Several Los Angeles public libraries offer free on-site immigration services
Through the New American Initiative, staff at the libraries can provide assistance and information regarding immigration, host citizenship classes, and resources for DACA and Green Card renewals.
The initiative was launched in LA in January 2018 under Mayor Eric Garcetti. New American Centers offer free and confidential meetings with staff.
"As the second-largest city in the United States, Los Angeles is home to immigrants from more than 140 countries," the LA public libraries website said. "We are working together with our community partners to bring important information to you about immigration and citizenship."
LA public libraries with New American Centers:
Central Library
Pacoima Branch Library
Junipero Serra Branch Library
Pio Pico - Koreatown Branch Library
Echo Park Branch Library
Wilmington Branch Library
Use this link to make an appointment with a library staff member.
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Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Yahoo
Confusion reigns as Texas colleges scramble to comply with ban on in-state tuition for undocumented students
Katerin felt her whole body flush when she opened her fall tuition bill from the University of Houston: It had nearly doubled to $7,900. The 24-year-old has lived in Texas since her parents brought her to the U.S. from Mexico when she was 2. Thanks to the 2001 Texas Dream Act, she's always qualified for in-state tuition as she worked toward a master's degree in social work. A federal court ruling swiftly gutted the law in June, ending the benefit for thousands of undocumented students. But Katerin is in the country legally, as a recipient of the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program, which protects certain immigrants from deportation and allows them to work legally. Students like Katerin, who asked that her last name not be used over concerns about a relative's undocumented status, should still qualify for in-state tuition, attorneys for Texas said in a court filing. But advocates say some Texas universities are misinterpreting the court ruling, leaving students like Katerin with confusing messages and sky-high tuition bills just as classes are about to begin. Advocates call it an urgent and widespread problem fueled by the lack of state guidance on how to implement the ruling. They worry hundreds of students are being sent incorrect tuition bills and will not have the time, guidance, resources or support to challenge them. 'As someone who was undocumented, I know there are some students who are going to be like, 'I'm not even going to push this,'' said Julieta Garibay, co-founder of United We Dream, a national immigrant advocacy group. 'I'm watching TV and there are people who are literally getting picked up in the middle of the street and getting deported to some other country, not their country of origin. Why am I going to make noise when something could happen to me?' Two weeks after the court's ruling, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board instructed colleges to identify and reclassify students who are not lawfully present in the country as nonresidents for the fall semester. It offered no guidance on how institutions should determine lawful presence or what documentation to accept. A spokesperson for the board did not answer questions from The Texas Tribune. Advocates say without clear guidance from the state, students' ability to continue paying in-state tuition rates can hinge on where they attend college, not whether they qualify. 'What we've seen is a chaotic, haphazard and inconsistent implementation across the state with grave emotional consequences for students … but more importantly, with dire consequences,' said Barbara Hines, who helped write the Texas Dream Act 24 years ago and founded the immigration clinic at the University of Texas School of Law. Hines said the coordinating board should be doing more to help schools implement the ruling. At a minimum, she said, the agency should issue clear guidance that aligns with the Texas Department of Public Safety's categories of lawful presence, lists acceptable proof documents, and sets reasonable timelines for schools to process students' paperwork. She also urged the agency to ensure that universities have trained staff to handle residency reclassifications and communicate accurate information to students. How schools are responding to the change To qualify for in-state tuition under the 2001 Texas Dream Act, students were required to sign an affidavit stating that they would apply for permanent U.S. residency as soon as they were eligible. In 2024, 18,593 Texas college students signed that affidavit. The Tribune contacted the nine public colleges with the largest number of students who signed that affidavit to learn how they are implementing the court's ruling. Those schools were Dallas College, Houston Community College, Lone Star College, the University of Houston, Texas A&M University, the University of Texas at Austin, University of Texas at Dallas, the University of Texas at Arlington, and the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Texas A&M was the only school that said it will accept the same documents the Texas Department of Public Safety uses to establish lawful presence for a Texas Real ID, which includes an employment authorization document for DACA recipients. The university said it will accept documents until Sept. 10, the fall census date when universities finalize residency status and enrollment counts. A coalition of immigrant rights and legal advocacy groups singled out UT-Austin for creating confusion about the ruling in communications with students. UT-Austin did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Members