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| Creating a Safe Space for California Dreamers | Creating a Safe Space for California Dreamers |
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| The University of California, Merced, rises apparition-like out of a landscape of cow pastures, cotton fields and grasslands. In the cool of the morning, the faint scent of manure, the olfactory signature of the Central Valley, hangs in the air. | The University of California, Merced, rises apparition-like out of a landscape of cow pastures, cotton fields and grasslands. In the cool of the morning, the faint scent of manure, the olfactory signature of the Central Valley, hangs in the air. |
| The campus is meant to evoke this rural setting. The crop-colored yellow and gold exterior of Tenaya Hall is set off by corrugated metal accents — touches reminiscent of the silos and the fields in which so many of the students’ parents work. Tenaya Hall is home to the Fiat Lux Scholars, a special initiative for first-generation, low-income students that is named for the University of California’s motto, “Let There Be Light.” | The campus is meant to evoke this rural setting. The crop-colored yellow and gold exterior of Tenaya Hall is set off by corrugated metal accents — touches reminiscent of the silos and the fields in which so many of the students’ parents work. Tenaya Hall is home to the Fiat Lux Scholars, a special initiative for first-generation, low-income students that is named for the University of California’s motto, “Let There Be Light.” |
| The Merced campus opened in 2005; with just 7,000 students (it’s slated to expand by 2020 to 10,000) it does not yet possess the critical mass necessary to support a Gap, a Shake Shack, a Starbucks or other college-town amenities. And so it remains of the Valley — a place of poverty, hit hard by the foreclosure crisis, in which an aspiration gap plays out in underperforming schools; only about 13 percent of Merced County residents have a bachelor’s degree. | The Merced campus opened in 2005; with just 7,000 students (it’s slated to expand by 2020 to 10,000) it does not yet possess the critical mass necessary to support a Gap, a Shake Shack, a Starbucks or other college-town amenities. And so it remains of the Valley — a place of poverty, hit hard by the foreclosure crisis, in which an aspiration gap plays out in underperforming schools; only about 13 percent of Merced County residents have a bachelor’s degree. |
| The university’s mission has been to change that equation. About 70 percent of the student body are the first in their families to attend college, and roughly 5 percent are undocumented immigrants. | The university’s mission has been to change that equation. About 70 percent of the student body are the first in their families to attend college, and roughly 5 percent are undocumented immigrants. |
| The Fiat Lux program, established in 2010, is designed to reach these students, the ones who grew up sleeping on living room floors so the bedrooms could be rented out, or who learned how to rub garlic on the bottoms of shoes to ward off snakes while crossing the desert. The idea is to provide a pedagogical and social armature to help them navigate college, especially the pivotal first year that research shows is the strongest predictor of college success. | The Fiat Lux program, established in 2010, is designed to reach these students, the ones who grew up sleeping on living room floors so the bedrooms could be rented out, or who learned how to rub garlic on the bottoms of shoes to ward off snakes while crossing the desert. The idea is to provide a pedagogical and social armature to help them navigate college, especially the pivotal first year that research shows is the strongest predictor of college success. |
| And so as freshmen, 175 of the scholars, 22 of them undocumented, live together on the upper two floors of Tenaya Hall, sharing sparsely decorated rooms reflective of their modest means — a graduation watch here, a pair of Huaraches there. | And so as freshmen, 175 of the scholars, 22 of them undocumented, live together on the upper two floors of Tenaya Hall, sharing sparsely decorated rooms reflective of their modest means — a graduation watch here, a pair of Huaraches there. |
| One of them is Aurora Fabian. On the wall over her bunk bed | |
| in Room 351C there is a thumb-tacked quote she takes to heart: “Happy People Shine Brighter!” Like her peers who entered the country illegally, Ms. Fabian always tries to shine bright. Her path from Mexico to this campus was hard won. From fifth grade onward, she was out until almost midnight helping her single mother mop, sweep and clean the counters of a bakery before moving on to scrub the tile floors of a nearby Italian restaurant. | |
| Through it all, she managed to play high school soccer, run cross-country, work summers and weekends on the Santa Cruz boardwalk. Determined to “change our family history,” as she puts it, Ms. Fabian won two local scholarships and a coveted spot at the University of California. | Through it all, she managed to play high school soccer, run cross-country, work summers and weekends on the Santa Cruz boardwalk. Determined to “change our family history,” as she puts it, Ms. Fabian won two local scholarships and a coveted spot at the University of California. |
