone and would've wished there were more people like me to be around with during those times. Not seeing parts of my culture or traditions I grew up in was difficult sometimes, but being at school where there are clubs, people, and events creates that sense of belonging.

Very important. Although undocumented students can't vote, there are many ways to get involved civically. I got involved in local government campaigns and attended political functions where I could talk about my experiences as an undocumented immigrant -- something I would not have felt safe or comfortable doing in my home state of Georgia.

Don't give up and there's always a way. I never thought I would graduate from college and even thinking about paying for it was unimaginable. It's not easy being undocumented and it's definitely not easy being an undocumented student in college. If you can't attend your dream college or if you don't feel like you belong at the college you are at speak up for yourself. One person speaking out about their experience can really help many others in the same situation.

I definitely couldn't get any federal aid, but was offered many merit based scholarships. I wasn't able to get any scholarships outside of what the school offered, so I paid the rest out of pocket. My parents didn't want to take out loans (and quite honestly, we weren't even sure if that would even be a possibility for us) which is why everything we paid was out of pocket, but at least I'm debt free. I wouldn't really say there was a "process" like there is for FAFSA, it's just about talking to the financial aid office and explaining that you can't apply for federal financial aid and hope that they can offer more merit based or private scholarships.

Multicultural offices are the best bet, but they may not always have the resources to support undocumented students. Some schools, like the University of Washington in Seattle, have their own office dedicated to helping undocumented students (Leadership Without Borders). Since my school didn't have many resources to help undocumented students, I reached out to them often and attended some social gatherings. Colleges could do more to help undocumented students by accepting them, if they don't already, offering more financial aid, and providing other services like career counseling, healthcare, and legal help.

Even though I have DACA status (for now), I wasn't able to apply for some jobs that required citizenship. I wasn't able to study abroad. Since I had to find ways to pay for college, I would work up to 30 hours a week (while still a full time student), which prevented me from doing more general things like hanging out with friends or just feeling well rested.

Students should think about financial aid, immigration laws, travel (safety and cost), and the general things I mentioned above. Finding housing can also be difficult without having a social security number or credit. Having plans in case someone in your family gets deported while you're away is also a difficult thing to think about while in college.

Hiding in the shadows won't really help anyone. For me, I reached a point in my life where I felt safe and comfortable sharing my story. While it has been difficult with the political climate, many people have reached out and have asked how they can help or if they're undocumented, they ask about resources and how to make it through college. I knew speaking out was a risk (I became a victim of assault, a hate crime, and extortion right after i did) but for me, I think that being a beacon of resources has helped more people which makes it worth it. The first person to reach out was a high school student and their high school counselor and I was able to help get them accepted to SeattleU. I was very glad to see someone like me get the help I wished I would've had. If it meant only helping one person that was fine with me, but as more time went by, so many people reached out about how they could get into college, pay for it, and even be involved in changing systems that prevent undocumented students from becoming successful.

Applying for College

Here's an encouraging fact that undocumented students should keep in mind when considering college: No federal law requires proof of citizenship for admission to U.S. colleges. Most institutions set their own admission policies. States that place restrictions on undocumented students, like Arizona, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, and Virginia, aren't doing so to comply with any state or federal law. While it is true that undocumented status limits a student's choices, it is possible to find a college or university that accepts undocumented students and provides enough funding to make attending feasible. However, students need to do a fair bit of research to determine if a school can accommodate them. Part of this research will involve directly contacting the school and asking questions about the school's policy on undocumented students and, if it does recognize and accept them, the standard enrollment procedure.

Fear of Disclosure

Thanks to the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act, it is against the law for school officials to disclose a student's immigration status without their express permission. Undocumented students should start their college search by asking their high school teachers and counselors for advice. Such mentors may be able to direct students to college admission counselors or pair them with other undocumented students who have either successfully enrolled in college or are aspiring to enroll.

Thanks to the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act, school officials cannot disclose immigration status about students without their express permission.

Strengthening Your Application

Other than immigration status, undocumented students are no different than any other student. There are some basic ways of helping to ensure they are accepted into a public college or university. Each school has different admissions requirements. Listed here are general things students can do to better their chances of getting into a school.

Work hard and do well in high school

Earning good grades and maintaining a good grade point average shows colleges that students are dedicated to their education.

Take Advanced Placement or college prep classes

These rigorous classes give students an idea of how college courses work. Good grades and high test scores from these classes show admissions offices that students can succeed. Additionally, students can earn college credits by meeting certain score requirements.

Earn high scores on standardized tests, such as the ACT or SAT

These exams tell colleges and universities just how ready students are to tackle post-secondary work. Neither the ACT nor the SAT requires students to provide a Social Security number.

Volunteer work and extracurricular activities

While not required for acceptance, these efforts show a dedication to community that gives any application a boost in the eyes of admissions officials.

The Search for Schools

Because undocumented status renders students ineligible for federal financial aid, access to in-state tuition is a critical factor when it comes to affording education. A majority of America's undocumented immigrants live in states with laws that permit undocumented high school graduates to pay in-state tuition at colleges and universities.

Some other states without such laws have also taken measures to make college more affordable to undocumented students. Rhode Island's Board of Governors for Higher Education and the University of Hawaii's Board of Regents allow in-state tuition at public colleges and universities to students who qualify. Board of Regents' decisions have also allowed for similar policies in Michigan.

In addition to college opportunities that offer in-state tuition, it is important to start searching online for schools with special programs or student body organizations that support undocumented students. For instance, many of the schools in California, such as UCLA and UC Berkeley, have undocumented student programs that provide services, resources, and support. They also provide information on how students who are ineligible to file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) can fund their education. Many of the resources available online involve the states that grant in-state tuition rates to undocumented students. However, contacting the admissions offices of schools in other states could still lead to resources and assistance not explicitly offered on the schools' websites.

Hispanic-Serving Institutions

Created by Title V of the Higher Education Act of 1965, the Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) program provides funding to not-for-profit colleges and universities where 25% or more of their full-time students identify as Hispanic. HSIs use these government grants to fund on-campus resources and support services that cater specifically to Hispanic students. The HSI program has been heavily promoted by the Hispanic Association of Colleges & Universities (HACU), an organization whose member institutions serve more than two-thirds of all Hispanic college students.

Since the inception of the HSI program, the number of schools so designated has increased along with the number of Hispanic college students in accredited programs. In 2005, the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Postsecondary Education recognized 245 HSIs. By 2015, the number of recognized HSIs had risen to 472 schools around the country.

Unsurprisingly, California boasts the most HSIs with 159. Texas, Florida, and New Mexico claim the next three spots, with 83, 27, and 23, respectively. In addition, Puerto Rico is home to 65 recognized HSIs.

Community Colleges & Dual-Credit Programs

Hundreds of community colleges around the U.S. allow students to enroll in classes for college credit before they even graduate from high school. Because these courses also count toward high school graduation requirements, they help students save both time and money.

Community colleges typically have the same admissions and tuition policies regarding undocumented students as other institutions in the state. If a state has its own version of the DREAM Act, qualified undocumented students can enroll in and pay for community college courses at in-state tuition rates. Otherwise, these students would be treated as international students and would pay out-of-state tuition.

The Application Process

Anyone seeking to attend a two- or four-year college or university is required to meet the school's admission requirements. While these can differ from school to school, the application process typically consists of submitting:

an online application form;

a letter of intent or personal statement;

at least one supplemental essay (the topic is typically provided by the school);

two or more letters of recommendation from previous teachers;

high school transcripts;

standardized test scores;

application fees

Volunteer experience is essential for any student as it can set a student apart from their competition. For some schools, reporting volunteer work and extracurricular activities is part of the online application form. Other schools may require students to submit resumes that outline their non-academic experiences. Typically, personal essays are used to explain why students want to go to college and how they plan to put their education to use after graduation.

For more information, check out this list of the most common admission requirements, courtesy of The College Board.

Applying to College as a Non-English Speaker

Undocumented students who don't speak English fluently might have concerns about understanding requirements fully or filling out paperwork properly. These individuals should seek assistance from their high school's college counselor and/or ELL teachers. Additionally, local language tutors can help explain confusing application questions and documentation requirements. Translation services are also typically available online or at local community centers, but can be cost-prohibitive.

Application Form Concerns

To thoroughly and accurately complete a college application form, it's likely that undocumented students will need to track down some amount of paperwork. This ranges from the standard recommendations, transcripts, and test scores to any particular requests of the school for evidence of how long the student has been in the U.S., schools they've attended, and places they've lived.

In some cases, due to geographic separation, undocumented students may be unable to receive help with applications from parents or other family members, the people in their lives who may be the best at directing them to required documentation. In these instances, the students should seek help from high school guidance counselors or even the admissions office at the school they're hoping to applying to.

Because they are undocumented, it is important that these students be prepared to address two major issues on an application:

Country of citizenship: In California, for example, the option "No Selection" is the recommended response for undocumented applicants, including those with DACA status. The "No Selection" response allows undocumented students to skip other questions about permanent residency and visa status that are not applicable.

Social Security number: Simply skip this question. No other numbers, such as an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number or an Alien Number gained with DACA status, can be substituted.

Talking About Undocumented Status

Students should never misrepresent their immigration status, and they need to think carefully about the best way to explain their situation when talking to college advisors and completing written applications. Choose Your Future, a resource for prospective high school and college students, provides a pros and cons list in its "Undocumented Students: DREAMer's Pathway to College" article regarding how to discuss an undocumented status.

It is important for students to know that application advisors, admission officers, and financial aid counselors are not allowed by law to report undocumented students to the USCIS. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) prohibits schools from providing information on a student's immigration status to federal immigration agents. What students tell their counselors and potential schools cannot typically serve as incriminating evidence against them, and their advisors may be able to point them to resources that will help them gain a temporary legal status through DACA.

Focusing on the Positive

An undocumented student will, justifiably, want to emphasize the challenges they have overcome in their applications as evidence of their character and perseverance. In many cases, admissions essays or interviews involve questions about these hardships. It's important that students do not let their undocumented status be the factor that defines them. While discussions of their status may be used to illustrate how a hardship was overcome, students should try to focus on their grades, volunteer work, and extracurricular activities as much as possible. It is important for students to shine as individuals when applying for college, and they should remember that being undocumented does not make them who they are.

Students may also want to inform admissions officials of their need for financial assistance, but they should avoid language that makes them sound like victims of an unjust system. Stating that finding financial aid for undocumented students is difficult should not become a rant against higher education. These concerns should be brought to a financial aid office or counselor who has the resources to help students find the funding they need.

Financing an Education

Victor C. Romero, an acclaimed law professor from Penn State recently wrote, "Undocumented status and poverty are mutually reinforcing obstacles to [educational] advancement." In other words, undocumented college students can earn an education to help improve their financial situation, but they have to find a way to pay for that education first. That's difficult for anyone, undocumented or not.

Almost a third of the undocumented individuals living in the U.S. are below the poverty line. Twice that many lack health insurance. Without a Social Security number, undocumented students cannot complete the FAFSA. Therefore, they aren't eligible for any federally funded financial aid, like federal loans, grants, scholarships, or work-study money.

Without an SSN, undocumented students are ineligible for federal financial aid.

Any student who does have an SSN should complete a FAFSA.

The FAFSA does not require the citizenship status of the applicant's parents, but does request their SSNs. Applicants must write in "000-00-0000" as the SSN for any parent or legal guardian who is undocumented.

Applicants will encounter the following question: "Are you a U.S. citizen?" Undocumented students must check the box for "No, I am not a citizen or eligible noncitizen."

The form also features questions about the "legal state of residence" for the applicant and their parents. The correct answer will vary, as each U.S. state has different requirements for legal state residency. Applicants should consult their high school career counselor before completing this section.

The online FAFSA form features an IRS Data Retrieval tool that allows applicants to submit their tax information and that of their their parents. If the applicant or their parents did not file an income tax return during the previous year, then tax information may be entered manually.

In most states, undocumented college students are not eligible for state-funded financial aid, either. However, some states do grant eligibility for state financial aid to undocumented students who qualify for in-state tuition, including California, Minnesota, New Mexico, Texas, and Washington. Check out The College Board's Repository of Resources for Undocumented Students for more information.

Additionally, there are other forms of financial assistance available to undocumented college students. These include private loans (which require a resident co-signer), institutional aid (only available in states with their own version of the DREAM Act), and private scholarships

Another potential financial recourse for undocumented students is an Individual Development Account (IDA). Available to low-income households, IDAs act as savings accounts where funds are matched by a variety of public and private sources. IDAs are a great way to build up savings without incurring debt or accruing interest.

