David Wagner
covers housing in Southern California, a place where the lack of affordable housing contributes to homelessness.
Published July 22, 2024 5:00 AM
Many unhoused people in the Antelope Valley live in RVs parked far into the Mojave Desert, miles from population centers.
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David Wagner
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After years of increases, the number of unhoused people across L.A. County held steady in this year’s count. But the trend is very different in the Antelope Valley, where homelessness rose 42% in the past year alone.
The backstory: Service providers and housing advocates say cities like Lancaster and Palmdale — long seen as affordable landing pads for tenants fleeing higher rents in central L.A. County — have also become too expensive. The latest statistics show that homelessness in the region has more than doubled since 2018 — far outpacing other parts of L.A. County.
What’s driving the increase? Homelessness officials say this year’s dramatic increase may in part be the result of better data collection. This year, for the first time, they used drones to get a more precise count of unhoused people living way out in the Mojave Desert. Others say the main driver is obvious: rents are rising, and homelessness is rising too.
Read more… to learn how people are falling into homelessness in the Antelope Valley, how they’re surviving the heat, and why the mayor of Lancaster is encouraging residents to arm themselves.
When the results of Los Angeles County’s most recent homeless count showed the number of unhoused people holding steady, elected leaders celebrated. The news brought some relief after years of increases.
Lost amid the cheers were the much more dire numbers coming out of the Antelope Valley, where homelessness rose 42% in the last year alone.
Homelessness in L.A. County’s northern desert region has more than doubled since 2018, far outpacing other parts of the county.
What’s causing the increase? Service providers and housing advocates say this once-affordable oasis has itself become too expensive. Antelope Valley residents hanging onto cheap housing are now competing with an influx of people fleeing high rents in central L.A. County.
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In LA's inhospitable Antelope Valley, homelessness is on the rise
And in an area known for brutal summer heat, high winds and freezing winters, the vast majority of unhoused people in the Antelope Valley are unsheltered.
Eve Garrow, a policy analyst with the ACLU of Southern California who has studied homelessness in cities like Palmdale and Lancaster, as well as big unincorporated swaths of the Antelope Valley, said the main driver of homelessness here is no mystery.
“As rent becomes unaffordable, people are displaced,” Garrow said. “It's not rocket science.”
Drones: a new way to count the desert’s unhoused
Officials with the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) say this year’s dramatic increase may in part be the result of better data collection. This year, for the first time, they used drones to get a more precise count of unhoused people living way out in the Mojave Desert.
L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who represents the Antelope Valley, told LAist in an email she was unsure if the numbers “reflect a net increase or if LAHSA’s innovative use of drones did a better job of counting. Regardless, we will use those results to draw down more federal and state funding so that we can deliver more local housing and shelter options.”
Other local government leaders insist the numbers are going up because larger cities are pushing unhoused people beyond their borders and into Antelope Valley.
It's a common claim for local politicians to make, but homelessness policy experts argue that’s unlikely. They say unhoused people tend to live close to where they were last housed. And those who spoke to LAist about their experiences had largely been renting in the area for years before they fell into homelessness.
He lost a life partner. Then he lost his housing
Before he entered a shelter and got help securing the keys to his own apartment in a Lancaster senior living complex, Jerome Hall spent two years in a tent.
“It was just rough for me,” he said. “Lots of times, I just wanted to give up. But I knew it wasn't the right thing to do.”
Hall, 61 and living with schizophrenia, lost his housing after his wife of 33 years died.
“When I met my wife, she was somebody I was comfortable around,” Hall said. “I was able to share things with her. She was able to share things with me. When she passed away, it felt like there was nothing else to live for. So I was just out on the street.”
Jerome Hall holds the keys to his new apartment in Lancaster.
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Hall and his wife first came to Lancaster after getting priced out of the city of L.A. When they could no longer afford rent in South L.A., they packed up and moved to the San Fernando Valley.
“But then it started getting high,” Hall said. “So we decided to come out here where it was at least cheaper — something we could afford.”