| Collectively, the freshmen in Tenaya Hall are the beacons of a better life. They are the sons and daughters of housekeepers, dishwashers, fast-food cooks, farm laborers, landscapers, garment workers who stitch labels onto clothing and contractors who build swimming pools for affluent homeowners along the coast. | Collectively, the freshmen in Tenaya Hall are the beacons of a better life. They are the sons and daughters of housekeepers, dishwashers, fast-food cooks, farm laborers, landscapers, garment workers who stitch labels onto clothing and contractors who build swimming pools for affluent homeowners along the coast. |
| Francisco Gavidia in Room 470C fled the violence in El Salvador, sleeping on his grandmother’s dirt floor until he could join his parents, whom he knew only through photos and phone calls. He remembers an incident growing up in East Los Angeles in which his mother, who worked below minimum wage, took him to the E.R. with a bloody nose and was handed a bill for $3,000. “I felt really bad,” he said, jiggling his leg as he recalled it. “It was just a bloody nose and it was really expensive.” | Francisco Gavidia in Room 470C fled the violence in El Salvador, sleeping on his grandmother’s dirt floor until he could join his parents, whom he knew only through photos and phone calls. He remembers an incident growing up in East Los Angeles in which his mother, who worked below minimum wage, took him to the E.R. with a bloody nose and was handed a bill for $3,000. “I felt really bad,” he said, jiggling his leg as he recalled it. “It was just a bloody nose and it was really expensive.” |
| Cruzangel Nava in Room 450G, a political science major, grew up in a part of Coachella light years away from the eponymous music festival. The family lost their two-story home to foreclosure during the recession; Mr. Nava, then in seventh grade, watched in stunned silence as his parents sold off the family’s two cars, his toys, his bike, his game system and his clothes — his father’s hand-embroidered poncho hanging in his dorm room a cherished exception. “They told me they were selling to people who didn’t have things,” he said. | Cruzangel Nava in Room 450G, a political science major, grew up in a part of Coachella light years away from the eponymous music festival. The family lost their two-story home to foreclosure during the recession; Mr. Nava, then in seventh grade, watched in stunned silence as his parents sold off the family’s two cars, his toys, his bike, his game system and his clothes — his father’s hand-embroidered poncho hanging in his dorm room a cherished exception. “They told me they were selling to people who didn’t have things,” he said. |
| Juan Robles in Room 451A saved up money for college by picking plums alongside his mother, who raised three children by rising at 4:30 a.m. six days a week to work in the fields. A champion debater, Mr. Robles is easy to spot in his jacket, tie and matching silk pocket handkerchief, a sartorial foreshadowing of his career goal to be a legislator crafting “small policies that can make a big difference in someone’s life.” It’s a difference he knows first hand. | Juan Robles in Room 451A saved up money for college by picking plums alongside his mother, who raised three children by rising at 4:30 a.m. six days a week to work in the fields. A champion debater, Mr. Robles is easy to spot in his jacket, tie and matching silk pocket handkerchief, a sartorial foreshadowing of his career goal to be a legislator crafting “small policies that can make a big difference in someone’s life.” It’s a difference he knows first hand. |
| Theirs is the #undocupower generation. | Theirs is the #undocupower generation. |
| Many of Tenaya’s undocumented come from so-called mixed-status families, with siblings born in the United States. Karen Gomez, a sophomore who serves as a peer counselor, tried to stifle the envy she felt being left behind during summers while a younger sister traveled to Mexico, including to their grandmother’s funeral. “She’d say little ungrateful things about going,” she said. “I’d think, ‘Don’t you realize how lucky you are?’ ” Her sister, now a junior in high school, will be eligible for scholarships that her big sister cannot apply for. A model peer counselor, Ms. Gomez tapes safe sex pamphlets, free condoms and other necessities of college life on her door. | Many of Tenaya’s undocumented come from so-called mixed-status families, with siblings born in the United States. Karen Gomez, a sophomore who serves as a peer counselor, tried to stifle the envy she felt being left behind during summers while a younger sister traveled to Mexico, including to their grandmother’s funeral. “She’d say little ungrateful things about going,” she said. “I’d think, ‘Don’t you realize how lucky you are?’ ” Her sister, now a junior in high school, will be eligible for scholarships that her big sister cannot apply for. A model peer counselor, Ms. Gomez tapes safe sex pamphlets, free condoms and other necessities of college life on her door. |
| Living together as a cohort is meant to foster bonding, and to ease first-generation students into the larger community. It is also an approach strongly associated with student retention; Fiat Lux Scholars graduate at a higher rate than students with comparable grade-point averages. Those accepted into the program — there is a waiting list — attend numerous workshops aimed at what is called procedural knowledge, boning up on study skills and learning how to connect with professors and research opportunities. Several times a semester there are organized lunches with faculty members. | Living together as a cohort is meant to foster bonding, and to ease first-generation students into the larger community. It is also an approach strongly associated with student retention; Fiat Lux Scholars graduate at a higher rate than students with comparable grade-point averages. Those accepted into the program — there is a waiting list — attend numerous workshops aimed at what is called procedural knowledge, boning up on study skills and learning how to connect with professors and research opportunities. Several times a semester there are organized lunches with faculty members. |
