The uncertain future of a post-DACA generation

This article was originally published in Spotlight Delaware.

Blanca wants to know what’s next.

She was brought to the United States as a child after leaving her home in Acapulco, Mexico, and is now preparing to graduate from Delaware State University.

She’s worried.

For nearly four years, she was able to earn a degree from DSU without documentation through TheDream.US, a national program that provides scholarships to undocumented students.

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The program’s Full Opportunity Scholarship has given the 21-year-old college student, who asked that her full name not be used for security reasons, the freedom to pursue higher education without financial or citizenship restrictions.

But her graduation is approaching and that term is coming to an end. Without a work permit in America, she may be limited to entrepreneurship, business ownership, or independent contract work – all while holding a bachelor’s degree.

“What are we going to do after university, you just get a diploma with literally nothing behind it,” Blanca asked.

She’s not the only one asking this question.

Blanca is one of at least four undocumented students at DSU who have received a TheDream.US scholarship and are preparing to leave its benefits behind — causing fear and anxiety about what comes next.

The Opportunity Scholarship was created by TheDream.US, a national nonprofit scholarship program supported by the New Venture Fund, for undocumented students living in “left out” states where they largely lack access to higher education – either because they be forced to do so. pay out-of-state tuition or because their state does not admit them to universities.

The grant covers up to $100,000 for undergraduate tuition, housing, meals and fees, at five out-of-state partner colleges, including DSU.

The students are part of a growing population of thousands of scholarship recipients who are studying while completely undocumented.

About 74% of the more than 4,500 TheDream.US scholars enrolled at the university during the 2024-2025 academic year are undocumented, according to Hyein Lee, chief operating officer of TheDream.US. This means that three in four scholarship students are pursuing higher education without any form of Temporary Protected Status (TPS).

The fears and concerns of undocumented students have only been amplified by the abyss of a second Trump administration. President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to carry out nationwide mass deportations against undocumented immigrants during his second administration.

“It’s really like: what now?” asked Blanca. “That’s really the most important question after college: ‘Okay, what now?’”

Seize an opportunity

TheDream.US launched in 2014, two years after then-President Barack Obama created Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) through executive action. DACA was intended to provide temporary relief from deportation to thousands of young immigrants studying or working in the country.

A requirement of DACA required them to attend school, but higher education was largely out of reach for many undocumented students, as they lacked access to federal financial aid and limited access to state aid. TheDream.US was created to help these students achieve higher education.

Initially, the program was only open to students with DACA, or Temporary Protected Status, a designation that temporarily protects people who cannot safely return to their country.

The program was expanded to include undocumented students after then-President Trump’s administration attempted to rescind DACA in 2017.

Today, more than 260 TheDream.US scholarships have been awarded to DSU students, according to Lee.

Blanca is one of hundreds of Delawareans who meet the eligibility criteria for DACA but have been barred from participating in the program because it has been embroiled in federal lawsuits since 2017. With new applicants barred from participation and strict eligibility requirements in place, DACA recipients have grown older and the program’s population has steadily declined over the years.

According to TheDream.US’ 2024 alumni survey report, the percentage of undocumented alumni without work permits nearly tripled from 3% to 8% in two years. Many of the current scientists arrived in the country after the June 2007 cutoff date, making them ineligible for DACA under the original rules.

“Even if the program were in place today, many of those students would not even qualify for the program in the first place,” Lee said.

Two days after Trump won the presidential election last month, DSU President Tony Allen sent a letter to the university’s undocumented students. Allen, who is a close ally of President Joe Biden, described himself as among those “deeply disturbed” by the election results and underscored the university’s support for undocumented students.

“Absolutely nothing that has happened at the political level has changed or will change the university’s position of support,” the letter said. “You are not alone, and help is and will always be there.”

Allen encouraged students to fill out a form to get free legal advice from the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, an advocacy group of university and college leaders.

“Okay, what now?”

For Elizabeth, receiving the grant was like repeating a cycle. Her mother left her family in Veracruz, Mexico, to migrate to the US in search of a better life for her and her daughter.

Now Elizabeth prepared to do the same.

Elizabeth, who also asked that her full name not be used, would have to leave her family and home in North Carolina to study undocumented in Delaware.

“I had to do it,” she said. “We are young, we leave everything we have known, our entire comfort zone, our entire comfort city, everything to get to this state where we don’t know anyone.”

Now, after nearly four years of college in Delaware, Elizabeth doesn’t want to return to North Carolina. She wants her years of study to pay off, but she doesn’t know what’s next.

“It’s scary,” she said. “The last thing we want to do is do all this and go back to where we came from.”

Jahaira, a 21-year-old sophomore at DSU, cried when she received the Opportunity Scholarship. She came to the US when she was 13 years old after being separated from her cousin at the US-Mexico border near Eagle Pass, Texas.

She was returned to Mexico, where she remained in Mexican government custody for six months. Her mother, who lived in Myrtle Beach, SC, had to return to Mexico, pick up Jahaira and cross the border again without permission.

Sometimes the thought of the future comes to her mind.

“What if I graduate and can’t find a job, or no one can get me to apply?” Jahaira said.

TheDream.US offers internship and fellowship funding programs for undocumented students so they can get paid for non-employment opportunities at partner institutions. TheDream.US awards a grant to partner institutions to help pay undocumented students for professional development grants and internships.

This year, 500 of these TheDream.US scientists participated in the program.

With the grant, Jahaira still has two years left in her business management studies. She has plans to open a painting business with her father, who has been painting for almost fifteen years, so that he can eventually retire and “take it easy.”

Until then, she is optimistic about her future after the grant ends.

“I still have hope,” Jahaira said. “Hopefully things can get better.”