of the coalition shared with the Tribune messages UT-Austin sent students saying they had until July 24 to submit documents. One message incorrectly stated, 'due to a new Texas law effective June 2025, we now require proof of lawful immigration status.' This was wrong in two ways: there was no new state law, only a federal court ruling, and the message substituted 'lawful immigration status' for 'lawful presence,' the term used in the court's ruling. That narrower category excludes people with DACA, temporary protected status and pending permanent U.S. residency applications. Garibay said UT-Austin is also directing students to a residency questionnaire that omits some current lawful presence categories. She said students in those groups are bumped out of the questionnaire and told to contact the enrollment office, where many get unclear or no answers. Garibay and other advocates told the Tribune they have accompanied some students to the enrollment office, where they were advised to pay the higher out-of-state tuition rate and seek reimbursement later, despite the process taking up to four weeks. The advocates called the advice unreasonable given the other time-sensitive financial decisions students must make at the beginning of the school year, such as whether to sign a lease for an apartment. Garibay also noted that even if UT-Austin students pay tuition in installments, the university requires students to pay the full amount by October. UT-Austin is not the only university where the coalition says students have encountered problems. The coalition said many colleges lack dedicated, trained staff to assist students with questions about the in-state tuition changes. Some have demanded students provide original documents or mistakenly told some noncitizens they could not enroll. 'For many students, that means they have no passport or permanent resident card or other documents, and they're without them for weeks,' said Barbara Hines, former clinical professor of law and founder of the immigration clinic at the University of Texas School of Law. The coalition declined to name those schools, citing their responsiveness to the group's feedback and corrective actions. Of the schools the Tribune contacted, Houston Community College and UT-Arlington did not respond. Dallas College said it could not respond to questions by the Tribune's deadline. Lone Star College declined to answer questions. UT-Rio Grande Valley declined to answer questions, but reiterated a June statement that it aims to minimize disruption to students while following the law. UT-Dallas referred the Tribune to a website that on Monday noted staff were reviewing residency documents submitted between July 16-31. Hines, who helped write the Texas Dream Act 24 years ago, said the agency should have done more to help schools implement the ruling. She said it should have allowed them to grandfather in students who were relying on the Texas Dream Act to graduate from college. Alternatively, she said, the coordinating board could have delayed implementation until 2026 to give schools time to create orderly procedures and students time to understand the requirements. Texas House Democrats made a similar request in a letter earlier this summer, urging the coordinating board to create a temporary tuition category so affected students could continue paying the in-state tuition rate this fall. Commissioner Wynn Rosser rejected the idea, saying the agency did not have the authority to create new categories or to contradict the federal court order. Kristin Etter, director of policy and legal services at the Texas Immigration Law Council, thinks students could challenge the increases under a state law that bars universities from raising tuition after they have registered for classes. She said it is unclear whether it applies to residency reclassifications, though some schools appear to be interpreting that it does not. Fighting to prove she still qualified Katerin is one of six children and entered the DACA program when she was 16. She has never received financial aid or taken out loans, she said, instead paying for her education by working full-time at a nonprofit child placing agency that licenses foster homes and conducts monthly check-ins on the well-being of foster children. She earned an associate degree from Houston Community College, a bachelor's degree from the University of Houston-Downtown, and was admitted to UH's Graduate College of Social Work last year. Her long-term goal is to become a social work professor. On July 22, UH emailed Katerin saying it had changed her status to nonresident because of the ruling. UH gave her until Aug. 8 to prove lawful presence. The message listed documents she could submit as evidence, including a work authorization card issued to DACA recipients. But didn't explicitly say DACA recipients still qualified for in-state tuition. The university's online student portal created confusion, too. Her emails to the registrar's office went unanswered. When she called, she was told to wait more than a week to see if she qualified for in-state tuition. DACA students don't qualify for federal aid, such as the Pell Grants that go to families making less than $50,000 a year. Frustrated by the lack of progress, Katerin reached out to one of her professors, who connected her with an immigrant rights group. With their guidance, she resubmitted documents showing she is a DACA recipient, along with a new Texas Dream Act affidavit the coordinating board had revised. On July 31, UH restored her in-state tuition, reducing her bill to $4,349.32. 