The White House on Tuesday blocked tens of thousands of undocumented immigrants and DACA recipients from getting billions of dollars in aid earmarked for college students affected by COVID-19.

The White House on Tuesday blocked tens of thousands of undocumented immigrants and DACA recipients from getting billions of dollars in aid earmarked for college students affected by COVID-19.
It’s difficult to know just how many people are affected by the Trump administration decision since exact figures are not kept on undocumented immigrants attending U.S. colleges. But recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals alone are estimated to be nearly 700,000, making it likely that scores of students in the DACA ranks will be affected. 
In doing so, officials are leaving out a group of students who already face a steeper challenge in attending and finishing college  and whose legal status is in jeopardy pending a U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
The students are barred from receiving the aid because it is intended for U.S. citizens, according to the Education Department. Undocumented immigrants and DACA recipients already arent allowed to access federal financial aid and often must rely on personal finances or private donor money to cover their education. 
A view of the campus of Boston College on March 31, 2020 in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Students at universities across the country were sent home to finish the semester online due to the risk of coronavirus. Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker put the state under a stay at home order in an attempt to contain the virus.
 (Photo: Maddie Meyer, Getty Images)
Denis Alvarez, a DACA receipt and student at Arizona State University, said that money would have helped students like her and those in her group, the Undocumented Students for Education Equity, who are struggling to balance classes while dealing with the economic fallout of the coronavirus. Still, being excluded from the federal governments help is expected.
I am not surprised to have been left out of this because we have been left out of so many things already, she said.
The guidance comes at a time when colleges have had to pivot to online instruction and are facing financial turmoil as theyre forced to refund housing costs. Students are struggling to adjust to the new online learning model while dealing with economic uncertainty. 
A portion of the CARES Act was meant to address both of these concerns. Universities would get billions of dollars in aid, half of which they required to give to students economically impacted by the coronavirus. The other half could be used to offset the institutions costs related to pivoting to online learning.
When Education Secretary Betsy DeVos first announced the release of $6.3 billion earmarked as emergency aid for students, she said colleges would have the discretion to distribute the money.
That roll out hasn’t been smooth, and most students still haven’t seen that aid. Many universities told USA Today Network reporters earlier this month they needed additional guidance from the Department before they started giving out that money.
Some colleges had hoped they might be able to direct some of that money toward needy students who wouldnt normally qualify for federal funding, said Ben Miller, the vice president for post-secondary education at the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning think-tank. The law distributing the CARES Act stimulus, he said, hadnt defined which students were eligible, but the departments new guidance excludes these students. 
An Education Department spokeswoman, Angela Morabito, said the act is clear that this taxpayer-funded relief fund should be targeted to U.S. citizens, which is consistently echoed throughout the law.
Miller added these types of students count toward a universitys total student enrollment, a figure which was used to generate how much a college would be eligible to receive. So undocumented and DACA receipts may have driven up an institutions total share of federal aid money, but theyre cut off from it. 
Miller said he also feared the additional regulations would result in universities creating more complicated application processes to ensure they comply with the rules. That could prolong the process of distributing that money. 
Advocates also say undocumented students and DACA receipts face many of the same financial strains as do low-income students who are eligible for financial aid. 
They should have been eligible to receive these funds despite immigration status, said Miriam Feldblum, the executive director of the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education, an advocacy group of higher education leaders focused on immigration policy. 
These students too may have lost their jobs or need to take care of family members, she said. They may also have trouble finding the right technology to access their online courses. The Education Department, she said, had an opportunity to try and ease some of these struggles, but it chose not to. 
Later this year, the Supreme Court is expected to issue a decision on the future of the DACA program and the nearly 700,000 who rely on it to avoid temporary deportation and to be able to work in the country.
The Trump administration had said it was in the countrys best interest to end the program, and would do so by winding it down. Federal courts in California and Texas challenged the decision, driving it to the Supreme Court. 
Many of the people in DACA, no longer very young, are far from angels. Some are very tough, hardened criminals. President Obama said he had no legal right to sign order, but would anyway. If Supreme Court remedies with overturn, a deal will be made with Dems for them to stay!
Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 12, 2019
That looming decision is one of many things on Pedro Garcias mind these days. The 21-year-old is a student at North Park University in Chicago and a DACA recipient. Like many students he has seen his life upended due to the coronavirus. He had been living in the dorms and working as a resident adviser. 
These days, he is living at home with his family. Six of them share three rooms, so it can be hard to find a quiet moment to complete his coursework. Moreover, his family home didnt initially have Internet access, which he had to help set up. 
He like, other DACA recipients, had to rely on family resources and private scholarships to pay for college. He said he is lucky to have a job as a campus security dispatcher and writing adviser. Even so the grant money would have helped. And being ineligible for it evoked a familiar theme. 
It never felt that this administration was on our side, he said. 
Alvarez, the ASU student, said she and her peers have been struggling. Online classes have been a struggle, but she is grateful she has a private space to study, a job to pay the bills, and a computer to take her classes. Not all of her peers, she said, are so lucky. 
They were already paying out-of-state tuition, and many of them are out of jobs. Those that do have work risk catching the disease. She, like Garcia, is also worrying about the Supreme Court decision and what it means for their future. And their parents didnt receive the stimulus checks that many American families have.  
The emergency federal aid, she said, would have helped students whose laptop chargers wont work or those who couldnt afford food, among other concerns. The coronavirus just feels like another barrier to their education. 
This is already a community that doesnt have a lot of funds to go to school in the first place, she said. Its a feeling we have been having for a very long time.
Education coverage at USA TODAY is made possible in part by a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The Gates Foundation does not provide editorial input.
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