JUDY WOODRUFF: Next
month, the Supreme Court
will hear arguments on
the Obama era program

called Deferred Action
for Childhood Arrivals, or
DACA, which has protected
hundreds of thousands

of individuals, also
known as dreamers.

They were brought to the U.S.
by their parents illegally
when they were children.

The issue before the court is
whether the Trump administration
acted legally when it

sought to terminate
the program in 2017.

Since then, DACA has been
closed to new enrollees.

Hari Sreenivasan recently
traveled to Ohio to
speak with DACA students
about their experiences.

It's the latest in our
special series on Rethinking
College, and it's part
of our regular education

segment, Making the Grade.

MAN: After you have decided
on what you want to study, you
have to review the literature.

HARI SREENIVASAN: Like many
college students, 19-year-old
Jimmy Rodriguez has a lot on his

plate.

He's taking a full course load
this semester at Lorain County
Community College in Ohio.

In the evenings, he practices
with the school's soccer team.

But unlike most of his peers,
Rodriguez is pursuing a degree
and a future in a country

he may one day be
forced to leave.

WOMAN: I know there are a
couple of things I wanted
to follow up with you on.

And that is your
paperwork for the DACA.

HARI SREENIVASAN: Rodriguez
is a DACA beneficiary.

His parents brought him to the
U.S. from Mexico in 2002, when
he was a year-and-a-half old.

He's never been back to Mexico.

JIMMY RODRIGUEZ,
College Student: DACA
means the world to me.

I'm able to get a job, a normal
job, get my license, almost
like a citizen, but not fully

yet.

HARI SREENIVASAN: He wants
to be the first person in his
family to graduate from college.

But those plans were
almost derailed last year
when he and his father,
who's also undocumented,

were caught up in a
federal ICE raid while
working at a garden center.

Jimmy's dad caught some of
the raid on his cell phone.

JIMMY RODRIGUEZ: And they told
us to shut up, to stop talking,
that we were all illegal.

HARI SREENIVASAN: Because he
was protected by DACA, Rodriguez
was released, but his father

was detained for several months.

He's out now and has been given
a temporary work permit while
he awaits his next immigration

hearing.

JIMMY RODRIGUEZ: It's always
affected me since I found out
I was undocumented, in school,

in class, at work, at a game,
thinking about your family,
because you're not with them,

so you're uncertain what's
going to happen to them.

HARI SREENIVASAN: According to
the Migration Policy Institute,
about 98,000 dreamers graduate

from high school
each year in the U.S.

Many enter the work force right
away, but it's estimated 20
percent of DACA beneficiaries

are enrolled in college.

On a recent afternoon, as Ohio
State University fans cheered
on their football team, a small

student group met nearby
to discuss their goals for
the upcoming school year.

WOMAN: Who would we be targeting
in the education systems?

HARI SREENIVASAN: The four
leaders of the newly formed
Student Community of Progressive

Empowerment organization, which
advocates for undocumented
students, are all protected

by DACA.

LIZ, College Student: There
are these kids that would have
applied for it, but can't.

So, they're undocumented.

HARI SREENIVASAN:
Nineteen-year-old Liz
is a junior majoring
in civil engineering.

She prefers to go only by her
first name, due to concerns
about her family's safety.

Liz has lived in Ohio since
she came to the U.S. from
Mexico when she was 1.

She's been on the dean's
list and has a 3.7
grade point average.

That type of academic
performance would help
most students get financial
aid, but not dreamers.

LIZ: The number one
challenge that we face is
a lack of financial aid.

As DACA students, we don't
get federal financial aid and
a lot of public scholarships.

HARI SREENIVASAN: How are
you financing your education?

LIZ: A lot of my education is
financed with my own money.

I work part-time as a server.

I have been working since I
was 16 to save up for college.

Other than that, I have had a
handful of private scholarships.