'I feel like if it wasn't for me moving, and if it wasn't for me speaking up, the university, they wouldn't care,' Katerin said. In a statement, the University of Houston said it is complying with the court ruling, but did not answer questions about how the changes affect DACA recipients or how it is preventing misclassifications. She expects to graduate in the spring and has saved enough money in case DACA recipients lose in-state tuition eligibility before then, but she believes many students in her situation will be forced to take on debt or drop out if it does. The experience, she said, eroded the pride she once felt in being a UH cougar. 'Now, I'm like, 'let's get through it. Let's graduate already,'' she said. The Texas Tribune partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage. Disclosure: Houston Community College, JLone Star College, Texas A&M University, University of Houston, University of Texas - Arlington, University of Texas - Dallas, University of Texas - Rio Grande Valley and University of Texas at Austin have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here. More all-star speakers confirmed for The Texas Tribune Festival, Nov. 13–15! This year's lineup just got even more exciting with the addition of State Rep. Caroline Fairly, R-Amarillo; former United States Attorney General Eric Holder; Abby Phillip, anchor of 'CNN NewsNight'; Aaron Reitz, 2026 Republican candidate for Texas Attorney General; and State Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin. Get your tickets today! TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase. 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Los Angeles Times
20 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
Trump's anti-immigrant policies are even driving U.S. citizens away
As the Trump administration continues to target the undocumented community and urge them to self-deport, some U.S. citizens have considered leaving the country themselves. Earlier this summer, Julie Ear dropped off her mother at the Tijuana airport to self-deport. She documented the tearful departure in a TikTok video, which has since reached over 9.3 million views and garnered thousands of sympathetic comments. 'With my mom's complicated legal status, she decided to [self-deport] on her own terms,' Ear says in the clip. At the time of the video's publication, ICE raids were spreading across Southern California, her mother's home for the past 36 years. In March, the Trump administration rolled out its multimillion-dollar ad campaign warning undocumented individuals to self-deport or face the consequences of deportation. This strategy is part of Trump's pledge to deport 1 million unauthorized immigrants per year, which has also offered individuals $1,000 and a free flight to self-deport. While much of Trump's campaign was focused on undocumented immigrants who had committed violent crimes, it has now shifted its focus to anyone residing in the U.S. without legal authorization (which is still considered a civil violation). In some cases, the Trump administration has also targeted those with DACA protection, whom they have urged to self-deport as well. 'She has no criminal record, she's a hard-working taxpayer who has been working 12 hour shifts since she was 15, six days out of the week,' says Ear of her mother in the video. 'She never asked for a handout, she didn't get food stamps, she didn't get welfare.' This campaign has triggered many in the immigrant community to leave their families and homes in the U.S. and return to their countries of origin. But it also strikes fear in those born to immigrants in the U.S., especially as the future of birthright citizenship remains in limbo. 'Are we even safe as American citizens?' asks Ear in an interview with The Times — citing instances in which U.S. citizens have been taken into ICE custody. ' Even though we were born here, we don't know if we're gonna be safe long term.' Ear says many of her friends, concerned for their quality of life in the U.S., are now looking to obtain dual citizenship and buy property abroad, especially as the average home price in Southern California has climbed to $875,128 — while the hourly minimum wage in Los Angeles remains at $17.28. 'My friends are having meetings with council members, the mayor, talking about what laws we can pass to protect the Latino community in L.A.,' said Ear. 'Then I also have those friends that are thinking of buying land and houses out there [in Mexico], and getting their dual citizenship.' Nicole Macias, a longtime Angeleno whose family owns a legacy business on the Olvera Street strip, applied for dual Mexican citizenship last year through Doble Nacionalidad Express, a law firm specializing in helping individuals obtain dual citizenship. Macias has since turned to social media to educate others about the dual citizenship process. 'The political climate right now in Los Angeles is really crazy. A lot of people just feel unsafe,' Macias told The Times. 'A lot of people are turning back to this idea of being able to go back to Mexico and have an easier lifestyle.' But it isn't just U.S.-born Latinos who are seeking refuge in other countries. A record number of 1,931 Americans applied for British citizenship between January and March, according to stats by the U.K. government — a 12% jump from the previous 2024 quarter. Some Canadian lawyers also noticed an uptick in Americans seeking Canadian citizenship in recent months, with many stating that they are fearful of the political uncertainty in the U.S. A survey conducted by Expatsi, a travel company for expats, found that of the 116,000 Americans surveyed, more than half were motivated by political divisions in the country. ' I think a lot of people are turning [to] dual citizenship and leaving the States because it's probably a safer option,' says Macias. 'This [is] people's plan B for their future and for their safety and the safety of their families.'
