California State University
Immigration Legal Services Project
Summary
In 2018, the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) launched the California State University Immigration Legal Services Project (CSU-ILSP). This project provides free immigration legal services to all current students, staff (state and auxiliary), faculty, immediate family members of current students, staff, and faculty, recent graduates (who graduated within two years), and newly admitted students who have accepted their admission across all 23 CSU campuses in the state. The project funds were initially provided through a one-time allocation of $7 million in the 2018 Budget Act, with recurring funds subsequently awarded annually due to the program's success.
The CSU legal services project is an important part of California's goals and values in building trust with immigrant communities, ensuring that they are part of a successful workforce, and staying prepared in the ever-shifting landscape of immigration.
Today, as California faces fiscal cuts, the future of this program is in jeopardy. The Governor's January Budget proposes cutting this important program back from $7 million to $1.8 million, potentially cutting off thousands of young California residents from services and disrupting the foundation of trust built by this program. Maintaining the CSU-ILSP is essential in the current political climate, particularly as we face uncertainty about the future of immigration reform or a potential change in the presidential administration.
Program Highlights
(2019 - April 2024)¹
→CSU-ILSP has provided more than 12,200 one-on-one consultations
→CSU-ILSP Education & Outreach has reached over 22,000 individuals
→CSU-ILSP has accepted more than 8,000 cases for full scope legal representation
→CSU-ILSP has provided DACA application assistance to more than 5,000 DREAMERS
→CSU-ILSP has assisted individuals from more than 100 different countries
→CSU-ILSP Education & Outreach has held more than 1,800 events & presentations for staff, faculty, and communities
¹Data based on available reports through August 2023 current numbers are higher.
The 23 Campuses
of the California State University
Background
Over the last 4.5 years, California has provided critical funding to the CSU-ILSP, building a strong foundation to ensure that young immigrants attending CSUs have trusted legal resources, and are in the best position to complete their higher education, enter the workforce, and stabilize their family both economically and by obtaining legal status.
The goal of the CSU-ILSP is to offer free immigration legal services, along with education and outreach programs, to students, recent alumni, staff, faculty, and their immediate family members at each campus. The program ensures that California residents with immigrant backgrounds have all the tools they need to complete their education and contribute to their communities and the state of California.
The program is coordinated by four legal services providers covering all 23 CSU campuses across California. The program is particularly important to regions that have high immigrant populations but have historically lacked immigration legal services.
Problem
Over the last two decades, California has led the nation in welcoming undocumented youth into higher education. State policies and institutional practices have steadily increased their numbers, and California now hosts an estimated one in five of the nation's undocumented college students. There are nearly 10,000 undocumented students at CSUs, and a large number who belong to mixed-status families. These students face a host of challenges in navigating their higher education, including resolving their immigration status in an ever-changing legal environment.
Recent studies have shown how immigration status disrupts college students' educational experiences and even their wellbeing. This study included findings that students reported being distracted in class or losing study hours - 76 percent and 64 percent, respectively - because they were dealing with or thinking about an issue related to their immigration status. Roughly half reported weekly concerns about parental or guardian deportation, and more than a third thought as frequently about their own possible deportation.¹
CSU students from immigrant backgrounds are often faced with the pressure of completing their higher education to help themselves and their families' financial future without the proper resources to navigate their legal challenges or obtain the legal relief they may be eligible for. The challenges faced by these students are further exacerbated by the fact that resources for free quality immigrant legal representation are extremely limited. Worse, if an individual is facing deportation they do not have the right to a government-appointed attorney even though the stakes are extremely high.
A funding reduction to this program will mean that these students will lack the critical services they need to succeed at CSUs. A reduction will also dismantle the infrastructure and trust that has been built throughout the state, not just in metropolitan areas like Los Angeles and the Bay Area with large immigrant populations and high needs, but especially in regions like the Central Valley, Central Coast, and the Inland Empire that have been historically under-resourced and considered legal deserts.
Solution
The CSU-ILSP provides high-quality immigration legal services at all 23 CSU campuses, and ensures that all students at CSUs can thrive. The program is set up to include not only immigration legal services but education, outreach and community engagement.