| Many come to college never having met a professor, notes Tanya Golash-Boza, a sociology professor. “Some come into my office literally shaking.” | Many come to college never having met a professor, notes Tanya Golash-Boza, a sociology professor. “Some come into my office literally shaking.” |
| Ms. Golash-Boza recently completed a study of 35 undocumented Merced students and found that 22 of their families earned less than $25,000 a year, on par with the average for undocumented students across the University of California’s 10 campuses. Financial pressure is considerable, she said, but because of Merced’s first-generation majority, students feel less isolated. “These students understand not being able to afford lunch,” she said. “There’s no shame associated with being poor here.” | Ms. Golash-Boza recently completed a study of 35 undocumented Merced students and found that 22 of their families earned less than $25,000 a year, on par with the average for undocumented students across the University of California’s 10 campuses. Financial pressure is considerable, she said, but because of Merced’s first-generation majority, students feel less isolated. “These students understand not being able to afford lunch,” she said. “There’s no shame associated with being poor here.” |
| Charles Nies, the vice chancellor of student affairs, was a first-generation, low-income student himself. The guiding premise, he said, is to “create an environment where these students matter.” | Charles Nies, the vice chancellor of student affairs, was a first-generation, low-income student himself. The guiding premise, he said, is to “create an environment where these students matter.” |
| Many in Tenaya Hall grew up having to keep their status a secret, a heavy psychic burden. Madely Martinez, a biology major, remembers hiding from vigilantes after being dropped off in the desert by a blue truck, having to lie flat and still as fire ants crawled all over her. The scene would repeat itself in recurring childhood nightmares. “I was always afraid,” she said. “I thought that even my friends might call the cops.” | Many in Tenaya Hall grew up having to keep their status a secret, a heavy psychic burden. Madely Martinez, a biology major, remembers hiding from vigilantes after being dropped off in the desert by a blue truck, having to lie flat and still as fire ants crawled all over her. The scene would repeat itself in recurring childhood nightmares. “I was always afraid,” she said. “I thought that even my friends might call the cops.” |
| For Ms. Martinez, the opportunity to live among smart young people who grew up in similarly fraught circumstances felt like a chrysalis breaking open — the butterfly the apt symbol of the immigrant rights movement. | For Ms. Martinez, the opportunity to live among smart young people who grew up in similarly fraught circumstances felt like a chrysalis breaking open — the butterfly the apt symbol of the immigrant rights movement. |
| “You don’t have to hide the person you are,” she explained, sitting amid miscellaneous stuffed turtles and under a poster for the Dance Coalition, the campus performing troupe she belongs to. “Coming here, I realize I’m not the only person who has these fears.” | “You don’t have to hide the person you are,” she explained, sitting amid miscellaneous stuffed turtles and under a poster for the Dance Coalition, the campus performing troupe she belongs to. “Coming here, I realize I’m not the only person who has these fears.” |
| She is among thousands of students around the country who are attending college largely because of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, known as DACA. The directive, established in 2012 by executive action, provides work authorization and a temporary reprieve from deportation for so-called Dreamers (derived from failed legislation called Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors), who entered the country illegally as children. While undocumented students are ineligible for federal financial aid, including loans, with DACA they can take jobs and graduate teaching assistantships to help defray the cost of their education. | She is among thousands of students around the country who are attending college largely because of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, known as DACA. The directive, established in 2012 by executive action, provides work authorization and a temporary reprieve from deportation for so-called Dreamers (derived from failed legislation called Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors), who entered the country illegally as children. While undocumented students are ineligible for federal financial aid, including loans, with DACA they can take jobs and graduate teaching assistantships to help defray the cost of their education. |
