California’s largest public university institutions have announced they’ll use their own funds to assist Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) students who were intentionally shut out of emergency Education Department funding by Sec. Betsy DeVos, Inside Higher Ed reports. DeVos received $6 billion in pandemic funds to distribute to students for expenses like child care, but she went out of her way to block DACA recipients considering there were “no explicit restrictions on which students could receive the emergency grants,” Politico reported.
Both the University of California (UC) and California State University (CSU) systems now say they’ll use a portion of their own funds to mitigate some of the damage caused by DeVos to immigrant students. “[T]hese students will not be left empty-handed,” University of California spokesperson Sarah McBride told Inside Higher Ed. “The University will leverage other institutional funds to replace financial support that these students have been unfairly restricted from accessing.”
A significant number of students in the university systems could benefit from the decision. About 4,000 undocumented students are enrolled in the UC system, with 1,600 of those protected by DACA. Another 9,800 undocumented students are enrolled in the CSU system, though it’s unknown how many of those students are protected by DACA because the schools don’t track that information. Ignacio Vasquez, a DACA recipient enrolled at a CSU school, told California Globe he would have had to return to farm work with his parents if it weren’t for his school’s assistance.
“I had to work hard to get into a good college, and I’ve been living off of almost nothing as I went to college the last several years,” he said to California Globe. “Now I’m this close to getting a degree, out of the life of manual labor, but, like many other students, I need that extra money to make it since everything is shut down. It’s make it or break it. And I was denied that […] And to be told, simply because I was in through DACA, that I wouldn’t get anything to keep me in college while others got enough to keep them in? It felt terrible. It was like getting hit by a bag of bricks.”
Senate and House Democrats have slammed the Education Department’s decision and urged DeVos to reverse her policy, saying in a letter that “DACA recipients attending institutions of higher education across the country face challenges like other students, many with the added burden of supporting their parents and siblings or being the first in their families to attend college. These students should not be excluded from critical emergency financial aid. Indeed, those who are especially vulnerable to economic hardship are exactly who these funds were designed to help.”
DeVos not only remains defiant—she’s flat-out lying in defense of her decision, claiming she simply didn’t have a choice and she’s “here to follow the law.” But Sanaa Abrar of United We Dream tells Inside Higher Ed that “the bill, as it was written, would have provided aid to all students, regardless of immigration status. Betsy DeVos and the Department of Education made a wholly unnecessary and callous decision unilaterally. She is the sole reason undocumented students are left out of this much needed aid.” The University of California and California State University systems are stepping up, and other schools should follow their lead, but remember: They’re being forced into this position due to the intentional cruelty of DeVos. And not only should DACA students get relief—so should undocumented students without DACA as well.
“Our undocumented students, including those with DACA status, are among the most vulnerable of the students we serve and deserve to be included in the CARES Act distribution,” California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office spokesperson Paul Feist told Inside Higher Ed. “Many of these students are among the front-line essential workers and first responders who are battling this pandemic. Colleges will continue to support these students as best they can through their Dreamer centers, scholarships, food pantries and other supports, but we should have the flexibility to help those most in need.”