Scholarships

Scholarships are the most common way that undocumented students are able to pay for college. Some private institutions, free to set their own financial aid policies, award scholarships and other forms of aid to undocumented students. Most private scholarship funds and foundations require applicants to be U.S. citizens or legal residents, but there are exceptions.

The best place to start searching for scholarships is through a high school counselor who can connect students with organizations that provide access to, and information on, scholarships geared towards undocumented students. These groups may also direct users to general scholarships that do not have a citizenship or residency requirement to qualify. Three examples of such organizations are described below:

Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF): This civil rights organization, which has fought for the rights of the Latino community since 1968, provides several scholarships for students who want to take up the cause.

Educators for Fair Consideration (E4FC): Seeking to fill resource gaps for undocumented students, and to help them reach their educational, professional, and personal goals, E4FC provides frequently updated lists of scholarships for undocumented students at the graduate and undergraduate levels.

TheDream.US: Partnering with more than 75 colleges and universities around the country, TheDream.US works to promote access to higher education for DACA recipients and students with Temporary Protected Status by providing scholarships and other support services.

Schools in the states that offer in-state tuition to undocumented students may also have scholarships available. Though undocumented students are typically unable to submit the FAFSA, they should contact schools' financial aid offices before applying to determine how much aid they can receive.

Once students find scholarship opportunities, they need to:

research the organizations carefully to understand who is eligible for scholarships;

take the time to complete applications correctly and thoroughly;

double- and triple-check that all the requirements are met and all the supporting documents are included with application.

It is against the law for a school to report a student's immigration status, so students should not let the fear of deportation stop them from pursuing a higher education. Undocumented students who ask for assistance when they need it, do their due diligence on schools' requirements and resources, and stay persistent in pursuit of their goals will find the academic success they seek.

Check out our guide to scholarships for Hispanic and Latino students for more information on financial aid opportunities including scholarships and grants.

Know Your Rights

To maximize their potential for academic success, all undocumented students should fully understand their legal rights and be aware of the resources available to them. Even without the passage of the federal DREAM Act, these students are entitled to certain protections and opportunities on their path to earning a degree.

Perhaps the most crucial fact for undocumented students to remember is that there is no federal law that requires proof of citizenship status for admission or matriculation at any U.S. college or university. Because of a common misconception to the contrary, millions of undocumented individuals are missing out on the opportunity to gain an education, improve their employment prospects, and contribute to the growth of the U.S. economy.

In addition to their rights under state mini-DREAM Acts and DACA, undocumented students have the right to block disclosure of their education records by schools (except in special circumstances) under FERPA. Under the law, any government authority seeking access to such information needs a court order or a warrant. Thanks to FERPA, students don't have to worry about hiding their undocumented status from school officials -- even during the application process.

Navigating the College Experience as an Undocumented Student

With all the research, forms, documentation, and procedures involved in choosing and applying to colleges, it can be surprisingly easy to neglect preparation for the actual college experience itself. Here, again, undocumented students must consider their special situation and ready themselves for potential challenges unique to their status.

Feelings of Anxiety and Isolation

First-time college students often experience anxiety living away from home in an unfamiliar environment. That anxiety can be exacerbated for undocumented students, who might fear deportation for themselves and their family members. To address this concern, schools around the country are enforcing protections for undocumented students by refusing to allow immigration agents on campus without a warrant and withholding students' immigration status in the absence of a subpoena. Some " sanctuary campuses" even offer free legal services to undocumented students.

Additionally, it's fairly common for undocumented students to feel a sense of separation from their classmates who don't have to worry about things like the promised repeal of DACA or immigration raids. These feelings of isolation typically begin in adolescence, when undocumented teens can't share core developmental experiences with their documented friends like earning their driver's license, casting their first vote in a presidential election, or getting their first job. This divide can be reinforced in college, where undocumented students' personal budgets -- often stretched tight due to their inability to receive federal funding -- can preclude them from joining expensive group activities.

Fortunately, several campuses across the U.S. feature groups for undocumented immigrants where these students can voice needs and concerns, advocate for their rights, and receive support from others who empathize with their situation. Columbia University's Undocumented Students Initiative, for example, maintains an active Facebook page where members can contribute to a public dialogue and access information on internship opportunities and the like. United We Dream, an organization that supports and fosters higher education opportunities for undocumented students, puts on a "Coming out Day" in support of undocumented students. They encourage schools and professionals to pledge solidarity with these students in order to help them reach their full potential.

Activities, Events, and Opportunities On and Off Campus

Although an SSN or U.S. citizenship usually isn't required for the majority of student activities on and off a typical college campus, there are instances where undocumented students will find themselves disadvantaged or disallowed from participating.

Studying abroad as an undocumented student is possible through advanced parole options given by USCIS. When traveling abroad for school, this advanced parole is necessary to ensure there are no problems or delays when returning home.

Certain extracurricular activities may be unavailable to undocumented students. Although DACA students can receive work authorization, many internships and volunteering opportunities -- particularly those funded by government grants -- require an SSN or proof of citizenship. For all other opportunities, it's important to note that employers cannot legally discriminate against applicants on the basis of their employment authorization.

Even more casual activities can create problems for undocumented students. While a documented student might not think twice about joining an on-campus protest or signing a petition, their undocumented peers hesitate before associating with political dissenters or putting their name on a list. Similarly, all kinds of forms -- from scholarship applications to intake papers at the doctor's office -- ask for an SSN, leaving undocumented students wondering what to do.

Beyond academic and professional opportunities, undocumented students may also struggle in social endeavors. While typical students may fear getting busted for underage drinking, undocumented students have bigger problems to worry about when it comes to dealing with the police. In fact, any situation involving law enforcement -- even simply being a victim or witness of a crime -- can trigger feelings of trepidation for these students as soon as they're asked for identification.

Additional Resources

College Resources for Undocumented Students

BigFuture: A comprehensive guide to college created by The College Board, this site offers resources specifically for undocumented students like articles, testimonials, and financial aid calculators.

Questions and Answers - Financial Aid and Undocumented Students: This site provides information from the U.S. Department of Education on various sources of financial aid available to undocumented students and their accompanying requirements.

United We Dream: United We Dream works to promote collaboration among immigrant students along with engagement in community efforts to improve educational opportunities for undocumented students.

"For Undocumented Students: Questions and Answers About Paying for College": This FAQ-style page from The College Board answers common questions on financial aid for undocumented students and provides helpful advice on how to cut costs.

My Undocumented Life: This blog provides up-to-date information on resources and scholarships that pertain to undocumented immigrants. They strive to provide a sense of community for all of their readers.

Legal Resources for Undocumented Students

Immigrant Legal Resource Center: Promoting a society that respects the rights and welfare of all people, the ILRC works with immigrants, community organizations, and lawyers to advocate for the rights and education of undocumented individuals.

National Immigration Law Center: Since 1979, the NILC has advocated for the rights of low-income immigrants through litigation, policy analysis, and communication strategies. The organization also provides training, educational materials, and legal advice.

National Immigration Legal Services Directory: This site provides a search tool that allows users to locate free or low-cost legal services dealing with immigration in their area. The directory includes over 900 immigration lawyers in all 50 states.

United We Dream: This is the largest immigrant youth-led organization in the country. They offer resources and programs to advocate for further higher education opportunities for undocumented students.

DACA Resources for Undocumented Students

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services: A subset of the Department of Homeland Security, USCIS provides all of the necessary forms for initial application to or renewal of DACA. The site also features helpful videos, filing tips, and articles about avoiding immigration scams.

UC Berkeley: As part of its Undocumented Student Program, Berkeley provides detailed information on DACA requirements and the renewal process. Additionally, the site offers updates on the state of DACA under the Trump administration.

CitizenPath's DACA Resource Center: Featuring the latest news on DACA and other issues concerning undocumented immigrants, CitizenPath's site also provides helpful tips on the application process as well as guidance for successful enrollees.

BACK TO TOP

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
College Guide for Undocumented Students - Best Colleges

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Haga clic aquí para leer esta guía en español Finding and getting into the right college or university can be a daunting task, but it can also lead to extremely rewarding opportunities for career and personal advancement. There are many national programs and state laws that allow undocumented students to attend the college of their choosing.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Immigration has been a polarizing topic for years, but the current administration's stated goals to deport millions of undocumented immigrants, build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and end DACA have elevated the issue. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has already increased its activity in many parts of the country. As a result, many immigrant students and their families (documented and not) are experiencing anxiety and fear about their futures.

Educators who work with immigrant communities want to know how to best support students and their families. We created this web package to supply the types of resources educators have told us they need. We'll continue to make updates, knowing that immigration policies and practices in the United States-and the corresponding needs in schools-are changing swiftly.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Supporting Students From Immigrant Families

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Immigration has been a polarizing topic for years, but the current administration's stated goals to deport millions of undocumented immigrants, build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and end DACA have elevated the issue. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has already increased its activity in many parts of the country.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Phillip Lovell: Good afternoon. I'm Phillip Lovell, vice president of policy development and government relations here at the Alliance for Excellent Education. The Alliance is a national policy, practice, and advocacy organization dedicated to ensuring that all students, particularly those who've been historically underserved graduate from high school ready for success in college, career, and citizenship.

Today we're going to discuss issues impacting undocumented students and their families, specifically; this webinar is designed to provide information on the rights of all students to equal access to public education regardless of their immigration status.

We'll discuss the Deferred Acton for Childhood Arrivals or DACA program and the impact of the Trump administration's decision to end this program. We'll also discuss the Dream Act and the importance of comprehension immigration reform.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, we'll be discussing the best practices for creating a culturally inclusive school environment for students and their families particularly those who are undocumented or impacted by the ending of the DACA program.

But before we get to that, just a few housekeeping items, please follow today's webinar on Twitter using the hashtag DACA. To ask a question of our panelists you can use the box below. And this webinar will be archived at www.allfored.org/webinars. Finally, to be clear, we'll be discussing complex legal issues and the information provided by our panelists today is intended to apply to a broad audience. We won't be able to provide legal advice or opinions related to cases involving specific students or families.

Now, let me introduce our guests for today. To my right, is Carlos Guevara. Carlos is a well-respected attorney and immigration law expert having served in senior positions in the nonprofit and public sectors. Currently, he serves as senior policy advisor at UnidosUS formally the National Council of La Raza where he leads the organizations immigration policy and legislative advocacy work.

Before joining, UnidosUS Carlos served in the Obama administration where he worked on immigration reform from 2014-2017 and he was involved in the development and implementation of key administration immigration priorities.

Also joining us is Jamie Fasteau. Jamie Fasteau is the principal at Education Council. Jamie has an impressive resume having served in numerous leadership positions in congress and in philanthropy. She previously served as director of policy for education at the Emerson Collective. She was director of education policy for Congressman George Miller, the senior democrat on the House Committee on Education in the Workforce. She was the legislative assistant for Senator Patty Murray and she was also here at the Alliance for Excellent Education.

Thanks very much for joining us. Carlos, thank you very much for joining us. And then remotely, we are inviting Eduardo Mendez to join us. Thank you for joining, Mr. Mendez. Mr. Mendez is principal of Guadalupe Centers High School in Kansas City, Missouri a position that he's held for the past 12 years.

Mr. Mendez has served in various capacities at the Guadalupe Centers Alta Vista High School since August of 1999. He spent the first four years as a Social Studies teacher and then during the next three years he was an at risk coordinator working closely with parents of students who are on the verge of dropping out. Again, thank you very much for joining us remotely from Kansas City.

We're going to get things rolling with a few questions to Carlos to help set the stage for this webinar for the discussion. So we're talking about DACA. For those who are maybe just vaguely familiar with the program can you tell us about what DACA is and what it does?

Carlos Guevara: Sure, Phillip. And then, thank you very much for the opportunity to be here and to join our audience today.

In brief, DACA or the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Policy was a policy instituted under the Obama administration in 2012 and it allowed certain eligible youth individuals that arrived to the United States as minors to remain in the country legally.

And the policy which was mentioned earlier announced in 2012 was implemented two months later and it allowed those to essentially receive a relief from possible deportation and the opportunity to work in this country legally for a renewable period of two years at a time.

At a very high level there were several eligibility requirements for DACA but for our purpose here today some of the ones that come to mind here are the upper and lower caps, if you will, you had to enter the United States before the age of 16 and not have been older than 31 t the indicated time. You had to be showing that you were actually in school or would be attending school in the future, and importantly, folks had to submit to criminal background checks and insure that they were not public safety threats to the United States.