| The directive is distinct from most immigration policies in placing educational attainment front and center; applicants must be in school or have a high school diploma or equivalent. DACA recipients — there are more than 750,000 nationally — tend to be an accomplished bunch: Nearly 15 percent are pursuing a master’s degree or higher, according to a 2016 national survey, and 28 percent are studying STEM, making it the most popular major. Because they can renew their DACA status every two years, many have leveraged their education into careers in their chosen fields. | The directive is distinct from most immigration policies in placing educational attainment front and center; applicants must be in school or have a high school diploma or equivalent. DACA recipients — there are more than 750,000 nationally — tend to be an accomplished bunch: Nearly 15 percent are pursuing a master’s degree or higher, according to a 2016 national survey, and 28 percent are studying STEM, making it the most popular major. Because they can renew their DACA status every two years, many have leveraged their education into careers in their chosen fields. |
| • | • |
| On the morning of Nov. 9, the study lounge on Tenaya’s fourth floor filled with students in their pajamas calling their parents through tears. “I couldn’t hold my composure,” recalled Cruzangel Nava. “I completely broke down.” Many students, fearing the potential deportation of their parents, headed home to keep them close. | On the morning of Nov. 9, the study lounge on Tenaya’s fourth floor filled with students in their pajamas calling their parents through tears. “I couldn’t hold my composure,” recalled Cruzangel Nava. “I completely broke down.” Many students, fearing the potential deportation of their parents, headed home to keep them close. |
| “There was a lot of anxiety,” said Ms. Gomez, the peer counselor. “People wanted to be with their families.” | “There was a lot of anxiety,” said Ms. Gomez, the peer counselor. “People wanted to be with their families.” |
| Donald J. Trump campaigned on the vow that he would send the undocumented home and terminate DACA, calling the executive action that created it illegal and unconstitutional. On DACA, he has softened his tone. In the president’s first week in office, a spokesman said that Mr. Trump would work with Congress for “a long-term solution on that issue,” and instead focus on deporting those with criminal records. | Donald J. Trump campaigned on the vow that he would send the undocumented home and terminate DACA, calling the executive action that created it illegal and unconstitutional. On DACA, he has softened his tone. In the president’s first week in office, a spokesman said that Mr. Trump would work with Congress for “a long-term solution on that issue,” and instead focus on deporting those with criminal records. |
| But Mr. Trump has taken forceful action against immigrants, closing the borders to refugees and ordering his wall with Mexico. His choice for attorney general, Jeff Sessions of Alabama, has been a consistent and vociferous critic of both illegal and legal immigration, and has tried several times to pass laws abolishing DACA. What the president has in mind for DACA is an open question. | But Mr. Trump has taken forceful action against immigrants, closing the borders to refugees and ordering his wall with Mexico. His choice for attorney general, Jeff Sessions of Alabama, has been a consistent and vociferous critic of both illegal and legal immigration, and has tried several times to pass laws abolishing DACA. What the president has in mind for DACA is an open question. |
| Students feel particularly vulnerable because applying for DACA means handing over personal information to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, part of the Department of Homeland Security. It is impossible to slough off anti-immigration sentiment and plans for walls when your very own family members are “the illegals.” | Students feel particularly vulnerable because applying for DACA means handing over personal information to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, part of the Department of Homeland Security. It is impossible to slough off anti-immigration sentiment and plans for walls when your very own family members are “the illegals.” |
| Alejandro Delgadillo, associate director of the Calvin E. Bright Success Center at Merced, which has a “safe space” for undocumented students, has been trying to calm nerves. The university had sent notices around in December urging DACA students studying abroad to come home well before Jan. 20 to avoid possible detention at the border. It likewise has advised those planning to study abroad to stay put. A “know your rights” legal workshop is set for early this month. | Alejandro Delgadillo, associate director of the Calvin E. Bright Success Center at Merced, which has a “safe space” for undocumented students, has been trying to calm nerves. The university had sent notices around in December urging DACA students studying abroad to come home well before Jan. 20 to avoid possible detention at the border. It likewise has advised those planning to study abroad to stay put. A “know your rights” legal workshop is set for early this month. |
| “We’ve always told our students to take advantage of the opportunities they have here at the university,” said Mr. Delgadillo, who has worked with unauthorized students for 25 years. “I can be reassuring,” he said. “But for the first time in my professional career, I can’t tell them not to fear.” | “We’ve always told our students to take advantage of the opportunities they have here at the university,” said Mr. Delgadillo, who has worked with unauthorized students for 25 years. “I can be reassuring,” he said. “But for the first time in my professional career, I can’t tell them not to fear.” |