Rent in Lancaster was cheaper. But the $1,200 monthly rent for a two-bedroom home still took more than half their income, considered a severe rent burden according to federal government standards.
After his wife died, Hall didn’t have enough Social Security disability income to cover the rent. His next move was to a vacant lot.
‘More affordable,’ but still out of reach for many
Luis Montes, the North County chief service officer for Mental Health America of Los Angeles, has been working in the Antelope Valley since 2010. He said Hall (who is now receiving services from Mental Health America of L.A.) has a story that’s become increasingly common.
“When I first moved out here, you could get an apartment for $600 or $700,” Montes said. “I don't think you can get anything under $2,000 now.”
Luis Montes sits at his desk in the Lancaster offices of Mental Health America of Los Angeles.
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The Antelope Valley has traditionally been a landing pad for people ejected from L.A. County’s pricier cities. But Montes says that landing pad is losing its cushion.
“Even though it's more affordable than the rest of the county, I don't think it's affordable at all,” he said.
Montes said his team is serving more parents with young kids. This year’s count shows that 18% of people experiencing homelessness in the Antelope Valley are part of a family with children, compared with 15% of unhoused people countywide.
Families struggle to find landlords willing to take them
Tammy, who did not want to use her full name due to privacy concerns, is currently living in a motel with her 18-year-old son.
She said they used to share a mobile home with her adult daughter. But after her daughter died, the property owner wanted the remaining tenants out, Tammy said. They hope to find permanent housing soon, but she knows her options are limited.
“They want you to have [an income of] three times the rent, good credit, no evictions,” Tammy said. “And if you don’t have all of that, you're not going to get in a place.”
Lancaster’s city hall sits a few blocks from the railroad tracks running through the Antelope Valley.
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People without housing in the Antelope Valley are also more likely to be unsheltered than their peers countywide. Living outside can be dangerous, even life-threatening, for the 83% of unhoused people living in tents, vehicles and other makeshift structures in a region where temperatures regularly climb above 100 degrees.
Unsheltered in an inhospitable landscape
Next to the train tracks running through Lancaster, dozens of people huddled inside their tents on a July afternoon, just trying to survive in 110-degree heat.
“I've always lived close to the train, but I never thought I’d live this close,” said Michael Vern Potts as a freight train rattled by, blaring its horn.
Potts grew up in Lancaster, but has been unhoused for the past 14 years. He said he tries to look out for people in the encampment, bringing them water or ice cream and seeing if they’re staying cool.
“See that gentleman passed out right over there?” Potts said, gesturing to a man slumped near a tent across the parking lot. “He’s been passed out for like two days. I wake him up like every four hours, check on him, make sure he's OK. Because I love the guy.”
Michael Vern Potts stands near his belongings, gathered under a tarp in the middle of an encampment in Lancaster.
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Residents of encampments like these say they spend much of their time collecting water to stay hydrated throughout the day.
People need at least four gallons of water per day in emergency situations, according to the World Health Organization. But unhoused people in the Antelope Valley often lack easy access to running water — especially those living in broken-down RVs parked on desert scrubland.
Pushed beyond city limits
A 2021 report from the ACLU of Southern California found that policies to discourage encampments in the city of Lancaster have effectively “banished” people to unincorporated parts of the county. Once they relocate to these far-flung areas, unhoused people have to travel miles to replenish their water supplies, a trek that can cause heat stroke for those without a vehicle.
Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris, a Republican serving his sixth term in office, is unapologetic about his efforts to push people outside city limits.
“People who need help and want help, I want to help,” Parris said. “People who want to steal and rob and intimidate people into giving them money, I want to remove. And that's what we're doing.”
Parris believes bigger cities are “sending” their unhoused to the Antelope Valley, which he says receives far fewer resources to address homelessness than other parts of L.A. County. In reaction, he said in an interview with LAist that city officials are “going to start issuing gun permits at a rapid rate with priority for women.”
