- It's no secret that college is expensive.

Besides tuition costs, which have been steadily rising over the last couple decades, there's room and board, books and supplies, transportation, health insurance, not to mention the opportunity cost of postponing the start of a career.

- As we've mentioned in previous videos, these costs, though high, are still worth it, because having a four year degree will most likely pay off down the road in the form of a higher salary.

But what if you weren't sure you'd legally be able to get a job once you've graduated?

- That's the reality for hundreds of thousands of young people who live in the United States without documentation.

(buoyant music) - I am originally from Michoacan, Mexico.

One day my dad came and he said he wanted to bring us with him.

I wasn't sure what that meant because I didn't know where he had been.

We were asked to like collect our things and then the next thing I knew, we were on this train to get to the border and then after that I just kept hearing like, "We just need to get to Houston.

We just need to get to Houston."

- Sandra arrived in America when she was only seven years old, though she assumed her undocumented status would prohibit her from going to college, she was encouraged by her high school teacher to not give up her dream.

- I was just planning to go into the local high school and graduate early.

My high school teacher, she was the first one that introduced me into going to college and that's when I disclosed like, I'm undocumented.

And she was like, "Oh, okay, that's fine.

Like we're gonna figure out together, like what does it mean to be an undocumented student?"

- There is an overwhelming lack of acknowledgement, a lack of awareness that these students are in our schools, they need this help.

They have these unique particular challenges and they need specific resources and support to help them navigate a lot of those unknowns.

Often when I'm on panels and and things like that, where I say, "Oh, my undocumented students in college."

"Oh, they're allowed in college?"

And I'm like, "Oh, come on."

- Being an undocumented student, a lot of the times folks don't know how to help you.

Advocating for yourself is a huge piece in making sure that you get your needs met.

If they didn't know the answer, can you connect me to someone that knows the answer?

You don't know how to do, okay, can you tell me who does?

What department does?

Reminding others, these are my rights and I'm taking advantage of it.

- Even for American citizens, the process of applying to and attending college requires a lot of paperwork, admissions, scholarships, grants, financial aid, proof of state residency.

You might think that all these bureaucratic hurdles would be enough to discourage an undocumented immigrant, but many states allow non-citizens to pursue education in America.

- One of the misconceptions is to understand firstly, that there is no federal law that grants them the right to be able to enroll a college or university.

They do have a legal right to enroll in K through 12 public institutions and that's because of the Supreme Court ruling Plyer V. Doe.

However, when it comes to higher education access, it depends what state you're in.

So you have some states that have really well comprehensive access, like California, Texas and then you have other states like Georgia and Alabama who have very restrictive access.

- I had some advisors and they were like, "Well, you know, there's like private scholarships that you can apply even though you're undocumented?

If you're able to like share that you live within the zip codes, that's a starting point."

- When we're talking about policies like HB 1403, what that does is it provides state residency for higher education purposes.

Understanding that in-state tuition can be $3,000, $4,000, $5,000 a semester, but when you're forced to pay out-of-state tuition, that can get up to $10,000 a semester.

These are students that are already coming from families with very limited resources, who are coming from low income backgrounds and they're being expected to pay double, triple, the amount that their peers are.

- Depending on the laws of your state and requirements of the institution, you still may need to fill out a state aid application form to prove your financial needs.

- To many students, this may seem like too big a risk, not only for themselves, but other family members who may be undocumented.

Sending the government information on your immigration status, is that safe to do?

- For some of my students, they find out they're undocumented in that senior year that they're applying to college.

Should I share my status in my admissions essays?

Should I share my status in my scholarship essays?

You should never feel like you have to disclose that, it's your personal choice, but also understanding when you're applying for admissions financial aid, when you're applying for scholarships, your information is safe.

No institutions are gonna partner with ICE or partner with any law enforcement, like that information is safe.

- So I'm graduating, this is 2015.

I'm ready to go into the world and start practicing my career.

The first thing I have to do is apply for DACA.

- DACA is the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.

It was an executive order that was established by Obama back in 2012.