| Diana Peña, the U.C. system’s full-time mental health provider for undocumented students, based at Berkeley, said her caseload has nearly doubled since the election. Students have had difficulty sleeping and taking tests or complain of “headaches and stomach aches having to do with the way the body absorbs stress,” she said. These symptoms, she said, have been exacerbated by discriminatory comments on social media. | Diana Peña, the U.C. system’s full-time mental health provider for undocumented students, based at Berkeley, said her caseload has nearly doubled since the election. Students have had difficulty sleeping and taking tests or complain of “headaches and stomach aches having to do with the way the body absorbs stress,” she said. These symptoms, she said, have been exacerbated by discriminatory comments on social media. |
| “The lives of these students are very fragile,” said Marcelo M. Suárez-Orozco, dean of the graduate school of education at the University of California at Los Angeles and an author of a national study in 2015 of undocumented undergraduates. They have spent their formative years in a “labyrinth of liminality,” he said. “They play Little League, they sell lemonade, they join the Boy and Girl Scouts. And then one day they learn: By the way, you’re not an American.” | “The lives of these students are very fragile,” said Marcelo M. Suárez-Orozco, dean of the graduate school of education at the University of California at Los Angeles and an author of a national study in 2015 of undocumented undergraduates. They have spent their formative years in a “labyrinth of liminality,” he said. “They play Little League, they sell lemonade, they join the Boy and Girl Scouts. And then one day they learn: By the way, you’re not an American.” |
| The study found “breathtaking levels of anxiety,” with clinical stress levels four times higher for young women and seven times higher for young men than the norm. Respondents also reported feeling isolated on campus, uncertain about whom they could trust. | The study found “breathtaking levels of anxiety,” with clinical stress levels four times higher for young women and seven times higher for young men than the norm. Respondents also reported feeling isolated on campus, uncertain about whom they could trust. |
| DACA has given these goal-oriented young people the opportunity to plan and imagine a future for themselves, Dr. Suárez-Orozco said. They now find themselves in a “horrific Kafka-like situation” in which they have potentially outed their parents to federal authorities. “What young people crave more than anything else is a sense of belonging,” he added. “Now they are going back to a deep crisis of uncertainty. This is a seismic shift.” | DACA has given these goal-oriented young people the opportunity to plan and imagine a future for themselves, Dr. Suárez-Orozco said. They now find themselves in a “horrific Kafka-like situation” in which they have potentially outed their parents to federal authorities. “What young people crave more than anything else is a sense of belonging,” he added. “Now they are going back to a deep crisis of uncertainty. This is a seismic shift.” |
| Francisco Mascorro Montes — Kiko to his friends — keeps rosaries from his Mexican grandmother beside his bed in Tenaya Hall, an emblem of his faith. A mechanical engineering major, he is a member of Ingenieros Unidos, a student chapter of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers. He earned money for books and a laptop by operating a peach-sorting machine last summer. | Francisco Mascorro Montes — Kiko to his friends — keeps rosaries from his Mexican grandmother beside his bed in Tenaya Hall, an emblem of his faith. A mechanical engineering major, he is a member of Ingenieros Unidos, a student chapter of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers. He earned money for books and a laptop by operating a peach-sorting machine last summer. |
| “Any fear I have is for my parents,” he said. “I know the university has our backs.” | “Any fear I have is for my parents,” he said. “I know the university has our backs.” |
| Indeed, in contrast to South Carolina and Alabama, which prohibit undocumented students from receiving in-state tuition, and Georgia, which prevents them from attending three top public universities, California has a formidable array of state laws and university policies designed to support them. | Indeed, in contrast to South Carolina and Alabama, which prohibit undocumented students from receiving in-state tuition, and Georgia, which prevents them from attending three top public universities, California has a formidable array of state laws and university policies designed to support them. |
| The state has the most DACA recipients in the country — about a third of the total — and they benefit from in-state tuition rates and access to financial aid under the California Dream Act ($1,670 for community colleges to a maximum of $12,294 for the University of California). | The state has the most DACA recipients in the country — about a third of the total — and they benefit from in-state tuition rates and access to financial aid under the California Dream Act ($1,670 for community colleges to a maximum of $12,294 for the University of California). |
