Financial Aid Counselors from Cal State Monterey Bay will be available to assist students with completing their California Dream Act and Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) applications at the United Farm Workers Foundation Salinas office on February 19, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Deadline for students who plan to apply for the FAFSA and California Dream Act for college is March 2, 2014.
Often times, students forget or put off filling out their financial aid application because the process can be overwhelming especially for first-time students.
Students who are planning to attend must bring:
*Social Security Number or ITN number
*W-2s for 2013 or a copy of 2013 filed taxes for parents and students
*Parent names
*Date of birth
Space is limited. RSVP with UFW Foundation at 831-758-2611
WHERE: UFW Foundation Offices, 427 Pajaro St., Suite 3 Salinas, CA 93901
Showing posts with label Dream Act. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dream Act. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Thursday, January 24, 2013
"Dreamers" can now apply for financial aid online
The California Student Aid Commission has now made Dream Act Applications for undocumented immigrant students available on its website.
Approved last year, the California Dream Act allows access to public financial aid, including Cal Grants, for undocumented students who came to the country before turning 16 and attended California high schools.
For more information or to access the application, click here.
Approved last year, the California Dream Act allows access to public financial aid, including Cal Grants, for undocumented students who came to the country before turning 16 and attended California high schools.
For more information or to access the application, click here.
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Dreamers: add your voice to "The Dream is Now"
Santa Cruz native and filmmaker extraordinaire Alex Ivany has been interning with documentarian Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth, Waiting for Superman) on a movement that is pushing for immigration reform by way of the DREAM Act. According to an email he sent to friends and family, in spring he will be releasing a 20-30 minute documentary which will premier on Capitol Hill about the Dream Act, legislation that would grant immigrants brought illegally as children to the United States a path to citizenship.
As part of the document, Ivany has launched an interactive website for "Dreamers" to add their voices to the discussion.
So add your voice! And wait for the documentary.
As part of the document, Ivany has launched an interactive website for "Dreamers" to add their voices to the discussion.
So add your voice! And wait for the documentary.
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
More information sessions coming up on "Deferred Action"
Congressman Sam Farr will host an information session on the "Deferred Action" program for immigrant youth this Friday, Aug. 31, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at El Sausal Middle School in East Salinas.
Also present to answer question will be James T. Wyrough, director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigrations Services, San Jose Field Office, Doug Keegan from the Santa Cruz County Immigration Project, and Jorge Sifuentes from Catholic Charities.
Deferred Action is a program authorized by the Obama administration to stop deportation proceedings for young immigrants who arrived illegally in the United States before they were 16, have committed no major crimes, and have finished high school or a GED.
An estimated 8,000 people in Congressional District 17 - which includes San Benito, Santa Cruz, and Monterey Counties -- could be eligible, and judging by the workshops already conducted, there's a lot of interest in participating.
Theresa Carbajal, a counselor at Hartnell, says her students are being told local attorneys are charging a pretty penny to fill out the forms, so she's helping organize an event being called "Central Coast Dreamers Marathon." Scheduled for Sept. 8 and 9, organizers are trying to go all out with it: music, food, you name it. And, of course, help filling out the application for free. Organizers are still looking for volunteers, so call Yuliana Vasquez or Laura Cabrera at the office of Assemblyman Luis Alejo at 759 8676 or email Laura.Cabrera@asm.ca.gov for more information.
Also present to answer question will be James T. Wyrough, director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigrations Services, San Jose Field Office, Doug Keegan from the Santa Cruz County Immigration Project, and Jorge Sifuentes from Catholic Charities.
Deferred Action is a program authorized by the Obama administration to stop deportation proceedings for young immigrants who arrived illegally in the United States before they were 16, have committed no major crimes, and have finished high school or a GED.
An estimated 8,000 people in Congressional District 17 - which includes San Benito, Santa Cruz, and Monterey Counties -- could be eligible, and judging by the workshops already conducted, there's a lot of interest in participating.
Theresa Carbajal, a counselor at Hartnell, says her students are being told local attorneys are charging a pretty penny to fill out the forms, so she's helping organize an event being called "Central Coast Dreamers Marathon." Scheduled for Sept. 8 and 9, organizers are trying to go all out with it: music, food, you name it. And, of course, help filling out the application for free. Organizers are still looking for volunteers, so call Yuliana Vasquez or Laura Cabrera at the office of Assemblyman Luis Alejo at 759 8676 or email Laura.Cabrera@asm.ca.gov for more information.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Dreamers keep fighting
Juan Santiago was brought to the United States as a child, and he discovered he was undocumented sometime around the immigration marches of 2007. He didn't know it then, he said, but that's when he became an activist. The Madera student now lobbies for the passage of the federal Dream Act (which would grant legalization for undocumented students after meeting certain requirements) and the California Dream Act, half of which was approved last week. The second half is stuck in legislative limbo, his chances of passage appearing more slim.