And it’s not the first time he’s encouraged Lancaster residents to arm themselves against what he describes as an “influx of thugs and drug addicts that we protect because they're homeless.”
Surveys show most unhoused people in the Antelope Valley do not have substance use disorders or serious mental illnesses. Almost half are women, a much higher percentage than in the county as a whole.
Clusters of RVs spread out in the Mojave Desert, where unhoused people lack access to electricity lines and running water.
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Few options for those left out of a hot housing market
Eve Garrow, the author of the ACLU report, said the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in City of Grants Pass v. Johnson gives cities like Lancaster more leeway to punish unhoused people.
“It gives local governments an additional tool in their tool belt with which to continue to harass unsheltered people,” Garrow said, “instead of providing them with the life-saving resources — including permanent supportive housing — they are going to require to get off the streets.”
Garrow said with lotteries for vouchers and years-long waitlists, subsidized housing isn’t available for most who need it. And local governments haven’t done much to increase the supply of affordable housing.
In the last six years, the Antelope Valley has only created about 300 permanent supportive housing units. Garrow says that’s nowhere near enough for the 6,672 people who lack housing in these often overlooked margins of L.A. County.
If you care about housing affordability
For people who live in L.A. County, the Board of Supervisors has the most direct impact on housing affordability in your neighborhood.
The best way to keep tabs on your own local government is by attending public meetings for your city council or local boards. Here are a few tips to get you started.
Find meeting schedules and agendas: City councils usually meet at least twice a month, although larger ones may meet weekly. Committees and boards tend to meet less often, typically once a month. You can find the schedule and meeting agenda on your local government’s website, or posted physically at your local city hall. Find more tips here.
Learn the jargon: Closed session, consent calendars and more! We have definitions for commonly used terms here.
How to give public comment: Every public meeting allows community members to give comment, whether or not it’s about something on the agenda. The meeting agenda will have specific instructions for giving public comment. Review more details here.
Federal changes may cause drastic drop in coverage
Aaron Schrank
has been on the ground, reporting on homelessness and other issues in L.A. for more than a decade.
Published May 4, 2026 4:58 PM
County officials estimate that recent Medi-Cal changes could put coverage at risk for hundreds of thousands of residents.
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Topline:
The number of Californians without health insurance could double from 2 million today to 4 million by 2030, according to a report from the Legislative Analyst's Office. It’s the state budget office’s preliminary attempt to quantify how federal legislation known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill” will reshape healthcare access statewide.
Losing coverage: The One Big Beautiful Bill is driving nearly 90% of the projected coverage loss, according to the LAO report. It's mostly Medi-Cal enrollees who are expected to be dropped when new work requirements take effect in 2027. The remaining 10% are largely people leaving the state's health insurance marketplace, Covered California, after enhanced federal premium subsidies expired last year.
L.A. County impact: County officials estimate that recent Medi-Cal changes could put coverage at risk for hundreds of thousands of residents and cost the county’s health departments about $800 million a year. A U.C. Berkeley Labor Center analysis projected more than 1 million Medi-Cal enrollees could lose coverage by 2028.
Why it matters: More uninsured people means hospitals and clinics provide more services without getting paid. The LAO projects that uncompensated care costs at hospitals could grow by several billion dollars statewide by 2030. Clinics face steeper losses because they run on smaller budgets and depend more heavily on Medi-Cal revenue. The LAO also projects premiums on the individual health insurance market will rise as healthier people drop coverage.
What's being proposed: The LAO itself doesn’t recommend new spending and instead urges lawmakers to track what happens to hospitals, clinics and county programs before taking action. But both L.A. County and state officials are pushing tax efforts to combat federal cuts. LA County voters will decide June 2 onMeasure ER, a half-cent sales tax that would generate about $1 billion a year for hospitals and clinics. ANovember statewide ballot initiative would impose a one-time 5% tax on Californians worth over $1 billion and direct 90% of proceeds to Medi-Cal.
