“You Are Not Alone”: ACoM Briefing Highlights Legal Lifeline for California’s Immigrant Students
The nation’s first state-funded legal aid program for undocumented students is rewriting what’s possible in higher education.
At a time when headlines warn of policy rollbacks and immigration fear resurges, California’s community colleges are offering something radical: a promise of protection. Through a state-funded initiative called Find Your Ally, students, faculty, and staff across all 116 campuses can now access free, high-quality immigration legal aid. And for the 30,000+ students who’ve already tapped into it—many undocumented, many first-generation—it’s not just a service. It’s salvation.
An American Community Media (ACoM) briefing, co-hosted by the Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) and the Foundation for California Community Colleges (FoundationCCC), unfolded as a rare, intimate conversation between ethnic media reporters and frontline experts. Their message: this is the only statewide program of its kind in the U.S., and it’s working.
From Vision to Reality: A State-Funded First
Alonso Garcia, Senior Manager of Equity at FoundationCCC, spoke with precision and passion. “This program was born from listening,” he said, referencing a 2018 Dreamers Project report that identified a glaring need for legal support. By 2019, that vision became reality—funded with $10 million annually by the state’s Department of Social Services and supported by a coalition of 10 trusted legal service providers.
“This isn’t just for full-time students,” Garcia explained. “It’s for everyone—part-time, dual-enrollment, adult ed, staff, faculty, even janitors and food service workers. Anyone affiliated with a community college is eligible.”
The only requirement? They must go through the portal at FindYourAlly.com. Once enrolled, they’re matched with legal advisors who can guide them through everything from DACA renewals to green card applications, naturalization, advanced parole, and special immigrant juvenile status.
Safety in a Time of Fear
Attorney Yadira Gutierrez Vargas knows the stakes. As Supervising Attorney at the Central American Resource Center (CARECEN), she sees the fear students carry—fear of ICE, of scams, of being targeted. “Confidentiality is everything,” she told the group. Offices are discreet, often off-campus. Consultations are private. Data is scrubbed within 48 hours. And for those who prefer, the entire process can be virtual.
“We don’t just serve,” she added. “We protect.”
Vargas recounted the case of a student from East LA College who, through Find Your Ally, renewed her DACA, traveled abroad for a family emergency with advanced parole, secured a green card via marriage, and is now preparing for citizenship. Another student from Pasadena City College, previously overlooked by other attorneys, was identified as eligible for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status—a life-changing discovery.
“We don’t just give answers. We build futures,” Vargas said.
What’s Covered—and What’s Not
The program covers a wide array of services, all free: consultations, application prep, filing fees, biometric costs, and even follow-up for years after enrollment. Students don’t have to reapply for every stage of their journey. Legal representation can extend beyond graduation.
While immigration support is the program’s focus, it doesn’t stop there. Garcia noted partnerships with Covered California and financial aid teams to help students navigate healthcare, taxes, entrepreneurship, and more.
There’s also a robust network of Dream Resource Centers on every campus, staffed by liaisons trained to refer students to the right legal providers. “This is holistic care,” said Garcia. “We don’t just ask, ‘What’s your status?’ We ask, ‘How are you holding up?’”
Impact That Echoes
Since 2019, over 30,000 individuals have received legal aid through the program. In just the past nine months, that number surged past 9,000—nearly double the typical annual rate.
What’s behind the spike? According to Garcia, it’s a mix of policy fear, community trust, and grassroots awareness. “Word of mouth is everything,” he said. “Students tell their friends. Faculty tell their families.”
And while California leads the nation in this work, the question lingers: why isn’t every state doing this?
A Challenge to the Nation
The Find Your Ally model shows what’s possible when states choose people over politics. It’s a system where undocumented students are seen as scholars, not shadows. Where legal hurdles are met with legal help. And where immigration status is not a barrier to education—but a reason for deeper support.
In a time when other states are criminalizing aid, California is funding it. In a time of fear, it offers form. And in a nation still divided on immigration, it draws a clear line: here, you belong.
As the briefing closed, reporters lingered in the chat, asking for follow-ups, training links, story leads. Some offered thanks. Others offered testimony.
“This is the most hope-filled story we’ve covered this year,” one reporter wrote.
And that’s the point.
In the Find Your Ally program, hope isn’t abstract. It’s scheduled. It’s confidential. It’s bilingual. And for thousands of students across California, it’s just one click away.
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