In addition to taking on cases and providing information, immigration attorneys at these facilities provide thousands of consultations to students and their families. These consultations not only answer specific questions, but provide a legal screening to ensure that the individual understands all of their options and eligibility. Offering immigration consultations to help students identify whether they are eligible for some kind of visa is particularly important given the ever-changing status of various immigration programs including Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).
Obtaining legal assistance can provide these students stability and a foundation from which to navigate and complete their higher education. The program builds bridges to immigrant communities, meeting them where they are at and where they feel comfortable, and builds trusts and relationships that will strengthen our community and build towards a better future. The programs not only provide free legal services, but also empower the community with accurate and current knowledge about immigration law and policy in an increasingly complex and ever-changing legal and federal policy environment.
The four legal services providers administering the CSU-ILSP are working in partnership with each of these campuses to provide undocumented students with a space where they can build community, take part in inclusive opportunities, cultivate their skills, and receive quality immigration legal services.
Ensuring that immigrants obtaining their education have access to legal services ensures that they have the tools they need to complete their education and obtain economic mobility as they enter the workforce. Many of these individuals are first-generation college students who are working hard to give back to their families and their communities. An investment in their success will ensure workforce development and plant the seeds that will allow immigrant communities to flourish in our state.
¹See "Persisting Inequalities and Paths Forward: A Report on the State of Undocumented Students in California's Public Universities" available at:
https://ucpromise.uci.edu/findings/report-on-the-state-of-undocumented
CSU-ILSP Impact
“The key to our ability to grow trust and build this program is our ability to offer full-scope case representation for those who have relief. Being able to provide representation to an entire household allows more people to access counsel, more people to gain status in the United States, and more households to remain intact – all of which contributes to our clients feeling fully supported and being able to focus on the educational opportunities their campus offers.”
“Over the past five years, the CSU Legal Services Project has become a vital part of campus support services for undocumented students, lawful permanent residents, and U.S. Citizens living throughout California. The inclusion of free immigration legal services filled a crucial void in the campus infrastructure for undocumented students. At a time when legal protections like DACA are under threat, and with a key election season looming, it is more important than ever to continue providing these services-to significantly reduce services now would dismantle an extremely successful program that the state has spent the last five years investing in.”
Case Highlight
J is a graduate of a Central Valley CSU who entered the US as a baby and grew up in the Fresno area, where his mother and extended family also live. ILD first met J and his family in December of 2019 through an intake clinic. They represented J on his DACA renewal and also represented his mom, a longtime permanent resident, on her naturalization application. While his mother had petitioned for him years ago, he was not yet eligible to get status through her due to unjust and byzantine wait times for family-based green cards. A few months after filing for DACA renewal, J married his US Citizen wife, E, also a Central Valley CSU recent alum. As both J and E incurred significant expenses in acquiring higher education, access to free legal services and filing fee support enabled them to pursue careers in the field of education, giving back to their communities as first generation college students.
ILD represented E on her petition for J and J on his lawful permanent residency application. ILD used its expertise to help the couple navigate complex public charge rules that the Trump administration had put into place in 2020, working with the couple to gather the necessary documents and ultimately getting their case approved. By the time they filed the application, the couple had bought their first home together in the Fresno area. In the fall of 2024, J will be eligible to apply for naturalization and ILD will represent him in that application as well, since he continues to be a staff member of a Central Valley CSU! In the 5 years since the CSU Legal Services Project began, ILD will have been able to represent J from being a DACA recipient to becoming a US citizen!
Case Highlight #2
M is a student at Cal Poly Pomona and a Dreamer under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. This program allows certain individuals who are undocumented to receive work permits but do not otherwise have an easy route to permanent residency or citizenship. In this case M required assistance with her DACA renewal. During this process the CARECEN team became aware that M was eligible for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) based on abandonment and neglect by her father. SIJS can be a complicated process, but can provide individuals with a pathway towards legal residency.
M needed to to complete the necessary state court proceedings and file her petition to USCIS before her 21st birthday in order to obtain this benefit. Thanks to the tireless work of the CARECEN staff, M was able to file for SIJS even though she had only a month left before she would age out. While waiting for her SIJ petition to be approved, CARECEN also helped M file her DACA renewal to ensure no gaps in her legal status. Client's SIJ petition was approved, and she is now on the path to receiving her green card, which would not have been possible with her DACA status. This case is an example of how a legal screening can completely change someone's life.