So that's in a nutshell what we're talking about here and if I may fill just a quick note about deferred action, it's a concept that sometimes gets lost and it's something important to bring up. Deferred action basically means it's a tool in the tool chest that any prosecutor whether at the state or local or federal level has in terms of organizing how they're going to move forward with particular cases.

And basically, what DACA did in the exercise of this discretion is to say we have a subset of individuals here that be definition are not threats to our community and that are obtaining and they're achieving at great levels. They're going to school and as a result, we're not going to focus on these guys. So it should be seen as a proper exercise of that discretion.

Phillip Lovell: Gotcha. So it's actually authority that already existed and this is a formal policy to apply it to these finite, to this finite group of really of young people between the ages of 15 and 31.

Carlos Guevara: That's absolutely right, Phillip. And it's something that prosecuting agencies at the local level, at the state level, and yes, even at the federal level use on a daily basis. So I think it's important to contextualize where the DACA authority came from.

Phillip Lovell: Great. So tell us about who are the DACA recipients?

Carlos Guevara: So it's an important question and I think something that our audience should appreciate, we should consider is that DACA was instituted or implemented in 2012, five years ago. To be eligible for DACA in the first instance you had to have shown that you were continuously present in the United States for five years.

So by definition at a very minimum, the current population of DACE recipients has been here for at least 10 years. In many instances, it's much longer than that. So our friends over at the Center for American Progress did a comprehensive survey of the DACA population recently and found that about a third of the DACA recipients actually arrived in the United States before the age of six. Two thirds of them came before the age of 10.

So we see and the point being that, this is a population that's been her for a very, very long time. Today the DACA recipients about two-third of them are likely to be an average of 25 years old. They're still youngsters but getting older and life is moving on for them.

And because life is moving on, they're more likely to be woven into our communities, have families. About 76 percent of DACA recipients either have a US citizen spouse, sibling, or child in the United States. Twenty-six percent of them have a US citizen child in the United States. Longtime residents, have been here for a while, life goes on. These are American families in many ways.

Phillip Lovell: A fourth of them have a child who was born here and that's pretty incredible.

Carlos Guevara: Correct. And perhaps, if I may, of interest to your audience here today when we look at the education profile of folks, again, relying on this survey from our friends, 65 percent of these respondents are in school right now. And a number of them are pursuing undergraduate degrees. Seventeen percent of them actually going on to do higher education.

And for those that aren't pursuing higher education the labor force participation of the DACA pool is incredibly high. A high number of them, 76 percent of them are in the workforce participating at high levels in the workforce. So that's who we're talking about when we're talking about DACA recipients.

Phillip Lovell: Talking about by and large people who may not even remember the country that they originally came from.

So we know that the Trump administration has announced that its phasing out the DACA program and in fact, it's no longer accepting applications either new applications or renewals. The deadline for that was a few days ago was October 5. So we're past that deadline so now, what happens?

Carlos Guevara: Yes, we are past the deadline and for folks who haven't been following this as closely, the administration in September 5 that they would be rescinding the policy, gave folks within certain parameters that were able to renew their application, or excuse me, whose work authorization expired between now and March to apply. They gave them a one-month arbitrary, frankly, deadline to apply.

We, as a community, are so very saddened by the decision. There was nothing that was compelling or is ____ legal requirement. Not some sort of timeline that they had to abide to. This is a manmade disaster and many of us are looking at -

Phillip Lovell: Yeah, we're facing enough actual national disasters so a manmade one on top of it.

Carlos Guevara: And I completely agree with that. And a lot of our organizations UnidosUS being one of them are very focused on making sure that folks who are eligible to apply did so within that window. And we're helping with scholarships to provide the nearly $500.00 fee.

Phillip Lovell: Because it's not free.

Carlos Guevara: It's not free. And $500.00 I'm thinking back to when I was 20-years old that was a lot of money to come up with for a while. And what we've seen since that October 5 deadline is that about 85 percent of folks who were eligible to renew, Phillip, actually did renew. And that represents, just for your audience, about 132,000 of the 154,000 or so folks that were estimated to be in that cohort.

So on the one hand, we're encouraged that such a large group did renew we're also concerned about the 15 percent. You know at the time where we have large Hispanic population is Houston and in South Florida that we're dealing with Harvey and Irma trying to recover, we're concerned that some of those folks may have not been able to get their stuff together in time.

And frankly, we're also concerned about folks making the ____ saying why am I going to trust this government again to come forward. We made this big leap of faith in 2012 why am I coming forward now again to provide my information.

So at this time the sad reality is that for those folk that 25,000 or the 15 percent that I mentioned they'll start losing their protections between now and March 6. That's a sizable population, those are folks who work authorize will begin to lose those protections and jobs and so forth.

Phillip Lovell: And so, say more about March 6 another manmade creation.

Carlos Guevara: Yes. So March 6 another arbitrary deadline, correct, that was instituted that's the date that a lot of organizations are really concerned about and if congress doesn't act we'll see on the magnitude, our friends over at Ford US estimate about each business day 1,400 DACA recipients losing protections, each day until folks eventually wind down from the program. You know, those are those families we mentioned earlier the 25 percent that have US citizen children, the 76 that live with a US citizen spouse or sibling or a child that would have profound impacts on their livelihoods, on their families, and just general well-being.

So we're really concerned about this deadline and are really hopeful that congress gets this done and finds a solution for us.

Phillip Lovell: And we'll get a bit to that but before we do, so the group of young people who are eligible for DACA in the first place was well defined and actually fairly modest. So what happens to students who are not DACA eligible and how does this apply to them?

Carlos Guevara: So I think if I understand the question right there was a cohort and your audience perhaps knows this really well as educators that when DACA was first instituted were not immediately eligible. It's estimated that a group of about 500,000 in 2012 what's known as aged into DACA. So they were too young the immigration authorities required folks to be at least 15-years old to apply.

So in the last five years, we've talked about five years have passed, in the last five years that number has gone down as people are eligible now to apply. But somewhere in the ballpark about 125,000 folks never were able to apply for DACA in the first place and unfortunately, Phillip, they won't be able to because the policy has now been rescinded.

Phillip Lovell: And it's really because of just deadlines that have been created by people.

Carlos Guevara: Absolutely. There was no legal reasoning. There's no deadline based on fact that required the administration to act its pure politics.

Phillip Lovell: Got it. So before joining UnidosUS you were counselor to the Secretary of Homeland Security. So you've been in the trenches dealing with these issues for some time. The Immigration and Custom's Enforcement Agency otherwise known as ICE is the component of the Department of Homeland Security of DHS. Can you tell us about the actions that ICE is allowed to perform on school grounds and what they're not supposed to be doing and what kinds of information would schools be expected to provide to ICE and what would they not be expected to provide to ICE?

Carlos Guevara: Yes, you're right, I did work in the last administration from 2014-2017 at the Department of Homeland Security in the political appointee. I'm no longer there and lot has changed.

Phillip Lovell: Tell us about that.

Carlos Guevara: The reason why I mention that is I think and it should come to no surprise to your audience and us here as we're chatting we are living in a more complicated and enforcement environment and it's important that we understand that it's not just schools that potentially be signaled out it's a greater impact to the community. Which many organizations like ours are very vigilant in making sure that we're pushing back as much as we can.

The school context there are two things that I would mention. First, a policy that was instituted by the Department of Homeland Security that binds ICE, Immigration, and Customs Enforcement from 2011 the Sensitive Locations Policy remains in effect. And it's a policy that as a general matter has said that enforcement at sensitive locations like schools should be avoided as a general matter.

In the special circumstances in which ICE has a basis to do so supervisor level approval is required before they move forward. This is ICE policy that's still in place. So your audience should be aware that that's stills in place and should be directing how ICE officials conduct their operations on the ground.

The other piece that I would mention is that while that's policy there are certain legal safeguards that school should be aware of that in fact, direct how what information may be shared. And frankly, also, what parameters within the constitutional protections that we all have regardless of our citizenship under the fourth and Fifth Amendment how far law enforcement can go. And those are in place and shall remain in place.

What I'll mention though is I think schools are uniquely situated to provide an environment where students feel safe and it think part of that is to articulate what is within the parameters of enforcement. And a lot of organizations some of us around the table here are working to elevate those issues.

Phillip Lovell: Great. Thank you. And later on in the program, we'll talk about the balance between the legal rights and then also just reality on the ground and how we can address those.

So I want to turn our friend, Jamie Fasteau for a moment. So according to Pew Research Center, undocumented students make up about 1.3 percent of the K-12 population about 725,000 students. Now these are students who are sitting in our classrooms right now as we speak and the Supreme Court precedent around insuring that all students regardless of their immigration status that they have the right to go to public schools. Can you talk to us about this precedent?

Jamie Fasteau: Absolutely. And I also want to thank to Alliance for hosting us on this really critical and timely issue.

So Carlos had started to allude to some of the legal requirements for schools and undocumented students and the Supreme Court found, which is the most important aspect of the legal rights of undocumented kids in schools. That in Plyler v. Doe that a student's immigration status or their parents immigration status could not be a reason to deny them equal access to public schools.

Importantly that case was found under the Equal Protection Clause and the court found that immigration status or non-citizenship did not undermine the equality provisions of the constitution. What that means though in practicality for some of the issues in and around whether or not law enforcement can come on campuses, what information schools can share is that schools don't need know students immigration status.

That is not something that they need to be asking families nor should they be to uphold these equity provisions. And therefore, there is no information to be passing on to law enforcement about immigration status of their students.

Phillip Lovell: Interesting. So in addition to Plyler are there other civil rights laws that also protect these students that educators in schools should be aware of?

Jamie Fasteau: Absolutely. So Title XI of the Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination based race, national origin, and color for anyone who's receiving federal funds. And in the case of education, that is states and school districts.

That also means no action can be taken to impede the rights of those students. So a lot of schools are taking, are embracing that aspect of not impeding this equal access by keeping kids safe in schools. And for this population right now this means keeping them free of feeling that their campuses are a place with ICE could come for them or their families and that nothing about their immigration status can impede their day-to-day life in education.

Also, I want to underscore there is guidance that still exists at the Department of Education along with the Sensitive Locations guidance at DHS that outlines how schools should be interacting with these families and what they can and can't be asking of them.

Phillip Lovell: Great. So congress recently passed the Every Student Succeeds Act replacing the No Child Left Behind Act are there specific provisions of that law that should be supporting these young people?

Jamie Fasteau: So yes, there are a couple specific provisions but I would say broadly given that under the constitution these populations cannot be treated any differently than citizen students or documented students all aspects of law apply to these students. Whether it's based on their disability status and rights, access to language services, homeless services, all of these aspects of law apply equally to these populations.

There is a provision in Title III, which is the program that supports English learners that provides the opportunity for districts to use funds to support students and families from newly immigrant populations in districts where they've had massive increases or large increase. And they certainly don't have to do it but it is something that states can use.

The other issue I would just want to highlight here to make sure the audience is aware of. What we discussed is a set of constitutionally protected rights. There is nothing that this administration can actually do to undermine those rights. They could make it harder for schools that's for sure but there is nothing about the removal of DACA that undermines student's rights to attend school free of discrimination.

Phillip Lovell: Thank you very much. I think that's a very critical point that regardless of what the crazy that's going on right now in Washington and on this issue students have the right to go to school regardless of where they're coming from.

So where the rubber hits the road is in schools, in our classroom and Mr. Mendez we're very pleased to have you here and we'd like to draw you into this conversation. So first, can you tell us a little bit about the Guadalupe Centers High Schools and the students that you serve? So you've been there, you've been principal for 12 years you were there for several years before that tell us about your school and about the students that you're educating.

Eduardo Mendez: Sure. Thank you for having me on this webinar. I'd like to share my perspective as a school administrator. The Guadalupe Center Inc. is a social service agency that's been around Kansas City for over 100 years serving the Latino community here in Kansas City, Missouri. Our school is a part of the Guadalupe Centers, which is also an affiliate of UnidosUS and has been for over 30 plus years.

But our school was originally started as a way to address the dropout rate among Latino students, which during the 1980s was estimated to be about 65 percent. So the high school was stated in 1989 and since then we have added a middle school, elementary school, and a pre-K program currently serving over 1,100 students.

At the high school, in particular, we serve 396 students and 94 percent of our students are Latino, three percent African American, two percent Caucasian, and one percent other. Our free and reduced lunch rate is 91 percent and we have an ELL population of over 70 percent. We are a public charter school and we are authorized by the University of Central Missouri.

Phillip Lovell: Excellent. Are you seeing changes in student attendance or in parental participation in school as a result of some of the policies that we're talking about or some of the rhetoric that's taking place right now?

