The TRUST Act, or the Transparency and Responsibility Using State Tools Act, will prevent local law enforcement agencies from detaining undocumented individuals on behalf of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for more than 48 hours if they are eligible for release or have not committed a serious felony.

Assemblymember Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, introduced the bill as a response to the Secure Communities federal program, which allows the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to screen detainees based on their immigration status by running their fingerprints through a federal database.

“While Washington waffles on immigration, California’s forging ahead,” Brown said in a press release. “I’m not waiting.”

Last fall, Brown vetoed an earlier iteration of the law, requesting that certain types of serious crimes that were not part of that version, such as child abuse, be included in the list of serious felonies.

The law Brown signed had been amended to include the changes and is designed to  help rebuild trust between immigrant communities and local law enforcement. According to the law, undocumented residents are less likely to cooperate with police when it “could result in deportation.”

Secure Communities has led to the deportation of more than 90,000 California residents — more than in any other state, according to data from the ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties.

Last Tuesday, UC President Janet Napolitano, previously Secretary of Homeland Security, met with students who were part of the Statewide Multicultural Student Coalition, a universitywide group of undocumented students and their supporters that formed in response to her appointment.

At the meeting, Napolitano informed the students that she had discussed the TRUST Act with Brown, telling him she thought it would be “good for the state of California,” said UC spokesperson Shelly Meron.

Leti Volpp, a professor of law at UC Berkeley, said California should encourage legislation that recognizes immigrants as part of the community rather than removing them from it.

However, Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies in Washington, D.C., raised concerns about public safety issues and how law enforcement officials would be able to arbitrarily determine which individuals will be subject to immigration enforcement.

“(The law would) force them to release people who should be left in custody,” Vaughan said.

According to the Pew Hispanic Center, undocumented individuals accounted for 6.8 percent of California’s population and 9.7 percent of the state’s labor force in 2010.

There are about 200 undocumented students on campus as of 2012, according to Meng So, the campus’s first undocumented student program coordinator.

Volpp said she hopes the TRUST Act will “remove daily insecurities” for undocumented students in California.

Contact Jeff Landa at jlanda@dailycal.org.

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Centro Legal, an Oakland-based nonprofit group that provides free or low-cost bilingual legal aid, presented Birgeneau with the award at its annual gala, according to Jennifer Miller, development and communications coordinator for Centro Legal. An announcement from Centro Legal expressed that Birgeneau received the award for aiding undocumented students and helping secure a $1 million grant that would go toward financial aid for undocumented students on campus.

Birgeneau said that among the many recognitions he has received in his life, receiving the Visionary Leadership Award is especially pleasing because the award recognizes work done for the most disadvantaged group of students at UC Berkeley.

“I’ve always had a particular interest in helping students who come from the most disadvantaged backgrounds … I’ve been a tremendous admirer of them for their courage and determination,” Birgeneau said.

According to Miller, the selection process involved a special events committee, through which anyone on the board or staff of Centro Legal can make suggestions for possible awardees. Birgeneau has been very active in the fight for undocumented students and was a clear choice, Miller said.

“I don’t know who nominated me — (the award) came as a complete surprise,” Birgeneau said.

One of Birgeneau’s most notable achievements for undocumented students is the securing of The Dreamers Fund in December, a $1 million scholarship donated in part by the Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Fund that would go toward boosting financial aid for undocumented students. The grant made UC Berkeley one of the first public campuses in the state to begin a scholarship specifically for undocumented students.

The chancellor was also directly involved in initiating the Undocumented Student Program, which provides holistic support services, such as academic counseling, to undocumented students, according to Meng So, coordinator for the Undocumented Student Program.

The campus hired So in September to lead the Undocumented Student Program as a result of a recommendation made by the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Undocumented Students in 2011.

As chancellor, Birgeneau has publicly advocated for the DREAM Act, which allows qualified undocumented students to apply for need-based financial aid.

“We had to work very hard for many years to have the state pass AB 130 and 131 — the biggest challenge has been legal,” Birgeneau said.

AB 130, the first part of the California DREAM Act, was signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown in 2011 and allowed qualified undocumented students to receive financial aid from private sources. AB 131, which took effect in January, allows qualified undocumented students to apply for state financial aid.

“We have one great challenge remaining, which is having the DREAM Act pass at the national level,” Birgeneau said.

Contact Christine Tyler at ctyler@dailycal.org.

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Tony Zhou/Staff

As the video begins, a male Korean student stands with his back to the camera, facing a wall of blackboards, with his right hand poised to write.

“This is Terrence,” an unseen narrator says. “He’s finishing up a degree in mathematics and applied statistics at UC Berkeley. Terrence is going to break down the economic implications behind passing the DREAM Act.”