What this program envisioned was given, "Dreamers," which are undocumented students are often referred to as an opportunity to be able to work, to be able to have that protection from deportation, give them a social security number, but it is subject to renewal every two years.

It was never intended to be a permanent solution.

Where we're at now in 2024 is there's been a lot of different legal injunctions that have been happening on and off since 2017, but the real big one that made a really big impact was the one that happened in the summer of 2021.

Any new applicants for DACA, they can't apply if they're new, so they're allowed to renew, they can still receive the benefits, it's still subject to renewal, but all new applications are frozen.

That's really why we have this shift where we went from majority students with DACA in college to majority of students without, because of these injunctions.

- So he did say that he wants career coaching or career consulting.

So he did say that he has business cards and a LinkedIn account.

- Sandra received her DACA status in 2015, shortly before the program was discontinued.

Recently, she co-founded a nonprofit that offers financial guidance to undocumented people facing the same struggles she did.

- POCA came to me as an act of resistance.

We were doing a march from New York to DC.

We were bringing awareness about the DACA hearing that was gonna be in the Supreme Court and then we started having conversations about like folks that were left out of DACA.

You know there's some of us that are left out of DACA.

I was like, "Oh, how have you been able to navigate that?"

And they're like, "I've an LLC, I have my own company.

Yeah, I work as a contractor."

And I was like, "We should bring that to Texas!"

(buoyant music continues) - Hi!

- [Worker] Can I get your name Please?

- Yes, Maria.

(Participant talking in a foreign language) - So you might be wondering, why are we here?

Who is POCA?

What is POCA?

- [Sandra] POCA, Professional Opportunity Connection for all, and essentially what we do is we support undocumented folks of what is an LLC, how to apply for it and what are some best practices.

- Our mission is to uplift immigrants towards financial equity by connecting education, skill development, and resources.

(audience applauding) - Originally, our goal was to kind of have folks that had already already practiced something, either cutting the grass cleaning services, kind of like legitimize them and then our demographics started changing a little bit.

We started getting more high school students, we started getting more college students, we started hearing how the local district has 8,000 students that are graduating, they're undocumented and they're not sure what to do with those students.

- The big question I often get from my high school students and my college students is, "What's the point of getting a college degree if I can't get a job when I graduate?"

What I really like informing students about is understanding that it is possible for them to utilize their degree, to utilize their skill sets and work in a lawful manner.

And that's where independent contracting and freelancing come in, and that's where entrepreneurship is super important.

- I was like, you need to get everybody to have LLC.

Be like Oprah, you get an LLC, you get an LLC, everybody gets an LLC!

- The first step is filing for an individual taxpayer identification number.

This is a processing number for individuals who don't qualify for a social security number, but have taxable income in the US.

It was created in 1996 as a way for non-residents to pay their taxes and to encourage compliance, the IRS does not generally share information with immigration authorities.

- [Philip] ITINs do not grant legal immigration status or the work authorization, which many employers require.

However, they do allow recipients to earn money as independent contractors or business owners, open interest bearing accounts at some banks and even get a driver's license, depending on the state.

- I do work with undocumented students on the daily and I do see how much their passion and interests and efforts, despite all the challenges, all the barriers, they're making it work.

And there are people like me out there that are gonna be there to help support you and make sure that you have the resources that you need to make it through.

- The biggest thing that I think that has ever impacted me was believing in community.

Believing that there is the power of people power.

And even when I'm going through dark moments, I always go back and think, "Oh, it's because it gives me another tool to be able to build my humanity and be able to connect with another human being."

So don't disregard any difficulty that you're going through.

See it as an asset.

See it as a tool of how you're gonna be able to connect with another human being.

Anything that you go through, I think is a tool and an asset, take advantage of it.

- Though government programs and private organizations exist to help undocumented students, navigating them by oneself can be arduous and intimidating.

- Many young undocumented people may assume that pursuing the education and career of their dreams is too complicated or even dangerous to bother.

But with the support of family, friends, neighbors, and teachers, they can envision a future in the only place they've ever called home.