Eduardo Mendez: We haven't seen so much changes in attendance but what we have seen is a change in our enrollment particularly for our newcomer ELL students who are recent arrivals. For example, last year we enrolled 14 newcomers, new English language learners mostly from Central American countries, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador really those who are fleeing some of the violence in their home countries.

This year we only saw three newcomer ELL students enrolled and it's directly related to the things that they're hearing, the rhetoric in Washington, what they're seeing on the news. But also because of tighter immigration policies and procedures being implemented around the country.

Phillip Lovell: Got it. So when students are immigrating to this country we know that often they probably have experienced a decent amount of trauma along the way. Can you talk to us about the trauma that you see in schools and what you're doing to address it?

Eduardo Mendez: Absolutely. Well, unfortunately, we do see many of our students who have experienced some of the trauma particularly those fleeing from the violence in their home countries just have a really hard time staying focused. They experience difficulty concentrating, anger; we see irritability, mood swings, anxiety, fear. Some of them feel guilt and shame and what we see is that oftentimes they would withdraw from their peers.

We also see for some of our older students, juniors, and seniors when they start applying to college and they realize that there's some laws that have been passed specifically in Missouri that prevent them from going to college they really get really numb and lose that excitement.

And so we offer a variety of counseling services both at our school and through the Guadalupe Centers that focus specifically on trauma informed care.

Phillip Lovell: Excellent. I wanted to turn back to some of our previous conversation and see how this applies to you and your school. Now on the one hand, as Jamie and Carlos were saying students have the legal right to attend school regardless of the immigration status and in fact, there's policy on the books that is supposed to prevent ICE from operating unless they have a warrant and senior authority to do so enforcement activities on school grounds and other sensitive locations.

And then there's realities and there's perception. So how do you balance creating a supportive environment at school with recognizing that we don't want children and their families to be in harm's way?

Eduardo Mendez: So one of the things that happened at the end of last year at a local elementary school in a suburban district near Kansas City was there was an actual ICE agent that arrived at the school and questioned a young boy. In response to that, several urban school districts including Kansas City, Kansas, Kansas City, Missouri and our own school district passed a resolution by the board of directors called the Safe and Welcoming School Resolution. And basically, this resolution was a statement made known to people that prohibits ICE agents from coming to the school, pulling a student out of class without a warrant.

So there's planned training for our staff members on how to handle situations like this but the thing is also what you talk about is what are the supports? That's one way to show parents that we support them but what are the practical things that we have done to make sure that families and students feel safe and that we support them? And we've done a variety of things in that end. Just most recently, after the decision to end DACA we worked with our social service agent Guadalupe Centers coordinated some DACA clinics where students and families could come and get information and also help with the application of renewals.

We held several know your rights evening sessions for parents just to provide more accurate information and facts about what their rights are. And that's a way that we support our parents and students. Here at the school level, we do a thing called community circles and both after the election and with the decision of the ending of DACA, obviously, we knew that our students would be emotional and so we do community circles where teachers really facilitate sessions where students can express their emotions, their anxieties, their fears, their questions. And it's just a way to support each other through that way.

And so those are all ways that we help to support students and families to let them know we are here for you and we're going to do everything we can do support you.

Phillip Lovell: And is there specific professional development that you give to your teachers and staff about how to address these issues for these young people?

Eduardo Mendez: Yes, in fact, one of the first thing we do when we bring people on board is to give them that history of immigration, the Plyler v. Doe other things that they need to be aware of in working with our students and our families. So also, we make them aware of the issues surrounding our communities specifically around immigration laws and DACA and what is happening. So we so that as our part of our onboarding process with new staff.

In addition to that, we provide ongoing PD for our teachers updating them on current legislation, executive orders; we provide fact sheets so they can be informed. And again, this helps them when they go to facilitate these classroom circles with our students.

Just about a month ago we had a district wide PD for all of the teachers in the elementary, middle, and high share the latest information and also, the information about the DACA clinics that were being hosted to help students and families with the applications.

Phillip Lovell: Great. So let's talk about what happens next. So these students and their families remain in limbo and their future is actually really in the hands of congress. And in the words of one senator, Senator Lindsay Graham, a Republican cosponsor of the Dream Act, he said, quote, "The only thing that stands between you and certainty is congress, that can't be reassuring."

So Carlos, I want to point a question to you. So as we said, by phasing out DACA the president has left it to congress to pass a fix and there's this deadline in March by when this has to be fixed before DACA students, DACA young people will lose their status. Can you talk to us about the Dream Act, the legislative proposal envisioned to address this and what its prospects are for passage?

Carlos Guevara: Well, Phillip, you're right the president did say that he was leaving it to congress. I think and I don't mean to belabor this point, I think a lot of community groups are still very concerned about the fact that such a decision, frankly, I called it earlier a manmade disaster was made in the first place without a timeline, without any specific legal basis to do so.

So while he has pivoted to congress I think it's important to lose sight that this didn't have to happen. Not lose sight that is that this did not have to happen. But here we are and we have to pivot to congress and we have been pivoting to congress. And organizations like mine and a lot of our partners led by frankly, the Dreamers themselves have come forward and been very public about the need to pass a clean Dream Act.

Which among other things means that eligible folks who came to the United States before they age of 18 who submit to criminal background checks and show that they are pursuing education, ultimately higher education, going to serve in our military, are going to work can have a pathway towards citizenship.

And that's been our very clear position. At this time, I think it's what we have been insisting on and will continue to insist on. You know at this time I truly believe that we have a window to do the frankly, morally economically, and politically correct thing and it's all our jobs to connect with our members of congress to make sure that they're hearing our voices. And when we see things like a white house staffer's wish list of all the nasty enforcement stuff that they would want in exchange, we need to keep in mind that this is a distraction. These are poison pills and time used tactics that are intended to derail us from our purpose, our collective purpose.

And it's not just the folks that you would suspect that are supportive of the Dream Act, you know, in fact 75 percent based on recent polling, 75 percent of Republican voters including many Trump voters themselves are supportive of finding a legislative fix that, by the way, contains a pathway for citizenship for these youth.

So look, I have faith in our institutions, in the American people, as I mentioned, who re behind this that we can get to a good legislative outcome. It's just on all of us to make sure that the momentum is there and that we continue to have our voice heard.

Phillip Lovell: And you mentioned something that maybe we can get just a little bit in the weeds on. You said that the goal is a clean Dream Act. Can you talk a bit about what you mean by a clean Dream Act?

Carlos Guevara: That's right. We have been focusing on, Phillip, in our advocacy is pretty much a bill that recognizes that we're not hold our kids hostage to anything such a border wall, ramped up interior enforcement. I mentioned earlier, right, that these are folks that are living in American families, right, they have parents that perhaps are undocumented, they have spouses that are American citizen, you know these families are complex and in many ways are kind of emblematic of America today.

So when we talk about a clean Dream Act what we really mean is we don't' want our kids held hostage for the passage of really nasty interior enforcement stuff. There might be a time where we can have the conversation about the modernizing, really modernizing our comprehensive, our immigration system in a comprehensive way but right now we need to focus on finding a legislative solution for these children and then we can focus on some of the other complications.

Phillip Lovell: We've created this problem or rather this problem has been created for these young people so now we need to come up with a fix for it without holding them hostage for anything else. But let's be clear, Jamie, I want to bring back into this, even if congress does not act regardless of what's happening young people who are undocumented have the right to go to school.

Jamie Fasteau: That's absolutely correct and that's based on the constitution, it's based in Supreme Court decision, and it's based in federal civil rights laws. This is longstanding provisions and frankly, underscores how entwined these families already in our communities and are part of these systems. Interestingly, under Plyler, part of the reason the court found that immigration status should not affect equal access to education is because education plays such a critical role in participating our society. And that was an underpinning of the decision.

So again, regardless of the decisions to run DACA or if the Dream Act passes or doesn't pass these students still have the right to attend school free of discrimination.

Phillip Lovell: Excellent. And Mr. Mendez, a question for you, so as we've said that the Dream Act is a critical piece of the puzzle but in the grand scheme of things it actually is just apiece and that while congress may feel compelled to create a path to citizenship for these young people many of their parents could remain undocumented. What sorts of issues does this cause for your students? So even if they are technically legally allowed to be in this country but their parents may not be how does that tension paly out I the classroom or in your schools?

Eduardo Mendez: Yeah, we do see instances where we have sort of mixed status families where maybe the younger siblings were born here in the US but the older siblings were not and we see that quite often. And you know what we do to try to work with our students; I named a few things that we do for our older students, typically the junior and seniors when they're applying for college.

One of the first things we try to do to make them feel comfortable to continue their dream is to figure out ways for them to get financial means to attend college and that means looking at scholarships specifically that target undocumented students. And actually, a current staff member and a former staff member together started a Pell project which is intended to give a scholarship in the amount of what the Pell Grant is specifically for undocumented students.

Our goal and the parents as we work with them is if there is a situation where they are facing deportation and they're more likely to, obviously, take their whole family. But that we have worked families, where there are other members of the family who do have legal residency and have decided to leave their kids, in essence splitting the family, which is not ideal. But we have seen families make those tough decisions and we do what we can through our agency, our parent organization, and our counselors here to help parents when they're facing those tough decisions.

But we do everything we can still to keep that dream alive for our students with the goal that there will be legislation passed and that they will be able to fulfill their dreams and go on to a career.

Phillip Lovell: Thank you much. So before we go into some questions that have been given to us by the audience and I do want just have the reminder that if you have questions that you'd like to submit to our panelist you can submit those in the box below the screen.

Carlos, two final questions for you. So are there legislative proposals pending now that could create a legal path to citizenship for adults?

Carlos Guevara: The short answer is no, at least not anything that I see meaningfully moving in any time soon. And frankly, right now we need to focus on this what's at hand and finding a solution for these Dreamers, so the answer is no.

Phillip Lovell: Got it. Now on that point, if our audience would like to get engaged in supporting the Dream Act what's the best way for them to go about doing so?

Carlos Guevara: I want to tell a bit of a story here back from my days at DHS.

Phillip Lovell: The Department of Homeland Security.

Carlos Guevara: The Department of Homeland Security, correct. There's a lot of advocacy around a group of students that were feeling violence in Central America and folks that were going through their immigration process. I'll tell you what, the voices that I felt kind of eventually broke through in many ways were the voices of educators, of teachers that had these students that were impacted in their schools.

So I would just urge the audience here today or if they know folks that are more inclined to reach out to do so and do so at the in district level. You know, anonymous doesn't vote so the more that we can reach out to our members of congress and have the educators voice, the teacher who has the DACA recipient in their classroom or maybe the DACA recipient who's a teacher and who is educating and who has a classroom full of 20 kids that will no longer have a teacher.

If we have those voices heard at the in district level with their members I think that would be incredibly powerful and my recommendation for our audience here today that's wants to get move involved is to do that outreach. And in so doing, I think not just tell the personal story but also convey the sense of urgency that we need to get something done now. And when we see, you know, again, a wish list or we see things that look like poison pills to us we know what they are, they're delay tactics. They're ways to kind of push this issue aside. I think that the teachers can have a very important voice in saying this is who we are but also we need to get this done now.

Phillip Lovell: Great. So some questions from the audience. Kate from Massachusetts asks what protections are there for students with disabilities who are undocumented? Jamie?

Jamie Fasteau: So there are few laws that protect students with disabilities and provide them their rights which extend to services under the law. The Individual with Disabilities Education Act, which was passed in the early '70s is the overall governing legislation that imbues most right to services.

Additionally, there is Americans with Disabilities Act. Given how Plyer was decided and that, citizenship or non-citizenship should not alter how you access education all of those laws that apply to documented or citizen students also apply to undocumented students.

Phillip Lovell: Great. So Mr. Mendez, here's a question for you this came from several members of the audience and you alluded a little bit to this issue a few moments ago. The question is can you share with us some of the strategies that you used to enroll students who are undocumented or who are from families with the mixed status and to make them feel comfortable continuing to come school. And again, by mixed status, we need families where one or two of the members of the family may be undocumented and the other members of the family may actually be citizens.

Eduardo Mendez: Sure. As part of the enrollment procedure we do not ask that question, you know we're prohibited from asking the legal status of students when they enroll. As I mentioned earlier when we find out typically is when they're juniors or seniors and they're applying for financial aid and they realize they are unable to because of their status.

Now we do have great relationships with our parents and they do tell us on their own when we find that there is mixed status and that is in large part because of what we have done to support families and because we've been around for over 100 years. And so we don't specifically have strategies for the enrollment process but what we do have strategies for is what do we do once we find out and how do we help them?

