She did everything right. She was top of her class, involved at school, and had been admitted to UC Davis with a sweeping financial aid package. But there was just one problem: Her family wasn’t born here.

Approximately 65,000 undocumented students graduate from U.S. high schools every year, 25,000 of those students graduate from California high schools (US Dept. of Education, 2015). Many of these students are high achievers and promising young people to fulfill the next generation. The only thing standing in their way is undocumented status.