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December 17, 2015

New UC Center Serves a Most Vulnerable Student Population: A New Trend in Higher Education?

I authored an essay that appears in the current edition of Hispanic Ourlook in Higher Education magazine. I wrote about the challenges in launching the new University of California Undocumented Legal Services Center and the unique legal needs of undocumented college students and their families.


Undocumented Legal Services Center staff members meet to discuss cases: Legal Fellow David Gomez, Legal Fellow Desiree Fairly, and Executive Director María Blanco.

An excerpt:

Over the last year, the University of California has been constructing a form of student services never before seen in higher education. In building the University of California Undocumented Legal Services Center, UC is demonstrating how it truly can be on the cutting edge in serving students and the greater community.

Announced last November by the UC President Janet Napolitano, the new center has already begun serving the unique legal needs of undocumented students. Housed at the UC Davis School of Law, home of a well-established Immigration Law Clinic and leading immigration law scholars, the center serves undocumented students and their families on UC campuses without a law school. The campuses - Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz - are spread throughout the Golden State.

The student need is clear. Many of them are eligible for deferred action or other types of immigration relief that stabilizes their daily lives and, as a result, helps to improve their academic success. The idea behind extending services to the families of undocumented UC students involves a well-researched phenomenon: students are in a better position to excel in their studies if their families are not at risk of removal.

Read the full essay here at Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education magazine.