And in this case and particularly I mentioned how do we get the financial means for them to be able to continue their studies after high school? And we look for scholarships and we started scholarships and we've done other things. One other thing is we have a parent liaison who's a native of Peru, she's a former attorney, she works directly with our families and is able to refer them to other agencies or organizations that can help them with a variety of issues.

We also offer parent education classes called [Spanish] which is facilitated by our parent liaison who really serves the purpose of helping families navigate the American system of education and also what they can do to help their child prepare for college.

But the key is really building relationships with parents and then implementing programs like [Spanish] or other things where we can offer services for our families.

Phillip Lovell: Thank you. This probably goes without saying but it's hard enough to do well in school just regularly. The fact, you know, Mr. Mendez, that you've had to create these systems of support in light of and in response to as Carlos as you've described it, this manmade disaster is just such, is just so unnecessary. Yeah, it's just terrible

In any event, moving on, so a question for you Carlos, so this, again, came from a number of viewers so President Trump recently laid out some demands for an ____ to protect the Dreamers. Can you describe what some of those demands are and your take on how this is impacting the negotiations around actually passing legislation?

Carlos Guevara: So you're right, there's since the time that we've had the decision to end DACA and frankly, I fear the more that time passes we'll have more of these, there's been kind of a wish list, if you will, of items that not just staffers at the White House or members of congress have but are generally gaining traction as well in the media that really are focusing on two sets of areas. One is on this idea of border security and then the other is this general bucket of interior immigration enforcement.

So there have been a set of issues on the borer that focuses on you folks might be familiar with the border wall and so forth and on the interior things that would essentially provide opportunities for immigration enforcement to round up and remove more people.

The bottom line is we find these proposals to be completely unacceptable. I think that first, we to a point I made earlier, we should not be holding our youth hostage to get these nasty provisions in place they're trying to sneak them in.

Second, let's see them for what they are. They are delay tactics that have been time honored, if you will, in congress, have been used time and time again and we need to hold our members of congress accountable and demand that we move forward.

And then, finally, I would submit that if we were going to have the conversation about more broadly modernizing our immigration system that we should do that in the proper time and context. This is not it. And those proposals are better left for that more comprehensive conversation and we're not there yet.

Phillip Lovell: Got it. We've received a number of questions about advice for undocumented students with regard to higher education. So the question is are undocumented students eligible to receive federal financial aid for college and what advice for counselors would you have who are working with students on the FASFA?

Jamie Fasteau: So Mr. Mendez referred to some of these challenges for this population and no, undocumented students are not eligible for federal financial aid. There are a number of states, however, who have passed Dream Acts, and have their own sets of state versions of Pell Grants and other aid in which those students would be eligible but that's a state-by-state issue.

Students who did receive DACA do have appropriate documentation to be applying for financial aid under the FAFSA. Lots of states use the FAFSA for their own state aid but it would be for those purposes. So for that population they at least now have the appropriate documentation to be able to do so.

There are other scholarships that exist now and are growing for those populations. I think for school counselors and those who are working with students and applying to college you just have to be extra mindful of where those states are, what those opportunities are to get them to and through college.

Phillip Lovell: So a question from Sarah from Washington and this is, I think Jamie for you and for Mr. Mendez. So she says I live in an area that's having conversations about protecting undocumented youth and in a district that's examining its policies but there's some struggles at the building level. What thoughts does the panel have for practitioners as they're thinking about the policy development at the building level? What do you see as blind spots and what should we be cognizant of

Mr. Mendez, would you like to go first?

Eduardo Mendez: Sure. I mentioned earlier that there was a resolution passed in some local urban districts including ourselves and he one in particular that our board of directors passed was called the Safe and Welcoming Schools resolution. I would be more than happy to share that with whomever would like. But basically, this resolution just outlines the provisions that if US Immigration and Custom Enforcement agents were to come to the school how would we respond.

And so I think the blind spots come when staff aren't aware of how to respond and they don't have the information or know what to do in handling those situations. So one of the key things that we are working on is to make sure our staff members know, our teachers and everyone else how we handle that and ensure that we avoid those blind spots from occurring.

Jamie Fasteau: Yeah, I would agree with Mr. Mendez on the shared knowledge of the rights and responsibilities of schools in protecting these student populations is critical. You don't want those gaps in knowledge when we're dealing with these very uncertain times for these families.

I would also urge folks to look at the Department of Ed guidance on Plyer and Title XI so that there is deep understanding of the rights of these students and the responsibilities for schools to educate these populations without discrimination. You know, these, again, regardless of what happens with DACA these are constitutionally protected and long-standing rights.

The NEA and AFT have put out a lot of guidance for teachers on the rights of students and other supports that practitioners at the building level could certainly lean into. States also bear responsibility for civil rights enforcements with their districts and so they could lean on their SEA to underscore the rights of those kids.

Phillip Lovell: So Kathy in Arizona asks although you do not need to know a student's status families often have a difficult time navigating districts forms that elute information possessed by documented residents. Are there tips for families on how they can navigate forms that request information they may or may not possess?

Mr. Mendez, any thoughts?

Eduardo Mendez: Yeah, I would definitely, you know, most applications will ask or most schools will ask for a copy of a birth certificate and that could be an indication to school officials if students are born in other countries and have certificates from other countries. But again, I go back to there cannot be a question regarding specific status and if parents are seeing that to be able to ask questions, to ask for help or just ask somebody at the enrollment center to be able to clarify any of those questions.

Phillip Lovell: Great. So Carlos, a couple of questions have come in about Ice. So how hard is it for ICE to get a warrant to pull students out of class?

Carlos Guevara: This is a very interesting question that's kind of in some ways at the intersection of practice and the law. In other words, the law is changing a lot in this space. The first thing to remember about immigration enforcement is that it is civil and it's in the civil space, it's in the civil context. So traditionally what that means is that ICE doesn't require or ICE doesn't usually operate in the same rules as local law enforcement that usually were required to go and get a warrant based on probably cause and decided by an impartial magistrate, right.

So ICE has their own constructs based on and their own mandates based on what this immigration law says of when a person is inadmissible or deportable as the case may be. A lot of litigation in this space right now about what is sufficient for them to be able to go after an individual. And whether it is required for them to have something that more closely approximates a warrant in the, if you will, traditional sense in the criminal justices sense that is signed by a judge.

And what we need to remember is that ICE, you know, this is all done through an executive branch so an administrative process and there is no at this time kind of process by which they can go to a judge to get such a warrant.

So there's a lot of litigation it's an evolving issue. There's a lot of challenges around what is sufficient and meets the legal mustard to satisfy the constitutional safeguards that we have under the fourth amendment. But in short, I think they look at their priorities based on this civil immigration code and make determinations based on whether a person is inadmissible or deportable. These are kind of legal terms based on our ____ but I think this is what they're basing their decisions on.

Jamie Fasteau: As Mr. Mendez though pointed out there are ways for school to be planning for these situations so that there is a shared understanding about how do I appropriately deal with them given a school setting and the rights and responsibilities, again, that principals have for the safety and protection of their kids on a day to day basis regardless of their status.

And having police, come into your school to pull a student out is causing trauma for the entire population. So there are districts who are creating MOUs with local law enforcement about these sorts of situations so that the warrant wouldn't be executed on school grounds. There are districts that are coming up with their own policies to tell their buildings to say you need to send anyone with a warrant back to the central office and we deal with it outside of your school hours.

Phillip Lovell: So we are just about out of time for today's webinar. Before we close, I just want to give each of you the chance to say any parting thoughts. Jamie, why don't' we start with you.

Jamie Fasteau: So, again, thanks so much for having us here today and having this breadth of conversation. Thanks to Mr. Mendez for what you're doing every day. But I would underscore, actually, what Carlos said about it's time for everyone to go act.

This is there's too much uncertainty happening for these families now and congress needs to undo the manmade decision at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue and create some certainty for these families. I think it will be impossible to even get to comprehensive immigration reform until this issue is dealt with and congress can't keep kicking this can down the road they need to solve this now.

Phillip Lovell: Thank you. Why don't' we go to Mr. Mendez, any final thoughts from you, sir?

Eduardo Mendez: Yes, just along those lines of advocacy what can we do to advocate for our kids and the key to us is learning which congressman are on the fence and who can we write letters to, who can we e-mail, who can we call, who can we tell our kid's stories to. And really encouraging our students to advocate for themselves along with our staff and along with our families in the broader committee. So I think the call to action is there and we need to follow up and take action.

Phillip Lovell: Thank you. Carlos.

Carlos Guevara: I think my co-panelists summed it up really nicely. I think what I would add to that is this is a real issue. We're talking, your audience knows this and we know this, but our fellow Americans in our communities need to know this, our members need to know this. This is a real population and this is not a theoretical what if this happens, how could we potentially do this to maybe open the aperture here or close the aperture there.

This is not theoretical. We have nearly 800,000 young people who beginning March 6 have the order of 1,400 each of business day will start losing their protection. The time is now there's no excuse we need to get this done. And I think teachers are in a unique position to tell some really important stories either themselves as educators or teachers who have DACA recipients in their classrooms as well. So the time is is now and this is a real issue.

Phillip Lovell: Thank you very much. So let me thank our panelists, Carlos Guevara, Jamie Fasteau, and Eduardo Mendez for being with us today. If you'd like more information on DACA, the Dream Act or additional resources on how to promote and protect the rights of students we have links on our website to organizations and materials that might be of interest.

Remember that this webinar will be archived at www.allfored.org/webinars. Again, the time is now we have this manmade deadline by March 6 students will be losing their protections. You know congress tends not to do much without a sense of urgency and without a deadline, we've got both of them but we can enhance that sense of urgency by phone calls, by requests for meetings with members especially while they're at home. This is something that is just absolutely urgent and vital for us to do.

I'm Phillip Lovell for the Alliance for Excellent Education thanks very much for joining us and enjoy the rest of your day.
[End of Audio]

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Students Without Status: Understanding and Protecting the Rights of Undocumented Immigrant Students

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Phillip Lovell: Good afternoon. I'm Phillip Lovell, vice president of policy development and government relations here at the Alliance for Excellent Education. The Alliance is a national policy, practice, and advocacy organization dedicated to ensuring that all students, particularly those who've been historically underserved graduate from high school ready for success in college, career, and citizenship.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
An estimated 20,000 teachers in the U.S. could be deported because of President Trump's cancellation of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA), the federal policy that has protected some young people brought to the U.S. as children.

Among them is Karen Reyes, a 29-year-old teacher of Deaf pre-kindergartners in Austin, Texas. A former Girl Scout who has lived in the U.S. since the age of 2, Reyes attended U.S. public schools from kindergarten through graduate school, eventually earning a master's degree in special education from the University of Texas-San Antonio.

"I love my job. I love it!" says Reyes. "I get students who have zero or very limited language skills, and we help them reach the outside world. I had a student last year who came to my class with two words-at the end of the year, he was looking over my shoulder at a photograph and saying, 'Who that? That Julian's mommy? I like her!'"

There are about 1.2 million DACA-eligible young people in the U.S., according to the Migration Policy Institute (MPI), which estimates that 365,000 of them are high-school students and 241,000 enrolled in college. The rest are workers whose deportations would cost the federal government an estimated $60 billion in revenues and the national economy an estimated $215 billion in productivity, according to a Cato Institute study.

The additional costs of replacing the 20,000 teachers is mind-boggling. Replacing just one teacher is estimated to cost as much as $17,872, according to the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future. That means replacing the 20,000 could cost school districts-and local taxpayers-as much as $350 million. This does not include the emotional price paid by students or the toll on these young teachers, who are fiercely dedicated to their students and careers.

"As a teacher, all I want to do is teach and help my kids," says Reyes.

[ Help Reyes by asking Congress to support the 2017 DREAM Act.]
Tell Congress To Do The Right Thing
While Trump's revocation of DACA is "immoral and un-American," says NEA President Lily Eskelsen García, she is hopeful that Congress will pass compassionate, just legislation that will allow young immigrants to pursue their American dreams.

"Now more than ever, we need a permanent legislative solution to DACA so these young people have the certainty they deserve," says García. " Congress should...act immediately to protect DACA recipients and Dreamers, and pass into law the bipartisan Dream Act of 2017."

First introduced in 2001, and re-introduced this July by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC), the DREAM Act is a bipartisan bill that would offer permanent legal status to qualifying young people who arrived in the U.S. as children. According to a recent Politico/Morning Consult poll, 76 percent of Americans believe these young people should be allowed to stay.

But, for the legislation to pass, members of Congress need to hear from those Americans who support their neighbors, their classmates, their soldiers, their teachers who have lived in the U.S. for nearly all their lives.