HARI SREENIVASAN: Like most
dreamers, Liz had to apply
as an international student,

but Ohio allows DACA recipients
to qualify for in-state
tuition if they meet residency

requirements; 23 other states
and the District of Columbia
have laws or university system

policies that allow
undocumented students to
qualify for in-state tuition.

Liz wants to become an engineer,
but she says it can be hard
to stay focused when faced

with the possibility
of deportation.

LIZ: It's a lot of
anxiety knowing that
you might not graduate.

You have this long-term
goal, but it's not certain.

You can't work
harder and get it.

You can't study
harder and get it.

It's just completely
out of your control.

HARI SREENIVASAN: It's not just
undergrads who are concerned.

You're hoping to build a
database that researchers
can use to fight cancer?

HAN GIL, College Graduate: Yes.

HARI SREENIVASAN:
Twenty-two-year-old Han
Gil is a DACA recipient
who is applying for

Ph.D. programs while
working at a lab on campus.

The recent Ohio State grad,
who also prefers to go by only
her first name, was born in

Korea and has been in the
U.S. since the age of 4.

She and other DACA beneficiaries
must reapply every two years.

HAN GIL: The programs
I'm looking into are
minimum five years.

And reapplying costs money.

It's hard for me to have any
confidence in what I'm going
to do in the future, when I

can't even have the basics
of knowing if I'm even
going to be here or not.

HARI SREENIVASAN: Those kinds
of concerns are all too common
for undocumented students,

says Yolanda Zepeda.

She's assistant vice
provost in the Office of
Diversity and Inclusion
at Ohio State University.

YOLANDA ZEPEDA, Ohio State
University: What I find is,
our students have to work a lot

of hours in order to just
pay for their schooling.

That can very much extend
the time to degree.

And I have seen students who
start out very enthused and very
determined, and , over time,

they just get tired.

HARI SREENIVASAN: Ohio
State University doesn't
disclose the number of
enrolled DACA students,

and many dreamers choose
not to reveal their status.

But there are campus programs
aimed at giving them support.

ANNA BABEL, Ohio State
University: A lot of
it is taking your own
initiative to make sure

that undocumented student
concerns are getting into the
daily life of the university.

HARI SREENIVASAN: Around 300
faculty, staff and students
have participated in a voluntary

training program to
become allies for
undocumented students.

Ohio State language
professor Anna Babel
is leading the effort.

ANNA BABEL: They can run into
problems with court dates,
if they have a court date and

they don't want to tell their
professor what's going on in
their life, maybe it conflicts

with an exam or with a
required class period.

Many language departments
traditionally have
requirements for study
abroad, and undocumented

students just can't do that.

HARI SREENIVASAN: As Ohio
State and other schools try to
help dreamers, they are aware

that immigration
policy is contentious.

They also know that there
are many who want to
end DACA and support the
Trump administration's

efforts to do so.

HANS VON SPAKOVSKY, Heritage
Foundation: I think President
Trump acted correctly in ending

the program.

HARI SREENIVASAN: Hans
Von Spakovsky is a
senior legal fellow at
the Heritage Foundation

in D.C., a conservative
think tank.

He has concerns, among
other things, about
universities giving in-state
tuition to undocumented

students.

HANS VON SPAKOVSKY: Federal
immigration law doesn't ban
colleges and universities, state

ones, from providing
in-state tuition to aliens
who are here illegally.

But it does say that, if they
do that, they have to provide
in-state tuition to citizens

who are from other states.

That provision has never
been enforced by the
U.S. Justice Department.

HARI SREENIVASAN: While
the political battles
are being fought, life
goes on at universities

for now.

Civil engineering major Liz is
keeping focused on her studies.

LIZ: For me, my number one
goal is to do as much as I can
and try as hard as I can to

graduate.

And I will do that
until I -- until the
last second that I can.

HARI SREENIVASAN: Liz, Jimmy,
Han Gil and many other dreamers
across the U.S. will be

waiting anxiously for the
Supreme Court's decision on
DACA, expected by next summer.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Hari
Sreenivasan in Columbus, Ohio.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Part of our
series on Rethinking College.