While we Californians sometimes like to believe that we live in our own island, we are living in Trump’s America, and it’s affecting our young people at the community college level. The California Community Colleges serve most of the DREAM Act eligible population because these schools are more accessible than the University of California and California State Universities.
According to a report from The Sacramento Bee earlier this week:
“As of Monday, 1,781 undocumented community college students have received Cal Grant awards under the California Dream Act. Applicants must file by Thursday.
Last year, by comparison, 4,624 such students had received Cal Grant awards under the Dream Act by the same March 2 deadline, according to the California Student Aid Commission.
Community Colleges Chancellor Eloy Ortiz Oakley raised the issue Friday in a statement urging all eligible students to apply for Cal Grants as well as other forms of state-funded financial aid by the deadline.”
California is different from the federal government in that it allows undocumented students to receive state-funded financial aid (Cal grants for example), but undocumented students cannot receive federal financial aid.
The article in The Sacramento Bee quotes Community Colleges Chancellor Oakley and Andrea Gaytan, the director of the AB540 and Undocumented Student Center at UC Davis, expressing that the deportation fears resulting from President Trump’s far reaching new deportation priorities.
Undocumented students in California might be reluctant to apply because they don’t want to share their information with government authorities, but California does not share this information with federal officials.
So if you work with undocumented students in California who want to pursue higher education in state, tell them to get that application in today. For more information, click here.
We are all in this together with you. We want to be a resource for you and for all of the children you love. Whether you need some info or you have info to share, you know where to go…LA Comadre.
Don Honda
Is this what to expect from DREAMers?:
http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/opinion/commentary/sdut-ruben-navarrette-one-dreamers-missed-lesson-2015jun24-story.html
Ruben Navarrette: One Dreamer’s missed lesson in good character