Matthew Quitoriano, a senior at San Diego High School, submitted his FAFSA application in November. But he says many of his classmates haven't done it yet because they're scared.
“It's really hard to have trust in that idea of, ‘Well, the Trump administration can't use that data for ICE deportations. The administration can't get access to the Treasury Department. The Trump administration can't do all these things,'" he said. “And yet, they are.”
The tension in the air at school can be palpable.
“Is it really that safe to come to school today? Who knows,” Quitoriano added.
Get top local stories in San Diego delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC San Diego's News Headlines newsletter.
Financial aid application information has not been shared with immigration agencies in the past, but many families fear that will change after seeing actions like the Department Of Homeland Security asking the Internal Revenue Service for help removing people who are in the country illegally.
People see immigration enforcement partner with outside agencies and worry the FAFSA could be next. Their ultimate fear is deportations splitting up their family.
“We are concerned,” San Diego Unified School Board President Cody Petterson said. “We are preparing ourselves.”
Local
Petterson said he empathizes with worried students and wants to make sure they know the district’s No. 1 priority is protecting them.
“If an immigration official has a federal judicial warrant, then we will comply with that warrant," Petterson said. "But if they don't have that, they're not coming onto our campus.”
Quitoriano said immigration concerns fueled grassroots activism movements in his school. His classmates are bonded now.
“When someone says, ‘Young people give me hope,’ I'm like, ‘OK, that's a lot of pressure on me,’ you know? But I also think movements like these really do give me hope in that people are willing to fight for them," he said.
California has its own aid application that's called the California Dream Act Application. The California Student Aid Commission stresses this data is not shared with federal agencies.