Terrence Park does exactly that after publicly coming out as undocumented himself.

His admission, filmed by the immigration advocacy organization The Dream is Now, has received national media attention, as the UC Berkeley senior has become one of a small number of students who have come out as undocumented.

President of the UC Berkeley Mathematics Undergraduate Students Association, Park defines himself as American in everything but his papers — he said he loves watching the NBA, prefers “American food over rice” and speaks English better than Korean.

“Honestly, I felt a little intimidated about coming out about my undocumented status,” Park said. “I think it’s the right thing to do, and I felt a little guilty about hiding my status for so long. Now that I came out, I feel that I’m doing something right.”

The federal DREAM Act provides a path to citizenship for undocumented individuals, like Park, who entered the United States before age 16, have resided within the country for five continuous years, graduated from high school and are enrolled in higher education or in the military.

In 2011, a version of the act was passed in California, allowing undocumented students to apply for financial aid, but the measure but has yet to be approved on a federal level.

“I think it’s courageous on his part,” said Chancellor Robert Birgeneau. “I think it’s important to tell the story of undocumented students. It’s important to educate the general population on how impressive these young people are.”

Birgeneau estimated that the minimum number of DREAMers at UC Berkeley is 195 — and that there are probably more.

Park was 11 when he emigrated with his mother and sisters from South Korea. In 2008, hit hard by the recession, his family moved to a one-bedroom apartment, and Park began working various menial jobs to support his mother and sisters.

During his junior year of high school, Park discovered his family’s immigration lawyer had forgotten to turn in an important document — and that the family was now undocumented. Senior year, Park realized that he would be unable to attend a four-year college due to his ineligibility to receive financial aid.

When the California DREAM Act passed in 2011, Park was able to transfer to UC Berkeley from community college. Park will graduate this semester with a 3.8 GPA in applied mathematics and biostatistics and intends to attend Yale University for graduate school.

However, his plans might have to wait if the federal DREAM Act does not pass. While he is eligible for financial aid within California, ineligibility at the federal level means Park will have to delay his enrollment at Yale and find other ways to pay for his tuition.

“I didn’t come out because I needed financial aid for Yale,” Park said. “I thought it was the right time to come out. I thought my testimony in this video would help the cause and encourage students like me to also come out.”

Meng So, Park’s longtime mentor and director of the Undocumented Students Program on campus, emphasized the social implications of the DREAM Act.

“For us, the DREAM Act is not a legal question — it’s a human question,” So said. “To have an education, to live freely and healthily — it’s an essential human right.”

Park noted that President Barack Obama has promised to work for immigration reform and the DREAM Act. Some congressional Republicans, Park said, have also come out in support of undocumented students like him.

“I think we all came here for the same reason,” Park said. “We want to live the American Dream, have better education for our kids and contribute to the community.”

While some have called for Park’s deportation, others, like Birgeneau and So, say Park is brave and an example for other DREAMers.

“I think the more people like him — who are so impressive and willing to tell their stories — come out, the more people at the federal level will change the law,” Birgeneau said.

So said that he believes others will be encouraged to follow Park’s example.

“Terrence is quiet and humble but has the courage of a lion,” So said. “I think many times throughout his life, people have told Terrence no — they told him he couldn’t jump seven feet. But he learned to jump eight feet.”

Contact Sophie Ho at sho@dailycal.org.

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The implementation of the second bill of the California DREAM Act in January has made millions of dollars in state funding for financial aid available to undocumented students.

The DREAM Act’s AB 131 allows undocumented students eligible for in-state tuition under AB 540 to apply for need-based financial aid such as Cal Grants, greatly increasing access to public higher education for California’s approximately 25,000 annual undocumented high school graduates.

Patti Colston, a public information officer for the Student Aid Commission, said that she expected about $19.5 million in Cal Grants to be awarded to undocumented students from a pool of about $1.7 billion in available funding. This significantly bolsters financial aid opportunities for undocumented students, which since 2012 have also included private university scholarships and university grants.

The DREAM Act has been increasing access to financial aid for undocumented students since granting them eligibility for privately funded university scholarships in 2012 and is a critical asset for undocumented students whose accessibility to public higher education has been limited.

According to Meng So, director of UC Berkeley’s Undocumented Students Program, the DREAM Act aims to allow undocumented students to drop their part-time jobs to focus on academics.

“It’s not just the scholarships but the holistic support services Berkeley offers,” So said, describing the accommodations the campus makes to ensure the success of undocumented students, which include the Dream Lending Library, free legal services, emergency grants and financial aid workshops.

Still, the act’s annual aid cap of $12,192 makes it necessary for its beneficiaries to secure additional sources of financial aid to account for the other costs of attending college — such as books, health insurance, and room and board.