The number of Californians without health insurance could double from 2 million today to 4 million by 2030, according to a report from the state Legislative Analyst's Office. It’s the state budget office’s preliminary attempt to quantify how federal legislation known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill” will reshape healthcare access statewide.
The One Big Beautiful Bill is driving nearly 90% of the projected coverage loss, according to the LAO report. It's mostly Medi-Cal enrollees who are expected to be dropped when new work requirements take effect in 2027. The remaining 10% are largely people leaving the state's health insurance marketplace, Covered California, after enhanced federal premium subsidies expired last year.
What's the impact to coverage?
L.A. County officials estimate that recent Medi-Cal changes could put coverage at risk for hundreds of thousands of residents and cost the health departments about $800 million a year. A UC Berkeley Labor Center analysis projected more than 1 million Medi-Cal enrollees could lose coverage by 2028.
The LAO report also warns that county indigent health programs for uninsured residents will soon face a surge in demand they’re not prepared to meet. Those county programs had enrolled about 850,000 people statewide before the federal government expanded Medicaid coverage in 2014. Total enrollment is currently 10,000 statewide, but the trend is going to reverse, according to the report.
What's the impact to health-care providers?
More uninsured people means hospitals and clinics provide more services without getting paid. The LAO projects that uncompensated care costs at hospitals could grow by several billion dollars statewide by 2030. Clinics face steeper losses because they run on smaller budgets and depend more heavily on Medi-Cal revenue.
The LAO also projects premiums on the individual health insurance market will rise as healthier people drop coverage.
What are proposals to help?
The LAO itself doesn’t recommend new spending and instead urges lawmakers to track what happens to hospitals, clinics and county programs before taking action. But both L.A. County and state officials are pushing tax efforts to combat federal cuts.
L.A. County voters will decide June 2 on Measure ER, a half-cent sales tax that would generate about $1 billion a year for hospitals and clinics. ANovember statewide ballot initiative would impose a one-time 5% tax on Californians worth over $1 billion and direct 90% of proceeds to Medi-Cal.
California says insurer mishandled wildfire claims
Erin Stone
covers climate and environmental issues in Southern California.
Published May 4, 2026 4:40 PM
An insurance office burned by the Eaton Fire in Altadena.
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Kevin Tidmarsh
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Topline:
California regulators say State Farm has illegally delayed, underpaid and denied claims from policyholders affected by the 2025 L.A. fires — something fire survivors have said for months.
The investigation: The state analyzed 220 randomly selected claims filed in response to last year’s fires and found hundreds of violations by State Farm in more than half them — what state attorneys dubbed a “troubling pattern” in their filing.
The insurer's response: State Farm denied the allegations and called them politically motivated.
Read on ... for more on the state's action against its largest home insurer.
California regulators say State Farm has illegally delayed, underpaid and denied claims from policyholders affected by the 2025 L.A. fires — something fire survivors have said for months.
The California Department of Insurance announced Monday that it has taken the first step in the process to bring the allegations to a public hearing before an administrative judge. That could result in the state’s largest home insurer paying up to about $4 million in penalties, and suspension of its license for up to a year, meaning it could not write new policies in California during that time.
“Our investigation found that State Farm delayed, underpaid, and buried policyholders in red tape at the worst moment of their lives,” state Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara said in a statement.
The state analyzed 220 randomly selected claims — out of more than 11,000 filed with State Farm in response to last year’s fires — and found hundreds of violations in more than half them. Attorneys for the state called it a “troubling pattern” in their filing.
State Farm denied the allegations and called the state’s move “politically motivated” in a lengthy statement posted to its website.
Every Fire Survivors Network, a coalition representing thousands of L.A. fire survivors, pressured the state for months to investigate State Farm’s handling of wildfire claims.
Joy Chen, who co-founded the group after her home was damaged in the Eaton Fire, said the state’s action is far from enough.
“It’s just very disappointing to see our regulator issue a report that shows his own failures over the last 16 months,” she told LAist.