I met Juan and a group of young students at UCSC, my alma mater, where they were learning how to document their own stories. Juan is a Zapotec Indian from Oaxaca, Mexico, and indigenous groups have often been documented by outsiders. Jonathan Fox of UCSC had the idea to have these youths acquire the tools to tell their own stories.
They are a lively, engaged group. They were mostly from the California's Central Valley, although there was one young woman from Salinas. They're all bright, politically active. And they realize their struggle is long term: the passage of the federal Dream Act is probably not going to happen during this session, but they'll keep at it.
Juan is a bit upset because the public in general has been confusing the passage of half of the California Dream Act -- which will allow undocumented students to receive private scholarships -- with the whole enchilada. No, Juan has told people. We have not gained legal status. This is just a small portion of what they're fighting for, he says.
"It's so frustrating," he said. "People have told me, 'Now you're legal, right?' I have to explain the whole thing."
And there's more to come, Juan says. Next: the fight for the rights of indigenous peoples. Here and everywhere.
If you want to hear more about Juan, here's his blog.
I met Juan and a group of young students at UCSC, my alma mater, where they were learning how to document their own stories. Juan is a Zapotec Indian from Oaxaca, Mexico, and indigenous groups have often been documented by outsiders. Jonathan Fox of UCSC had the idea to have these youths acquire the tools to tell their own stories.
They are a lively, engaged group. They were mostly from the California's Central Valley, although there was one young woman from Salinas. They're all bright, politically active. And they realize their struggle is long term: the passage of the federal Dream Act is probably not going to happen during this session, but they'll keep at it.
Juan is a bit upset because the public in general has been confusing the passage of half of the California Dream Act -- which will allow undocumented students to receive private scholarships -- with the whole enchilada. No, Juan has told people. We have not gained legal status. This is just a small portion of what they're fighting for, he says.
"It's so frustrating," he said. "People have told me, 'Now you're legal, right?' I have to explain the whole thing."
And there's more to come, Juan says. Next: the fight for the rights of indigenous peoples. Here and everywhere.
If you want to hear more about Juan, here's his blog.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Gov. Brown to sign the California Dream Act?
Gov. Jerry Brown, who pledged to sign legislation to help undocumented students qualify for financial aid, will attend a Dream Act Town Hall meeting at noon today at Los Angeles City College. The town hall meeting will also be attended by Gil Cedillo (D-Los Angeles) author of the legislation. Could this really be a signing ceremony?
AB 130, the California Dream Act, would allow for undocumented students who qualify for in-state tuition at California colleges and universities to receive scholarships from private, non-state funds. Another bill which would allow undocumented students to tap into public financial aid is stuck in the Senate.
AB 130, the California Dream Act, would allow for undocumented students who qualify for in-state tuition at California colleges and universities to receive scholarships from private, non-state funds. Another bill which would allow undocumented students to tap into public financial aid is stuck in the Senate.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
A Pulitzer-prize winner journalist comes out as an undocumented immigrant
and his story is being passed around at an unprecedented rate.
Jose Antonio Vargas, a former reporter with The Washington Post and several newspapers in the San Francisco Bay Area, has published a first-person account in the New York Times Magazine of what it means to be living illegally in the United States. I've covered immigration for over a decade, and rarely have I seen this type of narrative, from a person who has achieved so much and has so much at stake, in such a visible place. No wonder it's being posted and reposted all over the Internet.
Vargas came to the United States when he was 12, and what's most touching of Vargas' story is the extent to which his teachers attempted to make him feel welcome, accepted, even when he came out of the undocumented closet. The choir director at Mountain View High changed plans to go to Japan and instead took the group to Hawaii so Vargas could attend -- without proper documentation, he can't leave the United States.
Vargas came out partially to promote his new organization, Define American, which he hopes will help change the conversation about immigration in this country -- undocumented immigrants can be found in many echelons of society. And to promote the Dream Act, the federal proposal to give legal status to young people who were brought to this country illegally as children.
It will be interesting to follow the conversation that ensues. Some very thoughtful comments have already been posted on the story. Some are the usual reaction. If nothing else, perhaps it will be another push to approve the Dream Act.
Jose Antonio Vargas, a former reporter with The Washington Post and several newspapers in the San Francisco Bay Area, has published a first-person account in the New York Times Magazine of what it means to be living illegally in the United States. I've covered immigration for over a decade, and rarely have I seen this type of narrative, from a person who has achieved so much and has so much at stake, in such a visible place. No wonder it's being posted and reposted all over the Internet.
