The San Diego Community College District has set aside more than $175,000 in emergency aid for an estimated 500 students at San Diego City, Mesa, and Miramar colleges who are in the threatened DACA program.
Students who have demonstrated financial need and completed a California Community Colleges Board of Governors Waiver or California Dream Act application are eligible. Emergency grants are distributed from the campus on which they are enrolled.
State lawmakers authorized the spending through last-minute legislation introduced Sept. 12 and it is part of $7 million provided to California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office for distribution.
Funds are being distributed on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Former President Barack Obama established Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals in 2012 to protect undocumented immigrants who arrived as children. The Trump Administration rescinded the policy on Sept. 5, but gave Congress up to six months to put the program into legislation.
To qualify for DACA, applicants must undergo a rigorous screening process, must not have been convicted of a crime, must not present a threat to national security or public safety, must have been in the United States before reaching the age of 16, must have resided here continuously since 2012, and must be enrolled in or have completed high school.
There are approximately 800,000 DACA recipients across the nation, including more than 200,000 in California.
