University of Delaware students show support for at least eight UD students whose visas were revoked on the sidewalk in front of Old College in Newark on April 16, 2025.
Los Angeles, California – California’s community colleges are facing tough decisions after the U.S. Department of Education under President Donald Trump announced it would block federal funding from being used to serve undocumented students in key support programs.
The announcement, made on March 27, targeted TRIO programs, which offer academic counseling and financial aid to low-income, first-generation students. More than 100,000 students in California are enrolled in such programs — and while colleges don’t officially track immigration status, many participants are believed to be undocumented.
Previously, California had received special federal permission to include undocumented students in TRIO services through 2026. That waiver has now been revoked, and college officials are uncertain how to comply with the order without harming students who depend on these resources.
“We’re protecting the programs and the funding that we have,” said Dalia Hernandez, who leads a regional association that supports TRIO programs. She advised campuses to stop enrolling undocumented students and revise forms to reflect new federal guidelines, including a ban on gender non-binary options.
While federal law already bars undocumented students from receiving direct financial aid, California’s colleges had been allowed to offer them academic support services under TRIO. With that permission now rescinded, administrators say they may have to shift those students to state-funded programs that don’t share data with federal agencies.
In the Central Valley’s West Hills Community College District, which serves largely Latino and farmworker populations, the change is deeply personal. “That’s the population you serve,” said Brian Boomer, the district’s grants director. “Our area feeds the country.”
Lissette Padilla, who runs the TRIO program at Coalinga College, said pulling support from undocumented students could be “heartbreaking,” and she’s already developing backup plans to transition those students into state-supported services.
One such student, “J,” was rejected from a TRIO program at Oxnard College in 2021 due to his suspected immigration status. When rules later changed, he was invited back and credits TRIO with helping him transfer to a four-year university. Now, he fears others like him won’t get the same opportunity. “It felt like I was abandoned,” he said.
Though California institutions pushed hard for undocumented students to access TRIO services, national organizations supporting TRIO have grown quieter — fearing that further scrutiny from the Trump administration could jeopardize the entire program.
“There is rhetoric from the current administration about dismantling these federal programs,” Hernandez warned.