Reyes is far from the only NEA member with DACA certification. Among the 20,000 DACA-mented teachers, MPI estimates about 5,000 work in California. Texas and New York each benefit from about 2,000 DACA teachers, while Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania have about a thousand per state, Education Week has reported.

Jorge Resendez, a DACA-certified, 9 th-grade social studies teacher, is among a group of Denver teachers originally hired through Teach for America (TFA), which has actively recruited DACA recipients. He loves teaching, his school, and his students so much that he stayed beyond TFA's typical two-year commitment, and now is in his fourth year.

"I heard so many stories when I was in college about undocumented young folks who graduated but couldn't go into a career," says Resendez, who graduated from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) in 2013. "Fortunately for me, I was able to apply for DACA, and I was able to do something I'm passionate about, which is education."

Resendez' students know his immigration status, and they joined him in protest on the day this month that Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the cancellation of DACA. "It was a really proud moment for me-to see them standing up for me, and standing up for their peers," he says.

As a student organizer, Resendez worked on the passage of California's DREAM Act. He knows what is possible when people get organized and speak with a united voice. He also knows it's going to be hard. "The first thing we can do is protest," he told his students. "But moving forward, we need to write letters, talk with our legislators. I know this isn't going to be our last battle, but I have hope of protecting our community."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
"All I Want to Do is Teach And Help My Kids," says DACA Teacher | NEA

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
An estimated 20,000 teachers in the U.S. could be deported because of President Trump's cancellation of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA), the federal policy that has protected some young people brought to the U.S. as children. Among them is Karen Reyes, a 29-year-old teacher of Deaf pre-kindergartners in Austin, Texas.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
On June 15, 2012, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced a program, called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, for undocumented youth who meet a number of requirements. Youth granted DACA are protected from deportation for two years (subject to renewal), provided with a work permit, and in almost every state, DACAmented students can apply for a driver's license.

Below you will find resources on the terms and status of DACA.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
On June 15, 2012, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced a program, called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, for undocumented youth who meet a number of requirements. Youth granted DACA are protected from deportation for two years (subject to renewal), provided with a work permit, and in almost every state, DACAmented students can apply for a driver's license.Below you will find resources on the terms and status of DACA.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Welcoming and protective schools / Welcoming and protective schools

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In our diverse community of more than 157,000 students, we recognize that many of them and their families struggle with intensely personal questions, concerns and fears about the national landscape regarding immigration.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Explore the immigrant experience through the eyes of Alexis, Rachel, and Pratishtha: three undocumented immigrants who were brought to this country at a young age, and have been temporarily granted partial-but not full-protection against deportation. Determined to clarify their futures despite their

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
For undocumented students, close relationships with teachers and guidance counselors can make a world of difference, says education and immigration expert Roberto Gonzales. Educators can not only provide much-needed emotional support; they can also be the resource these students and their families need to stay safe and participate fully in their communities.

If a student discloses his or her status and asks for advice, you don't have to have all the answers right away, says Gonzales, who spent 12 years chronicling the experiences of undocumented young people for his book Lives in Limbo. More important is acknowledging the student's concerns and telling the student that you'll figure it out together - and then talk to colleagues, visit local community centers, or find answers online. Tell the student, "I can find ways to better help you."

Watch the video, and see below for best practices for supporting undocumented learners in a K-12 setting (excerpted from a previously published story).

Supporting Undocumented Learners in Middle and High School

Help families and children understand their rights. Schools are legally forbidden from asking about immigration status, and some students may not disclose (or may not know) their status. Districts and schools with immigrant populations should communicate proactively with all families, with messages of inclusion and to encourage DACA enrollment and renewal, as modeled by this resource from the Boston Public Schools and by a new BPS website called We Dream Together, designed for students. From early on, they should spread the message to students that everyone can aspire to go to college and pursue interests and career goals. That message should include the fact that undocumented students can legally attend college in the U.S.

Here is a comprehensive resource on the rights of immigrant and refugee children, assembled by Teaching Tolerance for educators and school staff.

Ensure that staff members know about the resources available to undocumented students, as well as the limitations. Variation at the state-level - involving tuition rates, state scholarships, and licensure requirements, among other things - makes it important for school counselors, teachers, and other academic advisors to be aware of the opportunities and restrictions available to DACA-enrolled young people in their localities.

Create a strong mentoring system. Gonzales identified a single characteristic shared by each of the high-achieving undocumented students he followed: "To the person, they could name three or four adult mentors in their lives," he says. "These were teachers, counselors, adults within the school community who really helped forge a pathway for them."

Look to colleges as a model for student services. At the postsecondary level, some colleges have taken the lead by creating resource centers for undocumented students, and these have been effective at providing the specific support these students need, Gonzales says. These resource centers include an identified staff person who acts as a liaison to students in navigating the bureaucracy of higher education. They also provide trainings for staff and faculty, and they convene support groups and clubs for undocumented students.

Stay aware of the challenges of adolescence. Navigating adolescence is challenging for all children, but it's uniquely so for undocumented children, who may contend with stigma, exclusion, or self-seclusion or secrecy that families often feel compelled to impose. With DACA, "there are more supports to prevent kids from falling off," Gonzales says. "There are new opportunities for guidance, allowing these young people and their families some breathing room - some chance to maintain their aspirations."

Additional Resources

***
We Want to Hear from You
Our country is polarized: How is that showing up in your school? What are you doing to protect students, confront discrimination, prevent bullying, and foster inclusion? Usable Knowledge would like to hear from you. Join us on Facebook and Twitter, using #OneAllHGSE. Send your advice and resources to uknow@gse.harvard.edu, and we'll share as much as we can. Read more at One and All.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
For undocumented students, close relationships with teachers and guidance counselors can make a world of difference, says education and immigration expert Roberto Gonzales. Educators can not only provide much-needed emotional support; they can also be the resource these students and their families need to stay safe and participate fully in their communities.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Undocumented immigrant students make up about 2 percent of all students enrolled in U.S. higher education, according to a new report released Thursday. All told, researchers estimate 454,000 undocumented immigrant students are enrolled in higher education.

"Before now, there has never been a full analysis of how many undocumented students are pursuing higher education in the U.S.," states the report, which was released by New American Economy (NEA), a research and advocacy organization focused on the impact of immigration on the economy, and the Presidents' Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, an association of college leaders that advocates for welcoming policies for immigrant and international students.

"The findings in this report show that far more undocumented students enroll in higher education than was previously thought," the authors write.

The report looks at both traditional college-age and adult immigrant learners. The analysis found that a little fewer than half -- 216,000 -- of all undocumented immigrant students are eligible for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which provides work authorization and protection against deportation for certain young undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children. President Trump has attempted to terminate the DACA program, established by former president Obama in 2012, and the Supreme Court is expected to rule on the continuation of the program this spring.

Christian Penichet-Paul, of the Presidents' Alliance, said the data underscore the need to keep DACA in place as well as the importance of policies that expand access to higher education for undocumented students. These include state-level policies extending in-state tuition rates and access to state financial aid or scholarships to undocumented students.

"Undocumented students throughout the U.S., they are an integral part of our community: 450,000 individuals who are striving to pursue higher education," said Penichet-Paul, who is directing the development of a new digital resource with data on higher education and immigration for the Presidents' Alliance. "There's a large number of students who are striving to acquire skills who could benefit our economy in the future."

Andrew Lim, director of quantitative research for the NEA, said the approximately 450,000 undocumented students participating in higher education make up about 4.3 percent of the estimated 10.5 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. NEA developed the methodology for the enrollment estimates, which are based on its analysis of data from the U.S. Census's 2018 American Community Survey.

Jeanne Batalova, a senior policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute (MPI), an organization that researches immigration policies, said that analyses MPI has previously done found numbers roughly on par with the new estimates from the NEA. For example, an analysis MPI did of just DACA-eligible students in 2017 estimated that 241,000 DACA-eligible students were enrolled in college. And MPI has estimated that 497,000 undocumented individuals in the 18- to 24-year-old age group are enrolled in either high school or college.

"The methodology that NEA is using to estimate who's likely to be undocumented is quite different from our methodology, so the fact that the numbers are roughly consistent is a good sign," Batalova said.

The report from the NEA and the Presidents' Alliance provides new details on the undocumented immigrant student population based on the type of institutions they attend and their enrollment level. Here are some of the key findings:

About half (47 percent) of all undocumented college students were brought to the U.S. before age 12, and 39 percent arrived between the ages of 13 and 21. Fourteen percent came when they were age 22 or older.

A majority of undocumented immigrant students live in five states -- California, Florida, Illinois, New York and Texas -- and about three-quarters live in 11 states: California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Texas, Virginia and Washington.

Eighty-two percent of all undocumented immigrant students are enrolled in two- or four-year public colleges, while just 18 percent are enrolled in private colleges. For DACA-eligible students, the percentage enrolled in public colleges is even higher, at 84 percent. The researchers were not able to break down the number of undocumented immigrant students enrolled in public two-year versus four-year colleges, though they note that many are enrolled in community colleges.

While most undocumented students are enrolled at the undergraduate level, 10 percent of all undocumented immigrant students, and 13 percent of the subset who are DACA eligible, are enrolled in graduate and professional degrees.

Thirty-nine percent of all undocumented students pursuing graduate degrees have an undergraduate degree in a science, technology, engineering or mathematics field. Of DACA-eligible students who are pursuing an advanced degree, 43 percent have an undergraduate degree in a STEM field.

A little less than half (46 percent) of all undocumented students in higher education are Hispanic/Latinx, 25 percent are Asian American and Pacific Islander, 15 percent are black, 12 percent are white, and 2 percent are classified as "other." Among DACA-eligible students, 65 percent are Latinx, 17 percent are Asian American and Pacific Islander, 7 percent are black, 10 percent are white, and 1 percent are classified as "other."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Report estimates that more than 450,000 undocumented immigrants are enrolled in higher ed

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Undocumented immigrant students make up about 2 percent of all students enrolled in U.S. higher education, according to a new report released Thursday. All told, researchers estimate 454,000 undocumented immigrant students are enrolled in higher education.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Persisting Inequalities and Paths Forward: A Report on the State of Undocumented Students in California's Public Universities

Over the past two decades, California has opened the halls of higher education to undocumented youth. State policies and institutional practices have steadily increased their numbers, and California now hosts one in five of the nation's undocumented college students. But how are these students faring once they arrive on campus?

This report takes stock of the experiences of undocumented college students attending California's two public university systems: the California State University and the University of California. Based on survey responses from nearly 1,300 undergraduate students during spring 2020, it powerfully illustrates how undocumented immigration status disrupts college students' educational experiences and wellbeing. It offers specific steps that educational institutions can take to combat persisting inequalities and forge pathways toward equity and inclusion.
Download the full report.
Download the executive summary in English and Spanish.

On Thursday, December 10, 2020 from 12-1pm PST, we hosted a virtual briefing to offer in-depth coverage of the findings and a discussion of what stakeholders need to know to advance equity and inclusion for undocumented students.
View the recording here. Speakers include:

Laura E. Enriquez, Associate Professor of Chicano/Latino Studies at UC Irvine

Karina Chavarria, Assistant Professor of Sociology at CSU Channel Islands

Melissa J. Hagan, Assistant Professor of Psychology at San Francisco State University

Jennifer Nájera, Associate Professor and Chair of Ethnic Studies at UC Riverside

Annie Ro, Associate Professor of Public Health at UC Irvine

William E. Rosales, Assistant Professor of Sociology at CSU Los Angeles

Heidy Sarabia, Associate Professor of Sociology at Sacramento State University

Zulema Valdez, Associate Vice Provost for the Faculty and Professor of Sociology at UC Merced

Media Coverage:
UCI School of Social Sciences, " The State of Undocumented Students in California's Public Universities "

Insider Higher Education, " Survey Spotlights Undocumented Student Experiences, Needs "

Los Angeles Times, Times OC, " UC Irvine-led study reveals nuance to the experiences of undocumented students across California "
About Us:
The UC Collaborative to Promote Immigrant and Student Equity (UC PromISE) is a multicampus initiative at the University of California that conducts research with the goal of informing policies and practices that will advance equity and inclusion for undocumented and immigrant-origin students.

The Undocumented Student Equity Project ( USEP) is a collaborative effort dedicated to conducting rigorous empirical research to inform institutional policies and practices that will advance equity and inclusion for undocumented students.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Report on the State of Undocumented Students in California's Public Universities

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Over the past two decades, California has opened the halls of higher education to undocumented youth. State policies and institutional practices have steadily increased their numbers, and California now hosts one in five of the nation's undocumented college students. But how are these students faring once they arrive on campus?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Dive Brief:

More than 450,000 students unauthorized to live in the U.S. are attending a college or university here, making up roughly 2% of enrollment, according to a new report from advocacy groups New American Economy and the Presidents' Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration.

