ACR 40: Student financial aid: Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) data.

WHEREAS, President Trump’s administration has indicated its intent to declare a national emergency to address illegal immigration through a mass deportation program; and

WHEREAS, The Governor of California has called for and this Legislature has convened a special legislative session to fund the legal defense against federal policies that conflict with state law and infringe upon the civil rights of Californians; and

WHEREAS, California is home to more foreign-born residents than anywhere else in the country, with almost one in three Californians being foreign born and one in two Californian children having at least one immigrant parent, and immigrants play a vital role in all sectors of our state’s economy and are valuable and essential members of the California community; and

WHEREAS, 3,300,000 Californians live in mixed-status households. For financial aid purposes, mixed-status families are those in which the student is a United States citizen or eligible noncitizen and the student’s parent or spouse does not have a social security number; and

WHEREAS, California students have expressed reluctance in filing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), the primary form used by more than 2,000,000 Californians annually to access state and federal financial aid, over fear that federal authorities will use the newly required self-reported information provided on the application to pursue deportation efforts against them and their parents; and

WHEREAS, In the 2024–25 application cycle, FAFSA applications declined significantly due to technical difficulties and concerns of how new self-reported information by applicants and their parents or spouse would be used, preventing many students from receiving aid and completing their higher education; and

WHEREAS, Deportation and other interruptions in higher education seriously affect college completion, student success, economic mobility, and contributions to California’s economy and society, and higher education has demonstrably improved the lives of individuals and communities through workforce development and innovation contributing to the economy of the state and country; and

WHEREAS, The federal Privacy Act of 1974 (Public Law 93-579, as amended) prohibits the disclosure of an individual’s data from a system of records without written or verbal consent, and the landmark 1982 United States Supreme Court decision, Plyler v. Doe (1982) 457 U.S. 202, held that states cannot constitutionally deny students a free public education based on immigration status; and

WHEREAS, California law declares that the attainment of education for the betterment of the individual and the community is paramount regardless of one’s immigration status, protects undocumented students from fear and discrimination in educational institutions, and prohibits police from providing or retaining personal information and immigration status for immigration enforcement purposes; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate thereof concurring, That the Legislature of the State of California denounces any deportation plans that would disrupt the education of students; and be it further

Resolved, That the Legislature and the State of California maximize state resources and investments to ensure that all students, regardless of their immigration status or that of their parents or spouse, can access all forms of financial aid available to them, as well as enroll and succeed in postsecondary education; and be it further

Resolved, That the Legislature and the State of California commit to protecting, to the fullest extent of the law, all the data and information provided by students and their families to California’s postsecondary education; and be it further

Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.