{"id":60701,"date":"2023-10-26T10:48:10","date_gmt":"2023-10-26T17:48:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=60701"},"modified":"2023-10-26T10:48:10","modified_gmt":"2023-10-26T17:48:10","slug":"need-help-with-immigration-enroll-in-community-college","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=60701","title":{"rendered":"Need Help With Immigration? Enroll in Community College"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By<\/span>Mark Hedin<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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A groundbreaking program in California is helping students and faculty navigate the lengthy and often labyrinthine immigration system, free of charge and regardless of status.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Image via The California Campus Catalyst Fund.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Californians who need trustworthy legal help to get through the lengthy and complicated U.S. immigration process can find it for free at\u00a0any of the state\u2019s 115 physical community colleges<\/a>.<\/p>\n

At an Oct. 24 press briefing hosted by Ethnic Media Services, lawyers, community college officials and a formerly undocumented student described their experiences with the Higher Education Legal Services Project.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver 10,000 students have benefited from the program\u201d since its launch four years ago, says Alonso Garcia with the Foundation for Community Colleges, \u201cand over 5,700 just last year.\u201d Garcia notes as well that community college faculty and staff are also eligible to receive services whatever their age or immigration status.<\/p>\n

The Higher Education Legal Services Project is a partnership between the Foundation for California Community Colleges and the California Department of Social Services. It is easily accessed via the website\u00a0Find Your Ally<\/a>, where interested parties can enter their zip code or college of attendance and, in a little over a minute, be connected to the immigration attorney supporting that college.<\/p>\n

An estimated 50-70,000 undocumented immigrants are currently enrolled in a California community college.<\/p>\n

Free, ongoing legal services<\/h2>\n

The attorney time is free and continues regardless of when the affiliation ends with the community colleges, Garcia explained. Services include support for legal permanent residency (green cards), DACA Temporary Protected Status (TPS), or advanced parole.<\/p>\n

All information provided is kept private. The work is done confidentially by nonprofit legal teams approved by California or the U.S. Department of Justice with at least three years\u2019 experience in immigration work.<\/p>\n

As a student, you can be taking a full load of classes or just one, for credit or not. You can be enrolled in adult education programs through the community colleges or attending more than one community college, in person or online. Services are available upon request in the clients preferred language and services are available either in person or virtual.<\/p>\n

The program can also help clients obtain fee waivers for citizenship and DACA renewal applications and, as of Nov. 1, with naturalization applications and advanced parole filing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf anything, I would encourage people to enroll in their local community college for at least one credit so they could access services like ours and hopefully find a way to move forward,\u201d said attorney Manoj Govindaiah, of Oakland-based Immigrant Legal Defense.<\/p>\n

Immigration support where it\u2019s needed<\/h2>\n

He noted undocumented immigrants generally confront two major obstacles when it comes to accessing legal services: finding quality lawyers and being able to meet with them in person.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s especially the case for those in rural communities, where resources and transportation are more limited. \u201cThis program goes to the schools\u2026bringing support to where it is needed,\u201d said Govindaiah. He added Find Your Ally also offers up-to-date legal advice that can help clients find paths they may not have understood they were eligible for.<\/p>\n

\u201cCalifornia community colleges are always here as an access point to higher education,\u201d Kelly Fletes, Dean of Student Services at Monterey Peninsula College, pointed out. \u201cWe accept 100% of the students who apply.\u201d<\/p>\n

A \u2018basic need\u2019 for undocumented students<\/h2>\n

Community colleges are ideal for reaching newly arrived immigrants, many of whom often enroll in ESL classes soon after arriving. Fletes also stressed that as California pushes to meet the basic needs of its population, for undocumented students, immigration services are among those basic needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a different level of anxiety that happens when you literally have to watch yourself or watch your back that you or your parents might be deported or they\u2019re at risk of not coming home every day,\u201d she said. \u201cHow could you focus on your education?\u201d<\/p>\n

And the cost of legal services can be out of reach for students not eligible for thousands of dollars of federal financial aid available to their peers. \u201cI have students that have to work three to four jobs,\u201d Fletes continued, mentioning one who arrived already $10,000 in debt for not-yet-completed legal services.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t be afraid<\/h2>\n

Sabrina P is a first-generation college student of undocumented status. She said she didn\u2019t know what she might qualify for, and worried what her situation might be after school if she didn\u2019t have papers and couldn\u2019t work.<\/p>\n

She set aside her fears of discussing her immigration status and visited the program. \u201cI asked them a lot of questions. They were like, \u2018Don\u2019t worry about it. We\u2019re gonna help you out,\u2019\u201d she recalled.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery case is different,\u201d she acknowledged, but \u201cNow I can say that I\u2019m in the process of getting my green card. I\u2019m able to work and do other stuff I was denied before because I didn\u2019t have any type of papers. I\u2019m able to support my family a little bit better.\u201d<\/p>\n

She emphasized the importance for her of getting started as soon as possible, because even if the process takes years to conclude, your age on the date of your original application carries a lot of weight. \u201cThat\u2019s often kind of a critical deadline,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would suggest to just don\u2019t be afraid. Honestly, that\u2019s the best you can do for yourself, because just asking is not gonna hurt anybody, and maybe help you out.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ByMark Hedin Oct 26, 2023 A...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ca-local","category-education"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=60701"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60701\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60702,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60701\/revisions\/60702"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=60701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=60701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=60701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}