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

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