Only a few dozen homes have been rebuilt so far in both Altadena and Pacific Palisades since the fires destroyed more than 16,000 buildings, mostly homes, in those communities and nearby areas.
A survey by the nonprofit Department of Angels last year found that nearly three-quarters of L.A. fire survivors reported delays, denials and low payouts of their claims across all insurers.
“What we need is for all State Farm contracts to be enforced so that Los Angeles families can have the money that we need to move forward with getting back home,” Chen said.
The state’s alleged violations carry a fine of up to $5,000, and up to $10,000 if the violations are found to be willful. The case will be heard by a state administrative law judge, who will provide a recommendation to Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara on a possible penalty.
The Insurance Department said people with homeowners policies from any insurer can report problems with their claims at insurance.ca.gov or by calling (800) 927-4357.
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Adolfo Guzman-Lopez
is an arts and general assignment reporter on LAist's Explore LA team.
Published May 4, 2026 3:15 PM
The FIFA World Cup trophy is displayed during the official draw ceremony held at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. on Dec. 5, 2025.
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Details are out for FIFA’s World Cup Fan Zone parties in LA County in June and July. Watch tournament matches at ten locations from Venice Beach to Pomona, from free to $$$ with food, drink, and big screens.
Why it matters: The FIFA Fan Zones offer people an opportunity to get a taste of the tournament while not breaking the bank to pay for tickets.
The locations: The Original Farmers Market in L.A., June 18-21; The City of Downey, June 20; LA Union Station, June 25-28; Hansen Dam Lake, July 2-5; Magic Johnson Park, July 4-5; Whittier Narrows, July 9-11; Venice Beach, July 11; The Fairplex, July 14-15, July 18-19; West Harbor, July 14-15, July 18-19; Downtown Burbank, July 18-19
Some are free: The Fan Zones in the city of Downey, Union Station L.A., “Magic” Johnson Park, and Whittier Narrows are free of charge.
Yes, you could put a screen in your backyard and call up your friends to watch a particularly compelling World Cup game after the tournament begins June 12.
But FIFA is turning each game into a public celebration, sponsoring 10 outdoor Fan Zone watch parties with large viewing screens across L.A. County through the final on July 19.
Details were released on Monday, including locations, dates and prices.
The Fan Zones open in a staggered schedule from one day to four days each, starting with the Original Farmers Market on June 18 - 21, and then popping up across the region until the glorious end on July 19 in downtown Burbank.
Fan Zones across L.A. County:
The Original Farmers Market in L.A., June 18-21 The City of Downey, June 20 LA Union Station, June 25-28 Hansen Dam Lake, July 2-5 "Magic" Johnson Park, July 4-5 Whittier Narrows, July 9-11 Venice Beach, July 11 The Fairplex, July 14-15, July 18-19 West Harbor, July 14-15, July 18-19 Downtown Burbank, July 18-19
Ticket prices range from free (City of Downey, Union Station L.A., “Magic” Johnson Park, Whittier Narrows) to over $300 for a VIP experience with a viewing lounge and a concert at the downtown Burbank Fan Zone on the day of the World Cup final match on July 19.
Fan Zone kick off
At the first Fan Zone, at The Original Farmers Market from June 18 for four days, entry will cost you $5 per day or $17 for all four days. Kids age 3 and under are free. (FIFA says the zones are family friendly).
You’ll be able to see four matches there each of the four days, including Mexico vs. South Korea on June 18 at 6 p.m. and USA vs. Australia on June 19 at noon.
FIFA World Cup 2026 scarves are displayed during the ribbon cutting for the LAX/Metro Transit Center rail and bus public transportation station at LAX on June 6, 2025.
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You won’t have to squint to find your favorite player or catch the goals. The Farmer’s Market will include a 30-foot viewing screen as well as a 15-foot secondary screen to watch the games. There will be beer gardens, and you can purchase food from the Market's dozens of establishments.
Other Fan Zones
The West Harbor L.A. Fan Zone will give people an opportunity to experience the newest major development along the San Pedro waterfront, a 42-acre waterfront district that’s been years in the making.