Vargas came to the United States when he was 12, and what's most touching of Vargas' story is the extent to which his teachers attempted to make him feel welcome, accepted, even when he came out of the undocumented closet. The choir director at Mountain View High changed plans to go to Japan and instead took the group to Hawaii so Vargas could attend -- without proper documentation, he can't leave the United States.
Vargas came out partially to promote his new organization, Define American, which he hopes will help change the conversation about immigration in this country -- undocumented immigrants can be found in many echelons of society. And to promote the Dream Act, the federal proposal to give legal status to young people who were brought to this country illegally as children.
It will be interesting to follow the conversation that ensues. Some very thoughtful comments have already been posted on the story. Some are the usual reaction. If nothing else, perhaps it will be another push to approve the Dream Act.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Does my Spanish offend you?
If you've ever called my office, you will have heard my outgoing bilingual message. It's your run of the mill, "hi, I'm not here," message, then repeated in Spanish. Did I mention the message is BILINGUAL?
Today I got a message from a reader upset that I have a message in Spanish (a complaint that I get fairly often, actually). This particular reader equated my outgoing message with how supporters of the Dream Act (as depicted in a photo that ran along with an article I wrote) also use Spanish.That's the problem, the caller said. That we don't want to learn English.
And did I say my message is in ENGLISH and Spanish?
I have an outgoing message in TWO languages not because I want to impose my own tongue on English speakers. I have a message in Spanish to make callers who may only speak Spanish feel like they can talk to me, like they'll be listened to. In fact, my message says "I will communicate with you in either language."
For the record, not one of the young Dream students I interviewed spoke Spanish to me. They all speak perfect English, even the ones who arrived here when they were nine or ten. This is the rule, not the exception: every single student I've interviewed over the years, regardless of where they're born, spoke perfect English after two or three years in this country. In fact, that's a condition embedded in the Dream Act: if you want to attain residency, you have to go to college. Have you ever heard of a student attending college and not having to take English 1A?
And why wouldn't they learn the language? It's everywhere: they all listen to Justin Bieber, watch Glee and read Twilight. English is the dominant language in this country, it's the global language of commerce and trade. These young people are smart, and they're being socialized with English all around them. They would have to live in a cave not to learn it.
So why do I have an outgoing message in Spanish? It's because their parents need it. It's field laborers, maids, people who migrated to this county when they were older who still have a hard time with English. Not because they don't want to learn, mind you -- there are lots of ESL classes that attest to that. It's because after a full day stooped on the strawberry fields it's hard to process a foreign language. It's because they have children they have to feed, it's because their brain at 25 or 30 or 40 is not what it used to be when they were 15.
So how exactly does this offend you? And by the way, did I mention my outgoing message is BILINGUAL?
Today I got a message from a reader upset that I have a message in Spanish (a complaint that I get fairly often, actually). This particular reader equated my outgoing message with how supporters of the Dream Act (as depicted in a photo that ran along with an article I wrote) also use Spanish.That's the problem, the caller said. That we don't want to learn English.
And did I say my message is in ENGLISH and Spanish?
I have an outgoing message in TWO languages not because I want to impose my own tongue on English speakers. I have a message in Spanish to make callers who may only speak Spanish feel like they can talk to me, like they'll be listened to. In fact, my message says "I will communicate with you in either language."
For the record, not one of the young Dream students I interviewed spoke Spanish to me. They all speak perfect English, even the ones who arrived here when they were nine or ten. This is the rule, not the exception: every single student I've interviewed over the years, regardless of where they're born, spoke perfect English after two or three years in this country. In fact, that's a condition embedded in the Dream Act: if you want to attain residency, you have to go to college. Have you ever heard of a student attending college and not having to take English 1A?
And why wouldn't they learn the language? It's everywhere: they all listen to Justin Bieber, watch Glee and read Twilight. English is the dominant language in this country, it's the global language of commerce and trade. These young people are smart, and they're being socialized with English all around them. They would have to live in a cave not to learn it.
So why do I have an outgoing message in Spanish? It's because their parents need it. It's field laborers, maids, people who migrated to this county when they were older who still have a hard time with English. Not because they don't want to learn, mind you -- there are lots of ESL classes that attest to that. It's because after a full day stooped on the strawberry fields it's hard to process a foreign language. It's because they have children they have to feed, it's because their brain at 25 or 30 or 40 is not what it used to be when they were 15.
So how exactly does this offend you? And by the way, did I mention my outgoing message is BILINGUAL?
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