| It was Janet Napolitano, president of the University of California, who developed DACA as secretary of Homeland Security under President Obama. Her appointment was at first controversial because of her enforcement of deportations. But early in her tenure as university president, she started a $5 million fund that pays for advisers like Mr. Delgadillo and resource centers on each campus, where undocumented students can receive academic, career and financial aid advice. Last year, her office allocated $8.4 million, much of it for a universitywide revolving “Dream Loan” fund. | It was Janet Napolitano, president of the University of California, who developed DACA as secretary of Homeland Security under President Obama. Her appointment was at first controversial because of her enforcement of deportations. But early in her tenure as university president, she started a $5 million fund that pays for advisers like Mr. Delgadillo and resource centers on each campus, where undocumented students can receive academic, career and financial aid advice. Last year, her office allocated $8.4 million, much of it for a universitywide revolving “Dream Loan” fund. |
| Ms. Napolitano has taken a strong stance defending the civil rights of her system’s roughly 3,800 undocumented students, including stating publicly that the university would not comply with any national registry based on race, religion or national origin. She and heads of the state’s two other public university systems wrote a joint letter to Mr. Trump in support of DACA students. | Ms. Napolitano has taken a strong stance defending the civil rights of her system’s roughly 3,800 undocumented students, including stating publicly that the university would not comply with any national registry based on race, religion or national origin. She and heads of the state’s two other public university systems wrote a joint letter to Mr. Trump in support of DACA students. |
| California itself is poised to push back against the Trump administration. The Democratic-led legislature recently retained Eric H. Holder Jr., attorney general under President Obama, to represent them in any legal fights against the new Republican White House. Lawmakers have also pledged to enact legislation that would provide free legal help for immigrants facing deportation proceedings. Unauthorized children now receive Medi-Cal, state public health insurance for low-income residents, and Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill, awaiting a federal waiver, to allow undocumented immigrants to access the benefits of the Affordable Care Act (should it survive). | California itself is poised to push back against the Trump administration. The Democratic-led legislature recently retained Eric H. Holder Jr., attorney general under President Obama, to represent them in any legal fights against the new Republican White House. Lawmakers have also pledged to enact legislation that would provide free legal help for immigrants facing deportation proceedings. Unauthorized children now receive Medi-Cal, state public health insurance for low-income residents, and Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill, awaiting a federal waiver, to allow undocumented immigrants to access the benefits of the Affordable Care Act (should it survive). |
| Nevertheless, educators and immigration lawyers are operating on the assumption that DACA is in jeopardy, even as they keep a watchful eye on the Bridge Act, co-authored by Senators Richard J. Durbin and Lindsey Graham, a potential lifeline that would extend benefits for three years if DACA is revoked and toughen confidentiality protections. | Nevertheless, educators and immigration lawyers are operating on the assumption that DACA is in jeopardy, even as they keep a watchful eye on the Bridge Act, co-authored by Senators Richard J. Durbin and Lindsey Graham, a potential lifeline that would extend benefits for three years if DACA is revoked and toughen confidentiality protections. |
| Allison Davenport, a staff lawyer at the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, has been meeting with students at the Dream Success Center at California State University, Fresno. Like many of her colleagues, she is advising first-timers who have yet to apply for DACA to hold off. They risk turning over their personal data with potentially no return. She has been up and down Highway 99, the spine of the Central Valley, conferring on family preparedness plans, including “What will happen if someone is detained?” and “Who are your emergency contacts at school?” | Allison Davenport, a staff lawyer at the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, has been meeting with students at the Dream Success Center at California State University, Fresno. Like many of her colleagues, she is advising first-timers who have yet to apply for DACA to hold off. They risk turning over their personal data with potentially no return. She has been up and down Highway 99, the spine of the Central Valley, conferring on family preparedness plans, including “What will happen if someone is detained?” and “Who are your emergency contacts at school?” |