CBS News
3 days ago
- CBS News
Trump administration to more heavily scrutinize "good moral character" requirement for U.S. citizenship
The Trump administration is signaling it will more heavily scrutinize applications filed by legal immigrants seeking American citizenship, in its latest effort to tighten access to U.S. immigration benefits. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the federal agency overseeing the country's legal immigration system, instructed officers on Friday to consider additional factors when determining whether immigrants applying for U.S. citizenship have a "good moral character." Typically, legal immigrants with U.S. permanent residency, also known as a green card, can apply for naturalized American citizenship after a 3- or 5-year period, depending on their case. Demonstrating "a good moral character" has long been one of the requirements in U.S. immigration law for American citizenship, alongside passing English and civics tests. For decades, under Republican and Democratic administrations, the "good moral character" assessment has generally been satisfied if applicants don't have any of the criminal offenses or disqualifying conduct outlined in U.S. immigration law. Those disqualifying factors range from violent crimes like murder and aggravated felonies to drug offenses and being a "habitual drunkard." But a policy issued Friday by USCIS expands the "good moral character" assessment, saying that determination must involve "more than a cursory mechanical review focused on the absence of wrongdoing." Instead, the review, the agency told its officers, should be "a holistic assessment of an alien's behavior, adherence to societal norms, and positive contributions that affirmatively demonstrate good moral character." The directive orders officers to place a "greater emphasis" on applicants' "positive attributes and contributions," listing community involvement, family caregiving and ties, educational attainment, "stable and lawful" employment, the length of time spent in the U.S., and paying taxes as some of those factors. The memo also mandates "greater scrutiny" of factors that show applicants lack a "good moral character," beyond the crimes and disqualifying conduct detailed in U.S. immigration law. Those factors, the policy said, include "acts that are contrary to the average behavior of citizens in the jurisdiction where aliens reside," including actions that are "technically lawful" but also "inconsistent with civic responsibility within the community." USCIS listed "reckless or habitual traffic infractions, or harassment or aggressive solicitation" as some of those actions. Lastly, the new USCIS policy instructs officers to weigh factors that could show that applicants who have engaged in wrongdoing have rehabilitated, such as complying with probation, paying overdue taxes or child support and receiving letters of support from their community. Over the past decade, the U.S. government has naturalized between 600,000 and 1 million immigrants as citizens annually, USCIS figures show. In a statement to CBS News, USCIS chief spokesman Matthew Tragesser said the directive is another effort by President Trump's administration to "restore integrity" to the U.S. immigration system. "U.S. citizenship is the gold standard of citizenship — it should only be offered to the world's best of the best," Tragesser added. "Today, USCIS is adding a new element to the naturalization process that ensures America's newest citizens not only embrace America's culture, history, and language but who also demonstrate Good Moral Character." Doug Rand, a former senior USCIS official during the Biden administration, suggested the Trump administration's policy is designed to scare legal immigrants from applying for American citizenship and require officers to put their "thumb on the scale" to find more reasons to deny applications. "They're trying to increase the grounds for denial of U.S. citizenship by kind of torturing the definition of good moral character to encompass extremely harmless behavior," Rand said, citing the policy's reference to traffic infractions. While the Trump administration has launched a highly visible crackdown on illegal immigration by deploying thousands of troops to the southern border, expanding immigration raids across the country, and fast-tracking deportations of those in the U.S. illegally, it has simultaneously moved to restrict legal immigration, with less fanfare. The Trump administration has virtually shut down refugee admissions, terminated Biden-era programs that allowed migrants to enter the U.S. legally, limited visas for certain countries and implemented aggressive vetting procedures for legal immigration benefits. Those efforts include expanded vetting of social media activity of legal immigrants and stricter screening requirements for some applications.