Of those students, about half are eligible for or are participating in Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a program that allows immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children to study and work here and shields them from deportation.

The report notes that unauthorized students can't receive public grants at some state universities and don't qualify for federal financial aid - two concerns that have taken on new urgency amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Dive Insight:

The unauthorized student population is much larger "than was previously thought," the report's authors write.They added that these students "actively ready themselves to fill critical skills shortages" in fields such as healthcare and teaching.

Yet several financial hurdles can prevent them from finishing or even enrolling in college. They aren't eligible for federal aid,and fewer than half of the states offer all unauthorized students in-state tuition if they meet residency requirements.

The coronavirus pandemic has heightened these issues. Although the U.S. Department of Education is giving colleges more than $6 billion to distribute to students, the agency hasn't explicitly stated whether unauthorized students are allowed to receive these funds, Inside Higher Ed reported.

However, the wide latitude the Ed Department is giving colleges to determine how to distribute the aid could allow them to help unauthorized students and others who aren't typically eligible for federal support.

The Ed Department did not cap the amount colleges could give to each student, but suggested they limit it to $6,195, the maximum Pell Grant amount.

Unauthorized students' families may also be missing out on government coronavirus relief, potentially jeopardizing their college education. Immigrant workers without social security numbers don't qualify for the checks of up to $1,200 being sent to many Americans and can't file for unemployment benefits in most states.

Efforts have sprung up to fill in the gaps. California is giving one-time payments of $500 to unauthorized immigrants in the state, with a cap of $1,000 per household.And several universities and advocacy organizations have emergency funds set aside for unauthorized students.

The possible end of DACA also hangs over some unauthorized students.When the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments over the case last year, the justices appeared divided on whether the Trump administration lawfully attempted to phase out the program.

In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, lawyers from the National Immigration Law Center and other groups argued in court documents that the administration did not fully consider the contributions of roughly 27,000 healthcare workers who are shielded from deportation by DACA.

And late last year, the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) and 32 other healthcare associations voiced their support of DACA to the Supreme Court justices."[W]e do not believe the administration considered the impact the rescission of DACA would have on patients and the health professionals who care for them," David Skorton, president and CEO of the AAMC, said in an op-ed for The Washington Post.

The new report builds on those arguments. Nearly half (46%) of DACA-eligible graduate students with a STEM undergraduate degree have one in a healthcare-related field, its authors note.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Report: Undocumented students are a larger share of college enrollment than previously thought

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
More than 450,000 students unauthorized to live in the U.S. are attending a college or university here, making up roughly 2% of enrollment, according to a new report from advocacy groups New American Economy and the Presidents' Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
To help school leaders comply with federal and state immigration laws and ensure that the undocumented students they serve have access to the same supports and educational opportunities as all students. Download (.pdf) Although it is difficult to get an accurate picture of the immigrant population i…

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Under federal law, all children in the United States are entitled to a public elementary and secondary education regardless of their race, color, national origin, citizenship, or immigration status or the status of their parents/guardians. On May 8, 2014, the Department of Justice and the Department of Education issued an updated set of guidance documents to all public school districts reminding them of their obligation under federal law to provide equal educational opportunities to all children residing in their districts, and to offer assistance to ensure they are complying with the law.

Dear Colleague Letter pdf

Spanish pdf

Fact Sheet pdf

Spanish pdf

Questions & Answers for States, School Districts, and Parents and Community Members pdf
Spanish pdf
Korean pdf

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Dear Colleague Letter On The Rights Of All Children To Enroll In Public Schools

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Under federal law, all children in the United States are entitled to a public elementary and secondary education regardless of their race, color, national origin, citizenship, or immigration status or the status of their parents/guardians.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Under federal law, all children in the United States are entitled to a public elementary and secondary education regardless of their race, color, national origin, citizenship, or immigration status or the status of their parents/guardians. On May 8, 2014, the Department of Justice and the Department of Education issued an updated set of guidance documents to all public school districts reminding them of their obligation under federal law to provide equal educational opportunities to all children residing in their districts, and to offer assistance to ensure they are complying with the law.

Dear Colleague Letter pdf

Spanish pdf

Fact Sheet pdf

Spanish pdf

Questions & Answers for States, School Districts, and Parents and Community Members pdf
Spanish pdf
Korean pdf

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Dear Colleague Letter On The Rights Of All Children To Enroll In Public Schools

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Under federal law, all children in the United States are entitled to a public elementary and secondary education regardless of their race, color, national origin, citizenship, or immigration status or the status of their parents/guardians.

# data[].attributes.body
Dear Colleague Letter: Undocumented Students

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
United We Dream is a youth-led organization advocates for the fair treatment of immigrant youth and families by providing organizing resources.

Educators for Fair Consideration empowers undocumented youth to achieve their educational and career goals through financial support, leadership building, resources, and partnerships.

Immigrant Legal Resource Center works with and educates immigrants, community organizations, and the legal sector to strengthen democracy with a lens toward diversity and human rights.

Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) is a Latino civil rights organization that promotes social change through advocacy, education, and litigation in a variety of areas.

ACLU works to defend civil rights, including due process and equal protection rights for immigrants.

California

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Undocumented Students in California: What You Should Know - The Education Trust - West

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
United We Dream is a youth-led organization advocates for the fair treatment of immigrant youth and families by providing organizing resources. Educators for Fair Consideration empowers undocumented youth to achieve their educational and career goals through financial support, leadership building, resources, and partnerships.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
TOPIC: Undocumented Students and Learning Support
The following represents a sample of information to get you started and is not meant to be exhaustive.
(Note: Clicking on the following links causes a new window to be opened. To return to this window, close the newly opened one).

Center Developed Resources

Policy Brief
Publications
Introductory Packets
Guides and Guidance Notes
Information Resource
Quick Find
Other Resources on the Internet
General
Elementary, Middle Schools, High School
Higher Education
Legal and Advocacy
Mental Health
Financial and Scholarships
Resource for teachers
Agencies
For updated references to this topic, go to Google Scholar

We hope these resources met your needs. If not, feel free to contact us for further assistance. For additional resources related to this topic, use our search page to find organizations, websites and documents. You may also go to our technical assistance page or contact ltaylor@ucla.edu for more specific technical assistance requests.
If our website has been helpful, we are pleased and encourage you to use our site or contact our Center in the future.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
TA FAQs (frequently asked questions): Undocumented Students

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
TOPIC: Undocumented Students and Learning Support The following represents a sample of information to get you started and is not meant to be exhaustive. (Note: Clicking on the following links causes a new window to be opened. To return to this window, close the newly opened one).

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.authors[].name
Katherine Culliton-González Joanna E. Cuevas Ingram

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Santuarios, Seguridad y Comunidad | Demos

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Debido a las preocupaciones acerca de las crecientes amenazas a las comunidades de inmigrantes respecto a varias posturas políticas migratorias de índole racial promovidas por la administración federal entrante,1 Demos y LatinoJustice PRLDEF presentan este informe preliminar sobre las decisiones qu…

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Introduction

Concerned about increasing threats to immigrant communities by several racially-fraught immigration policy positions advanced by the incoming federal administration, 1 Demos and LatinoJustice PRLDEF are issuing this preliminary report on the ability of local communities to decide, based on their own form of local government, how they may enact policies to protect immigrant rights. This report is by no means comprehensive; it is intended to provide advocates with basic information about available options to effectively address the very real safety and security threats to immigrant communities. Our research demonstrates how local democratic institutions may enact counter-measures that welcome and include immigrants as equal members of society. We believe that this moment of crisis provides an opportunity for local governments and schools to dedicate themselves to building a "beloved community" 2 that assumes responsibility for protecting its most vulnerable members and, in doing so, expands the well-being and security of all.
Este informe está disponible en español
This report is available in Spanish. Know your rights: protect yourself against ICE activity by reading United We Dream's multilingual fact sheets
Since the November 2016 election of a presidential candidate who ran on a platform of racialized xenophobia, a troubling wave of hate speech and hate crimes has been unleashed; the largest number has occurred in schools. 3 Immigrant communities are not only living in fear of the termination of recent policies such as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA),4 but also in real fear of draconian federal government policies that include racial profiling, 5 raids and mass deportations. 6 President-elect Donald Trump made campaign promises to "build a wall" to keep out "Mexicans," whom he universally labeled as "criminals;" 7 to deny refuge for Syrians seeking asylum from civil war, including Syrian children; 8 to institute an unconstitutional national registry for Muslims and temporarily ban Muslim immigrants from entering the country; 9 to retract President Obama's executive order deferrals of deportation for young people; and to deport 2-3 million undocumented immigrants. 10 For communities of color, the rhetoric has already resulted in the creation of a hostile environment, saturated with high levels of hate speech and hate crimes, even in schools and directed against places of worship. 11 In the month following the election of Donald J. Trump to the nation's highest office, over 1,000 bias-related incidents were documented, and nearly 37 percent of them included perpetrators expressing support for Mr. Trump while engaging in such deplorable acts against humanity. 12

In response, starting in the days immediately after the election, cities around the country reaffirmed their commitment to providing some form of sanctuary for immigrants. 13 Other local communities have sought to begin providing such protections, while student- and parent-led activism has led to schools reaffirming and seeking to expand them. Churches, hospitals and other local institutions may also provide protections for immigrants. It is important to know that these protections may be contested, as the federal government has "exclusive jurisdiction" over immigration law enforcement. Moreover, local jurisdictions that have provided protections for immigrants have had their federal funding threatened. 14

But even with these threats, there are various ways in which local communities are working to meet these challenges and protect their own residents, such as refusing to provide local resources to enforce civil immigration law, and providing safeguards against racial profiling or other unconstitutional actions. Many of these protections are already in use, and as our research shows, recent case law challenging civil rights violations in this regard may provide some baseline of protection for immigrant communities in the coming years.

Currently, around 400 jurisdictions, including at least 4 states, 39 cities, and 364 counties, share a strong commitment to inclusion, diversity, and welcoming immigrant communities through what is loosely-termed "sanctuary policy," through which they limit cooperation with federal requests to hold immigrants in detention. 15 Additional forms of protection include not sharing information about immigration status, safeguarding school environments, and policies protecting against discrimination. 16 Even though sanctuary policies are likely to be attacked, legal analysis shows that communities have some leeway to decide for themselves whether their local democracy will welcome and protect immigrants. While the federal government has "exclusive jurisdiction" over immigration enforcement, our constitutional system of federalism permits communities to exercise democracy at the local level, and creates avenues to resist the most draconian impulses of the federal government. 17 Although local communities cannot entirely stop federal immigration enforcement, violations of equal protection and tactics such as racial profiling and commandeering of local police to round up members of our local communities for deportation have been resisted effectively in the past, and can and should be resisted in the future.

Part A of this report will briefly describe various types of local protections for immigrants. Part B will describe the basic legal parameters, as well as current legal threats, regarding local governmental policies intended to protect undocumented persons from aggressive federal immigration enforcement. It will also explain how the U.S. Constitution supports local jurisdictions in shielding against inquiries into immigration status, protecting against racial profiling, refusing to detain immigrants, resisting excessive incarceration and deportations, and perhaps most importantly, safeguarding public school children, among other measures. Part C will summarize these conclusions and related policy advocacy recommendations.

We hope this information is helpful, and we encourage advocates to seek out and choose among a wide variety of tools in their pursuit of inclusive local democracies that reject discrimination, advance equal protection and welcome immigrants, in the way that best meets local community needs. This challenging time will require ongoing learning and adjustments in tactics and strategies to present the strongest defense of sanctuary policies and the inclusive vision of community, safety, security and local democracy that they embody.
Download the full report to read more

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Concerned about increasing threats to immigrant communities by several racially-fraught immigration policy positions advanced by the incoming federal administration, 1 Demos and LatinoJustice PRLDEF are issuing this preliminary report on the ability of local communities to decide, based on their own form of local government, how they may enact policies to protect immigrant rights.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Despite the Supreme Court decision to reinstate the DACA program, on July 28, 2020, the Trump administration issued a memo indicating USCIS will (1) reject all initial DACA applications; (2) reject all Advance Parole applications from DACA recipients unless there are exceptional circumstances; and (3) shorten the DACA renewal period from 2 years to 1 year. This means that the USCIS will not accept any new DACA initial applications and plans to reject and return all initial applications submitted to date, with filing fee.