The Union Station L.A. Fan Zone on June 25 is free and includes match viewing, music, food, and immersive fan experiences, featuring live DJs.
The final Fan Zone opens July 18 and 19 in downtown Burbank for the World Cup’s last two matches. FIFA says it’ll include “an adjacent international street fair filled with global flavors and cultural experiences.” Tickets range from $25 to over $300
This of course, isn’t the only opportunity to watch World Cup matches with groups of people in SoCal. The city of L.A. will host its own watch parties.
Many college campuses either don’t track their populations of rural students.
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Up against a massive court backlog that can drag their cases for years, asylum seekers face steep costs when pursuing their dreams of college in California.
Facing a double blow: Asylum-seeking students in California often face a double blow: they are charged higher tuition for nonresidents and excluded from most financial aid. For students and their families, this can mean thousands of dollars paid out of pocket and years of financial stress as their immigration cases remain unresolved. Before establishing residency, asylum-seeking students are charged non-resident rates, which are about three times what state residents pay for public universities and roughly eight to 13 times more for community colleges, depending on the district.
Policy changes stoke uncertainty: As of February 2026, a little over 2.3 million immigrants are awaiting asylum hearings nationwide, according to Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, which tracks federal activity. The most recent data shows California alone had about 169,000 pending asylum cases in its immigration courts by the end of 2023 — the second-largest backlog of any state. The average wait for an asylum hearing in California was 1,412 days at that time. The Trump administration paused asylum cases in November, creating even further delays. The administration has now allowed cases to resume for applicants from all but 40 countries.
Up against a massive court backlog that can drag their cases for years, asylum seekers face steep costs when pursuing their dreams of college in California.
Asylum-seeking students in California often face a double blow: they are charged higher tuition for nonresidents and excluded from most financial aid. For students and their families, this can mean thousands of dollars paid out of pocket and years of financial stress as their immigration cases remain unresolved.
Before establishing residency, asylum-seeking students are charged non-resident rates, which are about three times what state residents pay for public universities and roughly eight to 13 times more for community colleges, depending on the district.
All asylum seekers are disqualified from federal financial aid. The few who qualify for California’s state aid may never know their options, or face hurdles in obtaining it due to a patchwork of financial aid processes.
The state’s higher education systems are not mandated to track asylum seekers, making state budget impacts nearly unquantifiable during legislative attempts to expand financial aid eligibility.
“I only see them struggling,” said Eric Cline, social services program director at OASIS Legal Services, which supports LGBTQ+ asylum seekers across the Bay Area and Central Valley. “I’m always surprised (when) a few clients tell me 'I just graduated from college.’ I think, ‘Wow, how did that happen?’”
Policy changes stoke uncertainty for asylum seekers
Asylum seeking is one of the least-protected immigration statuses in the U.S. Asylum seekers, who’ve fled their home countries fearing persecution and are asking the U.S. for protection, differ from refugees, whose status is granted before they enter the country. Asylum seekers apply upon arriving in the U.S.
Applicants can stay as their cases remain pending for years, though experts say the Trump administration is expediting deportations for numerous asylum seekers and ending cases before they can receive a full hearing.
As of February 2026, a little over 2.3 million immigrants are awaiting asylum hearings nationwide, according to Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, which tracks federal activity. The most recent data shows California alone had about 169,000 pending asylum cases in its immigration courts by the end of 2023 — the second-largest backlog of any state. The average wait for an asylum hearing in California was 1,412 days at that time.
The Trump administration paused asylum cases in November, creating even further delays. The administration has now allowed cases to resume for applicants from all but 40 countries. In the San Francisco immigration court system, which is popular among asylum seekers due to higher acceptance rates, a combination of firings by the Trump administration, retirements and relocations whittled the 21 immigration judges to two, according to reporting in Mission Local. Left behind is a caseload of nearly 119,000 immigration cases, the highest of any immigration court in California.
President Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” also established new fees for asylum seekers, placing additional pressure on an already low-income population. Applicants must now pay an initial $100 application fee plus $100 per year while their case is pending, $550 for a work permit, and $745 each year to renew the permit. In addition, a new rule proposed by the Department of Homeland Security would effectively end the ability of asylum seekers to obtain work permits at all.
Royce Hall on the UCLA campus
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As they await a decision, asylum seekers are excluded from federal aid and some state financial aid programs, including Cal Grants under California law.
For one asylum seeker, Carol, being ineligible for financial aid meant she had to take time off from school to work to make ends meet. CalMatters is not using her full name because she fears speaking publicly may jeopardize her asylum case.
Carol did speak before the Assembly Higher Education Committee in 2023 urging lawmakers to pass AB 888, which would have expanded Cal Grant eligibility to certain asylum seekers. The bill ultimately did not pass.
She said she arrived in the United States at 17 and had spent more than six years waiting for her case to move through immigration courts, a period during which she said she was ineligible for financial aid.
“I’ve had to delay my educational journey several times, including going part-time and even taking a semester off from school to work,” Carol told lawmakers.
Without access to aid, she said she experienced homelessness, couch surfing and at one point slept on a mattress topper on a hardwood floor because she could not afford a bed. She worked multiple jobs at a time, skipped meals and attended class without the required course materials.
Her story, she said, was not new. Carol told the committee that four years earlier her brother had testified with a nearly identical experience on behalf of a previous bill that was ultimately vetoed, a cycle she argued could have been prevented.
“Had California taken action then, I wouldn’t have had to face the harrowing experiences that I shared with you today,” she said.
Despite the barriers, Carol graduated from Cal State Long Beach and worked as a caseworker with the International Rescue Committee, helping resettle refugees and asylum seekers. She told lawmakers she hopes to pursue a law degree and become an international human rights attorney.
The narrow path to college aid for asylum-seeking students
Many asylum seekers arrive eager to continue studies they began abroad, but quickly run into what Cline calls “a brick wall."
“All of our clients are low-income … they’re almost never eligible for generalized financial aid,” he said. “When you take away the financial aid aspect, it makes (college) pretty inaccessible.”
For California residents, annual undergraduate tuition is $15,588 at the University of California, $6,838 at the California State University and about $1,380 for 30 units at a community college. Students classified as non-residents — including some asylum seekers before establishing residency — can pay $54,858 at a University of California, about $20,968 at a Cal State before campus-based fees, and roughly $10,140 to $13,560 for 30 units at a community college, depending on the district. These figures do not include campus-based fees, housing or living expenses.
Even when students do manage to establish residency, the cost is still steep. For the many asylum seekers who arrive in the United States as adults, they may not have attended a California school previously, barring them from qualifying for state financial aid.
AB 540, the 2001 law that exempts undocumented students from paying non-resident tuition, only applies if the student attended a California high school or community college for three years.
Those who qualify through AB 540 can fill out the California Dream Act Application for state financial aid, such as Cal Grants, university system-specific grants, state loans, and the state’s middle class scholarship.
The application process can still be confusing for asylum seekers whose status is not fully accounted for in the design of the application. For example, asylum seekers often have Social Security numbers for work authorization, but affirming so while answering the financial aid pre-screening questions leads to undetermined eligibility because the questions don’t take into account the nuances of applying as an asylum seeker.
Stickers and flyers on a table in the Undocumented Community Center at the College of San Mateo in San Mateo, on Nov. 28, 2023. At this center, undocumented students can access financial and legal aid as well as guidance in navigating grant applications.
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Asylum seekers often require extra help from financial aid counselors, but even counselors may not know how to help navigate eligibility rules. Students often wind up seeking help from undocumented student resource centers on public campuses, which are designed to help students who lack legal residency and those from mixed-status families find aid and academic support.
Kaveena Singh, the director of immigration legal services at the East Bay Sanctuary Covenant, which provides legal services to low-income immigrants, noted that she herself has written letters to financial aid offices to help explain the in-between nature of the few asylum-seeking students she has served.
