Following the results of the 2024 election, CUNY is reemphasizing its belief that all students have a right to respect and safety regardless of their immigration status by providing holistic resources including financial, social and emotional support.
Immigration Success Liaisons are pioneering this objective to create a safe atmosphere for students by answering questions about financial aid and enrollment.
TheDream.US liaisons can aid in applying to the TheDream.US scholarship specifically for CUNY students who identify as undocumented, without legal status or have Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or TPS.
The scholarships offer up to $39,000 for two or four-year degrees.
“Mental health services should be available for those students who need it to remind them they are in a space that wants them to succeed,” Maria Monterroso, a Business and Digital Communication major at Baruch College told The Ticker.
The Immigration Student Success Center at Baruch is made up of staff members who are familiar with the complexities and struggles of the immigrant and undocumented student experience.
The centers provide financial, legal, mental health and social support and aim to empower immigrant students.
There are currently only two other centers, located at John Jay and Brooklyn College, but efforts are being made to open more centers across CUNY for equitable access for all students.
In acknowledgment of the obstacles that arise from being an undocumented student preparing to pursue a career, CUNY has provided career advising for students who fall under the category.
Their resources cover the career-related opportunities that currently exist in CUNY, how students can connect with spaces to help build their careers and what tools students can use to be better informed on the steps to take after graduation.
Immigrant and undocumented students are also eligible for NYS Opportunity Programs such as College Discovery and SEEK.
SEEK students are assigned to a counselor, academic support services including supplemental instruction and tutoring support and supplemental financial assistance for educational expenses such as transportation, books, supplies and college fees.
Students must complete the New York State Dream Act Eligibility Form and Tuition Assistance Program application.
CUNY also offers free mental health services that help students work through family concerns, transitions to college, school performance, difficulty in all types of relationships, depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts and other concerns.
To cultivate a safe atmosphere for students, CUNY also equips educators and staff to be better informed on how undocumented students are impacted by providing educational resources and training that explain policies and provide terminology.
“With this election, and the plan with mass deportation, it’s important that students receive support because who knows what could happen,” Monterroso said.
“Undocumented or not, it’s a process that will be hard to go through because whether someone is deported or your friend is the one who is deported, it’s those around you telling you it will be okay that makes it less nerveracking.”
Elena Martínez, professor of Spanish and Latin American Literature at Baruch also shared her thoughts with The Ticker.
“There is significant uncertainty and serious concern regarding the plans for the mass deportation of undocumented immigrants in this country,” Martínez said.
“CUNY offers resources to protect and empower our stu- dents. It is essential for everyone at CUNY—students, faculty, and staff—to become familiar with the resources available on all campuses as well as with rights and laws.”
“Speaking with students and especially listening to students’ range of emotions and concerns will help them feel less isolated and threatened.
Communicating in their language would establish a deeper connection with those students and would strengthen their sense of community and belonging in CUNY and New York City.”
Martínez recommended the Undocumented Student Support section, which can be found on the CUNY official website under Student Affairs.
CUNY aims to continue advocating for students with statuses such as undocumented, DACA, asylum seeking, Temporary Protective Status, Special Immigration Juvenile Status, U-Visa recipients, refugee, asylum granted, Cuban-Haitian entrants, parolees, T-Visa recipients, persons designated under the Violence Against Women Act and those in mixed-status families.
Baruch College’s TheDream.US liaison assistant director is Yohaly Navarrete.
Navarrete can be reached at her respective email address – yohaly.navarrete@baruch.cuny.edu.
