DACA recipients can receive financial assistance to renew their permits
For many students who are beneficiaries of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) it is very difficult to collect the $ 495 every two years to renew their permit temporary stay. Young people have indicated that sometimes they have to balance their priorities between buying their basic needs or paying for the renovation.
However, since October of this year, the state of California announced that the Project of Higher Education Legal Services is provided to community college students free immigration legal services for immigration consultations, eligibility evaluations, and case management.
Students affiliated with the community college system plus state majors also gain access to reliable legal support that includes DACA renewal and other immigration options, such as family-based petitions and citizenship applications.
Alonso García, program supervisor, said that the program was officially launched in March of 2020 through an investment made in 2018 of the California Legislature. Free immigration legal services are provided at 116 California Community Colleges.
“Any Community College Student or Staff in the state he is eligible to receive services, whether he has some type of procedure such as legal permanent residence, TPS or if he is undocumented and seeks to know if he can have a change of status ”, said García.
It is estimated that the state of California has more than 400, 000 DACA recipients and within California community colleges there is an estimate of 70, 000 to 90,000 undocumented students.
“There is potentially more because we don’t track undocumented students in community colleges,” García said.
“We are the nation’s largest higher education system with 2.1 million students. So there is a wide range of students who could benefit from this program. ”
Improve students’ lives
With $ 20 million in support of the California Legislature, the California Department of Social Services has joined forces with the Foundation for California Community Colleges and the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office to incorporate nine non-profit organizations with expertise in providing legal services to support students with their immigration legal needs.
They have developed scheduling, admission and reporting processes that guarantee that student information will remain confidential and protected.
García said that at the beginning of the pandemic they conducted a survey to see how they he was going to undocumented students. Students confirmed the high demand and need for help with legal and payment service providers for their DACA renewals.
“Many of our students have lost their jobs or their priorities have changed, so that being able to provide them with the initial application fee of $ 495 for renewal is a huge relief, ”said Garcia.
But legal services have managed to help much more since when the young people are talking, the affiliated lawyers look for other options available.
“Our legal service providers carry out a complete and exhaustive selection of any possible remedy ”, indicated the supervisor. “And we also look at the family so that if there is an opportunity for them to receive a change in status, to benefit the student, the faculty, the staff or whoever that client is, we will also do that analysis.”
They have already encountered young people who arrive with the mentality of renewing DACA or obtaining information to apply for DACA for the first time but they leave with a completely different option where they could qualify for legal permanent residence, obtain naturalization or qualify for programs like VAWA or another type of visa more permanent than DACA
Who qualifies?
Garcia said services are available to students, faculty, staff, dual enrollment students — those who are in their senior years of high school and are taking courses at community colleges — general staff such as custodians and eligible teachers.
Added that the top funding priority is to support students, but they are also committed to supporting the broader community college system.
To rate students no They have a limit on how many units they are taking at the time of applying for aid.
“If they are taking a one-unit class and a non-credit class, provided they are actively enrolled at the time of the first appointment, they are eligible to receive free legal services and to receive paid DACA fees, ”said the supervisor.
The information is disclosed through different means, including personal links with students i ndocumented, the state chancery, communicating with the presidents of all institutions, with the counselors, and through emails strictly related to undocumented students.
“We also have an indocu liaison network made up of more than 300 people across the state who have spread the word along with the undocumented and the groups work, the community organizations with which we have partnered and, more recently, the launch of the ‘Find your ally’ campaign throughout the state, ”said García.
There is no limit to how many times students will apply for aid to renew their DACA while there is funding for the program.
to find your nearest help center visit findyourally.com / ccc