As an asylum-seeking student in his mid-20s, L. ended up qualifying for state financial aid through AB 540. However, he misunderstood for six years exactly what aid he qualified for. L. wished to withhold his name and the names of the institutions he’s attended for fear of negative impacts on his pending asylum case.
Initially, community college didn’t cost him anything — but when he transferred to a large four-year university, the cost of college soared. He went to his university's financial aid office for help so often that all the staff there knew his name. It was a "big relief” when he was finally able to successfully fill out the California Dream Act Application, and obtain financial aid for his summer and fall quarters.
L.'s asylum case has been pending for nine years. He, his dad, mom and younger brother arrived in the United States in the winter of 2016, claiming asylum under fear of political retribution. His father organized political assemblies in China, and his mother was forced to have an abortion under the one-child policy.
“I just wish I could go home and visit family and friends and catch up for a good few weeks in the summer here and there to reconnect with my past,” L. said. “It's like there's two separate lives, like two entities being artificially cut.”
L. worked throughout high school and college, and worried about affording school.
Most days, the combination of family trauma and the limbo of waiting for his case means L. survives through “constant compartmentalization.”
In the meantime, he tries to carry on — he studies politics, and is interested in international relations and human rights.
"As rough as all that's happened, the silver lining is that one day hopefully I get a passport and a green card," L. said. "To help other people avoid such a hassle will be just as fulfilling for me."
Previous legislative efforts have failed
Legislative bills to extend state financial aid eligibility to asylum-seeking students have been introduced at least twice in recent years but have failed.
One attempt came in 2019, when Sen. Ben Allen, a Democrat from El Segundo, introduced SB 296, a bill that would have extended Cal Grant eligibility to students with pending asylum applications. The measure passed the Legislature with some bipartisan support, but was vetoed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, who said that it would "impose costs on the General Fund that must be weighed in the annual budget process."
“That was frustrating, but I understood it,” Allen told CalMatters. “The real issue is that we don’t have good data. Our schools don’t track asylum seekers, so we can’t easily calculate the cost.”
UC data on asylum-seeking students is protected due to privacy policies, according to Stett Holbrook, a UC spokesperson. The Cal State system reports it has less than 500 students with "asylum status," which includes both those who have an asylum granted and asylum seekers, according to Cal State spokesperson Amy Bentley-Smith. The numbers are self-reported during the admissions process.
In spring 2025, 13,507 students self-identified as “refugee/asylee” across the California Community Colleges — up from 11,537 the prior semester — per the CCC DataMart. The data does not include a category for just asylum seekers. Students can self-identify their immigration status while applying, but asylum seekers are not specifically tracked, according to the college system’s spokesperson Melissa Villarin.
Four years after SB 296 failed, Democrat Sabrina Cervantes — then representing Riverside in the Assembly and now as a state senator — revived the proposal through AB 888, introduced in 2023. Like Allen’s earlier bill, AB 888 sought to make Cal Grants accessible to students with pending asylum applications by creating a direct eligibility pathway outside the AB 540 residency requirements. The bill passed the Assembly unanimously but was held in the Senate Appropriations Committee last September, effectively ending its chances for the year.
Cervantes declined an interview with CalMatters. “My Assembly Bill 888 would have created a new pathway for pending asylum seekers in California to apply for Cal Grant financial aid in pursuit of their higher education,” Cervantes wrote in a statement.
Newsom’s office declined to say whether he would support a future version of the proposal, pointing instead to his brief 2019 veto message.
“There’s nervousness around anything that involves new expenses," Allen said. “... We’re going to have to spend some time seeing what information we can get with regards to better data to get better estimated costs. I think that will help to better inform the conversation."
Andrea Baltodano and Chrissa Olson are contributors with the College Journalism Network, a collaboration between CalMatters and student journalists from across California. CalMatters higher education coverage is supported by a grant from the College Futures Foundation.
