Quick Take
More than a year into President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, undocumented students at Cabrillo College are increasingly avoiding campus services and financial aid programs due to fear of exposing personal information. College staff report declining participation and heightened anxiety among students, even as the school expands resources to reassure and support them.
It’s been more than a year since President Donald Trump returned to office and began an aggressive deportation campaign targeting the country’s estimated 11 million undocumented residents.
Cabrillo College’s immigrant student population is feeling the impact.
Cabrillo teacher and counselor Adela Naranjo-Bernabe told Lookout she noticed a drop-off in participation in programs geared toward undocumented students, and she’s aware of at least two students who self-deported.
At Cabrillo, the number of undocumented students who apply for financial aid through a state program has dropped significantly since Trump took office in January 2025. From 2023-24 to 2024-25, the number of applicants dropped 18%, from 209 to 171. So far this year, there have been just 163.
“They’re scared to ask for help – sometimes financial help – because they think it’s tied to their long-term ability to fix their status,” Naranjo-Bernabe said. “They say, ‘We don’t want to put ourselves out there. We don’t want anybody to have our personal information.’”
From 2016 until this past fall, Naranjo-Bernabe oversaw the college’s DREAM Resource Program, but stepped down to teach. She said she’s still in touch with many of the students she assisted, and told Lookout about their heightened anxieties. The new coordinator, Kim Leyva, took over in February and while she’s still learning the ins and outs of the job, she mirrored Naranjo-Bernabe’s sentiments that students are very fearful.
“There’s a lot of increased anxiety and uncertainty,” said Leyva, adding that students are concerned about their families’ safety and their futures.
Cabrillo College student Omar told Lookout that although he has gained citizenship after growing up undocumented in Watsonville, the federal administration’s efforts to target even naturalized citizens has him on edge.
“Being an immigrant, a mistake could really cost you your whole life,” he said. “And there’s not that peace of mind where you walk around comfortably in the street or drive around.”
Omar is a pseudonym – he requested anonymity for fear of being targeted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers.
The college’s DREAM Resource Program was established in 2016 to provide a range of services to undocumented students, students who have family members who are undocumented and students with protected status under the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals act. Children who arrive in the U.S. without documentation are often called Dreamers, hence the college’s program name.
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
DACA is the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program established by former president Barack Obama. After years of legal battles and attempts by Donald Trump to dismantle it, the program no longer accepts new applicants. However, about half a million people who already had DACA are still eligible to renew their status. DACA provides protection from deportation and work authorization to immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as children. Foreign-born children who arrive in the U.S. without documentation are called Dreamers.
Leyva said that undocumented students and students of mixed status, despite their fears, are hardworking and resilient.
“They carry a lot of invisible stress in this political climate,” she said. “Many worry about their family’s safety, stability and their future. These concerns can affect mental health and academic focus. Undocumented students are trying to navigate uncertain times while accessing the same education as everyone else.”
Cabrillo’s DREAM program provides a wide range of services, from tutoring and legal services to help with financial assistance. Leyva said her days lately have included meeting with students to help them file for a state financial aid program, the California Dream Act Application. The state program never shares student information with federal agencies.
Undocumented students who qualify for the California program are eligible for state and university grants, college fee waivers and private scholarships. Students also are eligible to pay in-state tuition, instead of the much higher tuition rates charged to non-California residents.
Naranjo-Bernabe said this is the program that showed an estimated 25% drop in applications from Cabrillo students compared to the pre-Trump period.
Leyva said she’s focused on ensuring that students are aware of the state funding and that they feel safe to apply. She emails a weekly newsletter with a range of information and news, and has coordinated financial aid workshops for students.
Leyva is also working on adding new elements to the DREAM program, such as an internship called the Dreamer Service Incentive Grant. Under the initiative, students are paid for volunteer work with college departments or off-campus nonprofits.
Students who work 150 hours during a semester can receive $2,500 – for a total of 300 hours and $5,000 per academic year. Leyva hopes to launch the program by mid-fall or the start of spring semester 2027. She’s modeling it after San Jose City College, where dozens of students are participating.
Leyva wants students to know that despite the serious threats coming from the federal administration, there’s a supportive system and safe, accessible resources for them at Cabrillo College.
“We’re here,” she said. “I’m ready to help them whenever they are ready to come see me.”
DREAM Resource Coordinator Kim Leyva
Leyva works at Cabrillo College’s Watsonville Center in Building B, Office B104, on Monday and Tuesday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. On Wednesday and Thursday, Leyva works on the Aptos campus in the Multicultural Student Center, Room SAC 133, from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. She takes walk-ins and encourages appointments. Leyva’s email is kileyva@cabrillo.edu and her office number for both locations is 831-786-4724.
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