Jenni Hernandez attends Sacramento State, located in a sanctuary city in a sanctuary state and a campus that welcomes immigrants. Yet because she lives in the country without authorization, the amplified fear she now feels yanks her back to when she was a 7-year-old and first learned her parents could be deported at any time.
“Where a lot of my peers would have nightmares about monsters under their beds or things like that, I had a genuine fear that one day my parents were just gonna be gone and I would never know what happened,” Hernandez said. Now, she said, with President-elect Donald Trump’s vow to launch mass deportations, “I’m back to that fear.”
Hernandez, 23, was brought to California by her parents when she was 1 and grew up in California’s Bay Area. After high school she found state resources to help her pay college tuition. She isn’t legally allowed to work but participates in a program where she earns experience through volunteering and is given a stipend. As a graduate student assistant at California State University, Sacramento, she is pursuing a master’s degree in higher education leadership.
But, she said, “I don’t feel safe anywhere right now.”
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Hernandez is one of an estimated 100,000 undocumented college students in California — the most of any state in the country — who are confronting an especially uncertain future as they pursue higher education and aspire to work. College leaders and advocates for undocumented students are assessing what protections institutions can offer.
Some students, advocates said, are grappling with an even more existential question: Should they stay in college?
“I think it does put into question the idea of pursuing higher education, putting yourself out there post-election, if it’s going to put yourself or your family members in danger,” said Madeleine Villanueva, director of higher education at the California-based nonprofit Immigrants Rising.
Many of today’s undocumented college students — an estimated 408,000 nationwide — are not eligible for any legal protections whatsoever. They had to be at least 15 years old to apply for protection from deportation and a work permit through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. But by the time they were old enough to apply, the program was embroiled in court challenges. It has not accepted any new applicants since 2021.
Trump recently walked back some of his comments, saying he would work on a plan to allow Dreamers — people like Hernandez who were brought to the U.S. as children and grew up here — to stay. In the same interview, he spoke about mixed-status families — in which some members have legal documentation and others don’t. “I don’t want to be breaking up families, so the only way you don’t break up the family is you keep them together, and you have to send them all back,” Trump said.
The uncertainty only heightens students’ fears.
“The threats are real and it feels like they’re reinforced almost daily,” said Paulette Granberry Russell, president of the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education.
“Students are going to worry about whether they can continue their studies, whether their families will be safe. There’s a culture of fear … and we can’t ignore that.”
Shortly after the election, the leaders of the University of California, California State University and California Community College systems issued a joint statement saying that they “remain steadfast and committed to our values of diversity and inclusivity.”
“Following the presidential election results, we understand that there is a great deal of uncertainty and anxiety within California’s higher education community,” the statement said. “We are proud to welcome students, faculty, and staff from all backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives, and we will continue to support and protect all members of our communities.”
Under President Joe Biden, the Department of Homeland Security issued a memo designating certain “protected areas” where immigration enforcement should not occur, including colleges and universities, health care facilities, social services centers and churches. That protection could lapse in a new administration, however.
Undocumented students in California are eligible for in-state tuition and financial aid, and many have access to free immigration lawyers at public institutions. Elsewhere, these students face very different levels of access to higher education and protection. Some colleges, such as Northeastern Illinois University, offer protections similar to those in California: Campus police will not detain or arrest anyone based solely on their immigration status, and they will not work with ICE unless the agency issues a criminal warrant and the university has clear and easily accessible information about what to do if ICE were to enter campus. But in Texas, for example, while state law bans immigration enforcement in primary and secondary schools, that protection does not extend to colleges or universities.
Villanueva said some undocumented students are concerned about whether ICE agents could come to college campuses and seize them and whether colleges can protect the information students have shared in various financial aid applications.
Related: Trump deportation threats weigh on groups offering FAFSA help
The federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA law prohibits colleges from sharing personally identifiable information from student records without the written permission of the student, according to guidance from the Presidents’ Alliance on Immigration and the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers. But colleges can be required to disclose information without student consent if presented with a court order or subpoena, the law says.
In California, state law prevents ICE agents from entering private property unless the agents have a warrant. If college officials believe someone was taken into custody by ICE, administrators can quickly reach out to the emergency contact of whomever is being targeted.
Many public colleges in California offer students and their immediate family members access to free immigration legal services through partnerships with local advocacy groups.
At California State University, Stanislaus, students typically have been able to get an appointment with a lawyer in a matter of days, said Guillermo Metelin Bock, who coordinates support services for undocumented students. But by mid-November, the slots were booked up through the end of the year. Students with DACA status are scrambling to apply for renewals before Trump’s inauguration, and those who have green cards — or have family members who do — are petitioning for naturalization, he said.
“Our students have been feeling anxiety, uncertainty and fear now that we know who’s going to be the next president,” Metelin Bock said.
Villanueva, of Immigrants Rising, said colleges can take some actions to protect their students.
The California attorney general in December published “model policies” or guidance for colleges, written to limit the local and state cooperation with federal immigration enforcement efforts. The document outlines relevant laws and provides guidance on how colleges should handle student information, what to do if ICE requests access student records or wants to enter campus or dorms, and what to do if ICE takes action against students or their family members.
For example, the model policies suggest giving students an annual notice of what FERPA protects and what type of information may be available through a school directory — and how to opt out of the directory. The guidance advises limiting the collection of information about a student’s immigration status or national origin unless necessary or required by federal law.
Related: Trump deportation plan could separate millions of families, leaving schools to pick up the pieces
It recommends colleges designate a staff contact for students, faculty or staff who may be subject to an immigration order or inquiry. If a student is detained or deported, the guide recommends that colleges make every effort to help them maintain financial aid eligibility and keep other funding for their education, and help them reenroll if they are able to return to campus.
The guidance also advises that colleges adopt policies about who can access different campus facilities, such as libraries, academic buildings and staff- or student-only lounges. According to federal law, immigration enforcement officers would not need a warrant to enter a university quad, but they would need one to access university student housing.
“Change is difficult overall, but it’s particularly difficult if your livelihood or your benefits or anything that you depend on could be at risk,” said Viridiana Diaz, vice president of student affairs at California State University, San Marcos.
Diaz said she and other officials are trying to reassure students that they are safe on campus, that ICE officers would not “have access to any of our students” without a warrant.
Related: Facing post-graduation ‘firsts‘ and uncertain about DACA‘s future, undocumented students turn to each other for support
Alejandro Garcia Del Rio, a senior majoring in business and marketing at Cal State Stanislaus, said he recently attended an off-campus career fair where ICE was recruiting students to be future agents.
“Obviously, I felt unsafe,” said Garcia Del Rio, who is undocumented. He tried to act normal and remind himself that the agents weren’t there to arrest anybody.
Garcia Del Rio said he’s worried about what Trump’s deportation plan could look like, but he’s trying not to let fear take over his life or limit him any more than his immigration status already does.
Contact staff writer Olivia Sanchez at 212-678-8402 or [email protected].
This story about undocumented students was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for the Hechinger newsletter.