| Advocates and administrators throughout California say they have observed pronounced signs of unsettledness. At California State, some undocumented students have been asking if they should drop out, others are limiting their time in public spaces; in the Long Beach Community College District, which has a large Cambodian population, students appear to be changing addresses without leaving forwarding information; applications for state financial aid are down by one-third compared with the same period last year. “Parents are afraid the information will not stay within the state,” said Lupita Cortez Alcalá, the executive director of the California Student Aid Commission. | Advocates and administrators throughout California say they have observed pronounced signs of unsettledness. At California State, some undocumented students have been asking if they should drop out, others are limiting their time in public spaces; in the Long Beach Community College District, which has a large Cambodian population, students appear to be changing addresses without leaving forwarding information; applications for state financial aid are down by one-third compared with the same period last year. “Parents are afraid the information will not stay within the state,” said Lupita Cortez Alcalá, the executive director of the California Student Aid Commission. |
| If DACA goes, of course, the ability to work legally goes with it, along with any health insurance an employer might provide and, in some states, driver’s licenses and in-state tuition. | If DACA goes, of course, the ability to work legally goes with it, along with any health insurance an employer might provide and, in some states, driver’s licenses and in-state tuition. |
| Raul Z. Moreno, coordinator of the Dream Outreach Center at California State, Fresno, said that graduates who either didn’t apply or did not qualify for DACA have been creatively cooking up career paths that do not require work authorization — the undocumented music teacher teaching at-risk students outside of school, the computer scientist who sets up shop repairing and selling cellular phones. “It depends on their special talent and academic preparation,” he said. “Unfortunately, this doesn’t use their full potential. Ideally, the system allows them to be who they want to become.” | Raul Z. Moreno, coordinator of the Dream Outreach Center at California State, Fresno, said that graduates who either didn’t apply or did not qualify for DACA have been creatively cooking up career paths that do not require work authorization — the undocumented music teacher teaching at-risk students outside of school, the computer scientist who sets up shop repairing and selling cellular phones. “It depends on their special talent and academic preparation,” he said. “Unfortunately, this doesn’t use their full potential. Ideally, the system allows them to be who they want to become.” |
| • | • |
| Along with hot plates and minifridges, resilience and tenacity are staples of Tenaya Hall. In rooms grouped by sixes down long corridors, young people who spent their winter vacations cutting other peoples’ grass and cleaning other peoples’ floors try hard to study and party, and pretend everything is normal. | Along with hot plates and minifridges, resilience and tenacity are staples of Tenaya Hall. In rooms grouped by sixes down long corridors, young people who spent their winter vacations cutting other peoples’ grass and cleaning other peoples’ floors try hard to study and party, and pretend everything is normal. |
| Rosalba Zavaleta, Aurora Fabian’s roommate, is confident that whatever happens with DACA, she will be fine; her concern is for her sister Faviola, who grew up with juvenile arthritis, unable to walk. The disease, with which she still struggles, was the impetus for the family’s journey from Mexico. A state program for low-income children with severe medical conditions paid for her surgeries. | |
| “I don’t mind washing dishes,” Ms. Zavaleta said of the prospect of being deported. “But what’s going to happen to my sister?” | “I don’t mind washing dishes,” Ms. Zavaleta said of the prospect of being deported. “But what’s going to happen to my sister?” |
| Cruzangel Nava, who is set on being a district attorney, would turn to farm labor and landscaping. “They don’t care who does that work as long as the work gets done,” he said, adding that being sent back to a country he doesn’t know “is like an animal in a cage being put into the wild.” | Cruzangel Nava, who is set on being a district attorney, would turn to farm labor and landscaping. “They don’t care who does that work as long as the work gets done,” he said, adding that being sent back to a country he doesn’t know “is like an animal in a cage being put into the wild.” |
| Ms. Gomez, whose mother is a hotel housekeeper, grew up in the cramped confines of farmworker housing. Some days, the family didn’t have enough to eat. On her desk at Merced, she keeps a picture of her high school graduation. She wears a cap and gown with a gold sash (for highest honors), a black sash (for student body president), a blue sash (for secretary of the community service organization) and a gold medal (for achievement in Advanced Placement calculus). “It shows me that if I made my parents proud that day, then I can continue when I graduate,” she said. She goes back to that photograph every single day. | Ms. Gomez, whose mother is a hotel housekeeper, grew up in the cramped confines of farmworker housing. Some days, the family didn’t have enough to eat. On her desk at Merced, she keeps a picture of her high school graduation. She wears a cap and gown with a gold sash (for highest honors), a black sash (for student body president), a blue sash (for secretary of the community service organization) and a gold medal (for achievement in Advanced Placement calculus). “It shows me that if I made my parents proud that day, then I can continue when I graduate,” she said. She goes back to that photograph every single day. |