IDEAS protests Napolitano’s plan for undocumented students
By Emily Liu and
Nov. 12, 2013 8:09 p.m.
A group advocating for undocumented students at UCLA protested a plan by University of California President Janet Napolitano on Tuesday that will provide them with financial aid in the form of student loans rather than scholarships.
“We don’t need more debt, we need support to complete school,” said Zyshia Williams, a fifth-year international development student who led the protest.
About 15 protesters marched in a circle in Bruin Plaza on Tuesday, holding signs and chanting slogans such as “Two million deported, we will not forget,” and “You see, you see, this UC president is not for me.”
Last month, Napolitano announced a plan to allocate $5 million to undocumented student resources for the approximately 900 undocumented students across the UC, including financial aid, advisers and program centers.
Last Wednesday, representatives of undocumented students across the UC attended a meeting with the UC Office of the President to discuss plans regarding the $5 million allocated.
Napolitano’s initiative will give undocumented students access to loans and work study positions they cannot currently get, said Shelly Meron, a spokeswoman for the UC Office of the President. Details of the initiative are still being discussed.
Currently, only undocumented students with legal work authorization under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program are able to be employed in work study positions.
Undocumented students are also not eligible for federal student loans, which have more beneficial terms than private loans, Meron said.
Students at the meeting were generally against the idea of student loans, although details of the loans were not discussed, said Belinda Aguirre, a member of UCLA’s undocumented student group Improving Dreams, Equality, Access, and Success and a fourth-year Chicana and Chicano Studies student, attended the meeting.
Undocumented students are unable to work in the U.S., and thus paying off student loan debt is difficult, Aguirre said.
“We want to keep Napolitano accountable. It would be progress if the money was (for) scholarships, but we’re undocumented students not in a position to repay loans,” said Lester Fox, a second-year biology student.
Even though the California Dream Act, which allows undocumented students access to non-state funded and state-funded scholarships and financial aid, passed last year, some undocumented students are still struggling to pay for school, Aguirre said.
There are also undocumented students who do not qualify for the California Dream Act and are in need of help, she said.
Josefina Flores, a second-year psychology student, has to commute an hour and a half daily to and from school because she is unable to afford living on campus.
Meron said in an email that Napolitano’s initiative would be in addition to the scholarships and grants the UC already gives undocumented students.
No additional benefits, such as additional grant or scholarship assistance, will be provided to undocumented students beyond what the UC already provides to documented California residents, Meron said. Their aim is rather to ensure both documented and undocumented students have access to loans and work-study jobs, she added.
This initiative will be discussed at Wednesday’s UC Board of Regents meeting.
