UC Undocumented Student Legal Services Center Draws Media Coverage
The University of California Undocumented Student Legal Services Center was the subject of an edition of The California Report, a statewide radio news program produced by San Francisco National Public Radio affiliate KQED. In addition, Maria Blanco, the Center's Executive Director, published an essay in Zocalo regarding the program.
Hosted by UC Davis School of Law, the Center is a pilot program of the University of California Office of the President that serves the immigration-related legal needs of students on UC campuses without law schools: UC Merced, UC San Francisco, UC Santa Cruz, UC Santa Barbara, UC San Diego, and UC Riverside.
"The University of California is the first public university in the country to start a legal center on this level, with full-time attorneys to provide legal aid to undocumented students and their families," KQED reports. "The attorneys say they've helped more than 100 students since the center opened in November."
"My staff and I are able to assist many of the students who come to us, [often] helping them apply for the Obama administration's deferred action program, which allows them to remain here legally and offers work authorization (crucial for paying their college expenses)," Blanco wrote in her Zocalo essay. "We also assist with applications for permission to travel abroad. And in a number of important cases, our lawyers are able to identify more permanent immigration relief for students who qualify but may not have had previous access to legal services."