After a summer of widespread immigration raids in Los Angeles, returning to campus has amplified fears among some undocumented students at USC. As these students mobilize for Undocumented Student Action Week, a California initiative to uplift undocumented students, they demand more support from the university.<\/p>\n
\u201cI actually was thinking about not coming back at all. I was thinking of taking a semester or a year off because I didn\u2019t feel safe,\u201d said a member of the Undocumented Trojan Success Assembly (UTSA), who requested anonymity out of concern for their safety.<\/p>\n
The Undocumented Trojan Success Assembly<\/a> is a student-led organization that advocates for students with Temporary Protection Status, DACA, AB540 and other undocumented students.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t feel safe taking a flight here, which is usually how I have been getting here for the past couple of years, so I drove. It took me a week,\u201d said the member of UTSA.<\/p>\n The UTSA member, who has been living in the U.S. undocumented for 10 years, expressed how the immigration crackdown has impacted their life as a university student. <\/p>\n \u201cI feel like I have become more unmotivated to continue to do my assignments and study for tests because I feel that I have more important things to focus on, in terms of immigration,\u201d said the student. \u201cEspecially as I\u2019m about to graduate and enter the workforce, I feel even more unmotivated now because it\u2019s becoming even harder to find work opportunities for those that lack work authorization.\u201d<\/p>\n Detainments are rising across the country, with Chicago and Portland as the most recent targets of ICE raids and threats from the Trump administration to deploy National Guard troops. According to a New York Times article<\/a> on Thursday, LA county officials are considering declaring a state of emergency to relieve affected immigrants.<\/p>\n In January, a man was detained<\/a> by immigration agents near USC\u2019s campus. With the gates now being open, some students fear the possibility of ICE entering campus. <\/p>\n \u201cI personally felt like the [ID checks] provided me with extra security if an immigration officer just came to campus,\u201d said the UTSA student.<\/p>\n In a statement<\/a> issued on Jan. 15, USC outlined its policy on how it will handle student and faculty interactions with immigration enforcement. The administration directed students to contact the Department of Public Safety and designated Niels Frenzen, co-director of the USC Gould Immigration Clinic\u2019s Immigrant Legal Assistance Center, as the point of contact. <\/p>\n The plan outlined that the university will assist affected students in preserving financial aid and other awards, and will facilitate their re-enrollment if or when possible.<\/p>\n The sanctuary city of Los Angeles is home to 900,000<\/a> undocumented Angelenos, and immigrants make up more than 35% of the county\u2019s population of 10 million residents, according to a study by the USC Dornsife Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration in 2020. <\/p>\n On June 6, these communities were hit hard when federal agents carried out several immigration raids<\/a>, targeting a Home Depot, day labor centers and the Fashion District. Later that night, protesters and police officers clashed as demonstrations erupted downtown over the Trump administration\u2019s immigration crackdown.<\/p>\n The rise in masked immigration agents and the unlawful deployment<\/a> of National Guard troops and Marines in June only escalated the anger and fear in LA.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s Los Angeles\u2026you drive anywhere on the street, you\u2019re going to see pop-ups. You\u2019re going to see street vendors. But it just seemed like a ghost town during that time. No one was out on the street,\u201d said Juan Carlos Guerra, owner of Taquer\u00eda Frontera, in a Guardian article<\/a>.<\/p>\n The raids may have shaken LA\u2019s immigrant community, but they also mobilized people.<\/p>\n As the ICE raids spread, the momentum of demonstrations in LA grew to a mass movement. Protesters took to the streets in cities like New York, Atlanta and Chicago, according to NBC<\/a>, calling for an end to mass deportation.<\/p>\n On Sept. 8, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to allow ICE agents to profile people based on factors such as race, occupation, and language. The Department of Homeland Security threatened to \u201cflood the zone\u201d with immigration enforcement in Los Angeles in a post<\/a> on X, intensifying fears.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re likely going to continue to see ICE raids, specifically targeting communities of color and working-class communities. I think, unfortunately, that [decision] was a green light to continue what they\u2019re doing,\u201d said Jacqueline Bonilla-Fuentes, staff attorney and director of the USC Gould Immigrant Legal Assistance Center.<\/p>\n \u201cI think a silver lining of that case is that it\u2019s just one of the many issues that\u2019s going to be addressed,\u201d Bonilla-Fuentes continued. \u201cThat\u2019s not the final decision on that case, and so hopefully better news comes out in the end.\u201d<\/p>\n In California, there are close to 100,000<\/a> undocumented students in higher education, the largest population in the country. <\/p>\n UTSA partners with the USC Gould School of Law Immigration Clinic<\/a> to provide \u2018Know Your Rights<\/a>\u2019 workshops for undocumented students, U.S. citizens and allies. The Gould School of Law Immigration Clinic, staffed by attorneys and students, represents clients in Immigration Court, offering free legal services and resources in both English and Spanish. <\/p>\n The clinic includes the Immigrant Legal Assistance Center<\/a> (ILAC), which provides free legal assistance to USC students, faculty, staff and family members, including legal representation, referrals and DACA renewal. <\/p>\n