Current DACA recipients should continue to renew their cases although their protection under deferred action and work permit will be valid for only one year instead of two. If you have questions about how you or someone you know may be impacted by this announcement, please visit the Ready CA Legal Directory or Immigration Advocates Network Legal Directory.

This is a deeply troubling development as President Trump again outrageously demonstrates his belief that he and his administration are above the law and shows the president's complete disregard for the individuals and communities who are affected by this announcement. Aspects of the memo will likely be subject to legal challenges. Further analysis and updates will be provided as soon as possible. The fight against Trump's anti-immigration agenda continues.

This practice alert provides a brief summary of temporary changes U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has made in response to COVID-19. Changes include plans for reopening USCIS facilities after suspending all in-person services, including interviews and biometrics appointments, from March 18 to June 3, 2020; automatic extensions for Requests for Evidence (RFEs), Notices of Intent...

On July 28, 2020 the Department of Homeland Security issued a memorandum severely restricting the DACA program. Despite a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision fully reinstating the program, the Trump administration has issued another attack on the program. This community alert gives a brief summary of memorandum and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Implementing Guidance issued on...

On July 28, 2020, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released a memorandum instructing U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to: 1) reject all initial Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) requests from applicants who have not received DACA in the past; 2) reject all advance parole applications from DACA recipients except where there are "exceptional circumstances...

While the U.S. Supreme Court's decision on June 18, 2020 should have restored the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in its entirety, a recent announcement by the Trump administration has once again thrown the program and DACA recipients into limbo. This resource goes over frequently asked questions to help orient the community of this new change with DACA program.

In this quick practice update, we alert practitioners to USCIS' publication of its fee schedule final rule, which proposes to drastically increase most fees, eliminate fee waivers for most applicants, and narrow fee waiver criteria, effective October 2, 2020.

Pages

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA/DAPA) | ILRC

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Despite the Supreme Court decision to reinstate the DACA program, on July 28, 2020, the Trump administration issued a memo indicating USCIS will (1) reject all initial DACA applications; (2) reject all Advance Parole applications from DACA recipients unless there are exceptional circumstances; and (3) shorten the DACA renewal period from 2 years to 1 year.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
"Perez, a developmental psychologist and professor in Southern California, plumbs the stories of students living with the constant threat of deportation for an answer to the question, 'What does it mean to be an American?' Raised in this country by parents who gained access illegally, the 16 high school, college and post-graduate students profiled here (standing in for 65,000 nationwide) have each embraced our language, culture and collective dream, but are denied pathways to success. Perez, who has worked at a variety of research institutions, including the RAND Corporation and the Stanford Institute for Higher Education Research, makes a compelling argument for changing legislation on many fronts, including bottom line economics." - Publishers Weekly

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
We Are Americans: Undocumented Students Pursuing the American Dream

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
"Perez, a developmental psychologist and professor in Southern California, plumbs the stories of students living with the constant threat of deportation for an answer to the question, 'What does it mean to be an American?'

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Dan-el Padilla Peralta has lived the American dream. As a boy, he came here legally with his family. Together they left Santo Domingo behind, but when their visas lapsed, Dan-el's courageous mother was determined to make a better life for her bright sons. While Dan-el was only in grade school, the family joined the ranks of the city's homeless. Dan-el, his mother, and brother lived in a downtown shelter where Dan-el's only refuge was the meager library. After a volunteer helped Dan-el get accepted on scholarship to Collegiate, the oldest private school in the country, Dan-el navigated the rough streets of East Harlem and the ultra-elite halls of a Manhattan private school, where he soon rose to the top of his class. From Collegiate, Dan-el went to Princeton, making a momentous decision to come out as an undocumented student in a Wall Street Journal profile a few months before he gave the salutatorian's traditional address in Latin at his commencement. Winner of the YALSA Alex Award.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Undocumented: A Dominican Boy's Odyssey from a Homeless Shelter to the Ivy League

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Dan-el Padilla Peralta has lived the American dream. As a boy, he came here legally with his family. Together they left Santo Domingo behind, but when their visas lapsed, Dan-el's courageous mother was determined to make a better life for her bright sons.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Sixteen-year-old Sonia Ocampo was born on the night of the worst storm Tres Montes had ever seen. And when the winds mercifully stopped, an unshakable belief in the girl's protective powers began. Sonia knows she has no special powers, but how can she disappoint those who look to her for solace? When she gets a chance to travel to the city and work in the home of a wealthy woman, she seizes it. But when news arrives that her beloved brother has disappeared while looking for work, she learns to her sorrow that she can never truly leave the past or her family behind. With deeply realized characters, a keen sense of place, a hint of magical realism, and a flush of young romance, Meg Medina tells the tale of a strongwilled, warmhearted girl who dares to face life's harsh truths as she finds her real power.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Sixteen-year-old Sonia Ocampo was born on the night of the worst storm Tres Montes had ever seen. And when the winds mercifully stopped, an unshakable belief in the girl's protective powers began. Sonia knows she has no special powers, but how can she disappoint those who look to her for solace?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Product Description: Zitlally's family is undocumented, and her father has just been arrested for speeding and deported back to Mexico. As her family waits for him to return - they've paid a coyote to guide him back across the border - they receive news that he and the coyote's other charges have been kidnapped and are being held for ransom. Meanwhile, Zitlally and a new friend find a dog in the forest near their trailer park. They name it Star for the star-shaped patch over its eye. As time goes on, Zitlally starts to realize that Star is her father's 'spirit animal,' and that as long as Star is safe, her father will be also. But what will happen to Zitlally's dad when Star disappears?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Product Description: Zitlally's family is undocumented, and her father has just been arrested for speeding and deported back to Mexico. As her family waits for him to return - they've paid a coyote to guide him back across the border - they receive news that he and the coyote's other charges have been kidnapped and are being held for ransom.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The shifting conversation around citizenship | Julissa Arce | TEDxTexasTechUniversity

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Born in the picturesque town of Taxco, Mexico, Julissa Arce was brought to Texas at the age of eight to join her parents, who had already moved north. From then on, Julissa secretly lived as an undocumented immigrant, went on to become a scholarship winner and an honors college graduate, and climbed the ladder to become a vice president at Goldman Sachs. Julissa's story provides a deep look into the little-understood world of a new generation of undocumented immigrants in the United States today. You can learn more about Julissa's story in this TED Talk she delivered in 2015.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Someone Like Me: How One Undocumented Girl Fought for Her American Dream

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Born in the picturesque town of Taxco, Mexico, Julissa Arce was brought to Texas at the age of eight to join her parents, who had already moved north. From then on, Julissa secretly lived as an undocumented immigrant, went on to become a scholarship winner and an honors college graduate, and climbed the ladder to become a vice president at Goldman Sachs.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Before becoming a successful actress and landing a spot on the megahit Netflix show Orange is the New Black, Diane Guerrero was a young girl living in Boston. One day, while Guerrero was at school, her undocumented immigrant parents were taken from their home, detained, and deported to their native country, Colombia. Guerrero's life, which had been full of the support of a loving family, was turned upside down. Reflective of the experiences of millions of undocumented immigrant families in the United States, Guerrero's story in My Family Divided, written with Erica Moroz, is at once heartbreaking and hopeful.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
My Family Divided: One Girl's Journey of Home, Loss, and Hope

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Before becoming a successful actress and landing a spot on the megahit Netflix show Orange is the New Black, Diane Guerrero was a young girl living in Boston. One day, while Guerrero was at school, her undocumented immigrant parents were taken from their home, detained, and deported to their native country, Colombia.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
"When Mamá's purse falls on the floor, Sofia gets a peek at Mamá's old Resident Alien card and comes to the conclusion that Mamá might be an alien from outer space. Sofia heads to the library to learn more about aliens. Some are small and some are tall. Some have four fingers on each hand and some have large, round eyes. Their skin can be gray or blue or green. But Mamá looks like a human mother! Could she really be an alien? Sofia is still puzzling out this mystery when she sees an alien-looking Mamá one night. It turns out Mamá is doing a beauty treatment so she will look her best for her citizenship ceremony. That's when Sofia realizes that in English, an alien can be someone from another planet, and it can also be a person from another country. Just like Mamá! Filled with imagination and humor, Mamá the Alien/Mamá la extraterrestre is a lighthearted immigration tale and a celebration of family, no matter where that family comes from. Even if it's outer space!"

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
"When Mamá's purse falls on the floor, Sofia gets a peek at Mamá's old Resident Alien card and comes to the conclusion that Mamá might be an alien from outer space. Sofia heads to the library to learn more about aliens. Some are small and some are tall.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Over two million of the nation's eleven million undocumented immigrants have lived in the United States since childhood. Due to a broken immigration system, they grow up to uncertain futures. In Lives in Limbo, Harvard professor Roberto G. Gonzales introduces us to two groups: the college-goers, like Ricardo, who had good grades and a strong network of community support that propelled him to college and DREAM Act organizing but still landed in a factory job a few short years after graduation, and the early-exiters, like Gabriel, who failed to make meaningful connections in high school and started navigating dead-end jobs, immigration checkpoints, and a world narrowly circumscribed by legal limitations. This vivid ethnography explores why highly educated undocumented youth share similar work and life outcomes with their less-educated peers, despite the fact that higher education is touted as the path to integration and success in America. Mining the results of an extraordinary twelve-year study that followed 150 undocumented young adults in Los Angeles, Lives in Limbo exposes the failures of a system that integrates children into K-12 schools but ultimately denies them the rewards of their labor.

Publisher: University of California Press

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Lives in Limbo: Undocumented and Coming of Age in America

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Over two million of the nation's eleven million undocumented immigrants have lived in the United States since childhood. Due to a broken immigration system, they grow up to uncertain futures. In Lives in Limbo, Harvard professor Roberto G.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Product Description: Just Like Us tells the story of four high school students whose parents entered this country illegally from Mexico. We meet the girls on the eve of their senior prom in Denver, Colorado. All four of the girls have grown up in the United States, and all four want to live the American dream, but only two have documents. Just Like Us is a coming-of-age story about girlhood, friendship, and identity - what it means to steal an identity, what it means to have a public identity, what it means to inherit an identity from parents.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Product Description: Just Like Us tells the story of four high school students whose parents entered this country illegally from Mexico. We meet the girls on the eve of their senior prom in Denver, Colorado. All four of the girls have grown up in the United States, and all four want to live the American dream, but only two have documents.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Diane Guerrero, the television actress from the megahit Orange is the New Black and Jane the Virgin, was just fourteen years old on the day her parents were detained and deported while she was at school. Born in the U.S., Guerrero was able to remain in the country and continue her education, depending on the kindness of family friends who took her in and helped her build a life and a successful acting career for herself, without the support system of her family. In the Country We Love is a moving, heartbreaking story of one woman's extraordinary resilience in the face of the nightmarish struggles of undocumented residents in this country. There are over 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the US, many of whom have citizen children, whose lives here are just as precarious, and whose stories haven't been told.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
In the Country We Love: My Family Divided

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Diane Guerrero, the television actress from the megahit Orange is the New Black and Jane the Virgin, was just fourteen years old on the day her parents were detained and deported while she was at school.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
In 2007, Los Angeles Times reporter Sonia Nazario published Enrique's Journey, a book based on her Pulitzer-Prize winning reports about a teenage boy's harrowing trip north to the U.S. from Honduras to find his mother, who had immigrated to the U.S. eleven years earlier. Sonia has now published a Young Adult version of the compelling and gritty book adapted for readers 12 and older.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Enrique's Journey: The Story of a Boy's Dangerous Odyssey to Reunite with His Mother (Adapted for Young Adults)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In 2007, Los Angeles Times reporter Sonia Nazario published Enrique's Journey, a book based on her Pulitzer-Prize winning reports about a teenage boy's harrowing trip north to the U.S. from Honduras to find his mother, who had immigrated to the U.S. eleven years earlier.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
"Perez, a developmental psychologist and professor in Southern California, plumbs the stories of students living with the constant threat of deportation for an answer to the question, 'What does it mean to be an American?' Raised in this country by parents who gained access illegally, the 16 high school, college and post-graduate students profiled here (standing in for 65,000 nationwide) have each embraced our language, culture and collective dream, but are denied pathways to success. Perez, who has worked at a variety of research institutions, including the RAND Corporation and the Stanford Institute for Higher Education Research, makes a compelling argument for changing legislation on many fronts, including bottom line economics." - Publishers Weekly

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
We Are Americans: Undocumented Students Pursuing the American Dream

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
"Perez, a developmental psychologist and professor in Southern California, plumbs the stories of students living with the constant threat of deportation for an answer to the question, 'What does it mean to be an American?'