Jesus Chavez, a fourth-year social welfare major and undocumented student, reflected on the uncertainty that has defined the struggle to finance his education.

“My family came to the United States 18 years ago, when I was 3,” he said. “In high school, it was expected that my siblings and I would go to college, because we were very smart. But from the beginning, I couldn’t rely on my family — they had a hard enough time on their own.”

Chavez navigated multiple channels of financial aid and worked multiple jobs in his free time to support his college education but still found his registration blocked in his junior year after he fell $3,500 short. Only a well-timed stipend of $4,000 allowed him to continue his studies until the DREAM Act kicked in, providing Chavez a more stable source of financial aid.

But Chavez insisted that he was fortunate to be an undocumented student at UC Berkeley, with its welcoming environment, network of services and ally in Chancellor Robert Birgeneau.

“They have helped me a lot and still help.” Chavez said. “Berkeley is one of the leading universities, and undocumented students here are privileged compared to undocumented students at other schools.”

Jeremy Gordon covers higher education. Contact him at jgordon@dailycal.org.

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Thankfully, undocumented students at UC Berkeley now have a resource to help facilitate their own success stories. The campus hired Meng So as its first undocumented student program coordinator, who can assist undocumented students in finding internships and financial aid, among other forms of support. So, who also works part time as an academic counselor, is a welcome sign of progress in his new position. Other campuses should strongly consider creating similar counseling jobs.

About a year after the passage of the California DREAM Act, which allows undocumented students to receive state financial aid, it’s encouraging to see the campus create a position to assist students affected by the act.

So’s new position is a commendable investment for the campus. At a massive public university like UC Berkeley, it is all too easy for students to get lost in the anonymity of the masses. Undocumented students face an additional layer of complications — a burden that So may be able to ease.  Although So will not be able to break down every barrier for his students, he can help them navigate the steps necessary to finance their education. He can also create a safe, trustworthy space for undocumented students to express their concerns and solve problems.

More symbolically, UC Berkeley’s creation of this counseling position is a beacon of hope when, time and again, other doors of opportunity are slammed shut. Most recently, UCLA’s National Dream University program was halted after officials realized it did not go through the proper process for approval. The program would have offered a certificate in immigration and labor rights and was geared toward undocumented students. UC officials should give Dream University the administrative approval it needs to launch.

Even with support from programs like the Dream University and UC Berkeley’s new counseling position, undocumented students still face myriad challenges. In future years, legislation will hopefully provide a permanent pathway for undocumented students to become citizens, but until then, the university can and should do everything in its power to support them.

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Meng So, the campus’s first undocumented student program coordinator, began in the position this fall, which arose from recommendations from UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau’s task force on undocumented students in spring 2011.

“My goal is to have my students feel like they have a home on campus, a person they can go to when they have any questions or concerns, whatever it is they need,” So said.

There are about 200 undocumented students on campus, So said. He added that he has met “close to all” of them.

Jesus Chavez, an undocumented senior at UC Berkeley and co-chair of a student group for undocumented students, said that having a counselor specifically for undocumented students gives those students a centralized place to receive guidance on financial aid, internships and housing.

“Sometimes, you want to talk to a counselor but you don’t know if you can trust them because of your situation,” Chavez said. “Knowing that Meng is there for undocumented students, there’s that trust. I can ask him about concerns that I have, and he can connect me to people to help me.”

So graduated from UC Berkeley in 2010 and, after earning a master’s degree from UCLA the following year, came back to work as an academic counselor at the Student Life Advising Services office on campus. In his new position, So said he identifies with his students because of his own experiences as an immigrant and a first-generation, low-income college student.

“My students and my students’ families are the strongest people I know, and I see a lot of myself in them,” So said. “There’s an intersection of our experiences.”

The position’s salary will be paid through the chancellor’s discretionary endowment fund, according to Fabrizio Mejia, director and academic counselor at SLAS. So will be paid $28,500 for each of his two half-time positions.

So’s new position was recommended by the chancellor’s advisory committee on undocumented students in 2011. Some of the recommendations by the committee, including the creation of a lending library to ease the burden of textbook costs, have already been implemented. Others, including the creation of a resource center at the Cesar E. Chavez Student Center, will be launched this academic year.

As the undocumented student coordinator, So will also help undocumented students navigate procedures to be able to obtain public financial aid beginning in January — a result of the California DREAM Act signed by Gov. Jerry Brown last October.

“Prior to (the California) DREAM Act, they were paying tuition on their own, working under-the-table jobs while being full-time students,” So said. “The California DREAM Act has changed the landscape — now, if they have full financial need, they’re eligible to have all their tuition covered.”

Contact Caroline Murphy at cmurphy@dailycal.org.

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