In 1994, California was in the throes of an economic recession, its unemployment rate increasing rapidly as it continued to bleed jobs in once flourishing industries. At the same time, it had the largest population of undocumented residents of any state in the country, already up to 1.3 million and getting larger.
Author Archives: Natalie Delgadillo
The Human Cost
Alma Alvarado was home alone when she found out she got into UCLA. She was living in a small apartment in Planada, California, just outside Merced. She was often there by herself, because her older brother, the only other member of her household, worked long hours. On this day, she sat alone at home again, and opened her laptop with her heart in her throat.
A Patchwork of Policy
“My family came here in pieces.” Valerie* sits at a table on the Kerckhoff patio, folding and refolding the napkin she had just used for lunch. When she is not moving her hands, she holds them carefully, flat on the tabletop and very still. She is calm but guarded, seeming to carefully consider her words. […]
A Paper Trail
Reporter Natalie Delgadillo, opinion columnist Ryan Nelson and photojournalist Angie Wang spent eleven months piecing together the full picture of what it means to be an undocumented student in the United States, from California, where policies are comparatively lenient, to Georgia, where students are subject to some of the harshest higher education policies in the […]
Natalie Delgadillo: Writing for more than myself
I didn’t think it would be hard to write this column. Maybe that’s odd. Writing something that accurately captures what I’ve learned during my time writing for the Daily Bruin – that explains what it feels like to be here, right now, standing with one foot inside Kerckhoff 118 and the other out – probably […]
Submission: UC must protect Jewish students, combat anti-Semitism
Dear President Napolitano and the University of California Board of Regents, We are 521 University of California alumni who are deeply concerned about the safety of Jewish students at our alma mater. We heartily commend the UC Berkeley, UCLA and UC Santa Barbara student senates for responding to the alarming escalation of anti-Semitic activity on […]
Alumna finds support in UCLA community, advocates for mother’s return
Barbara Sahagun’s mother left for Guatemala on April 23 expecting to be back no more than a week later, finally a legal permanent resident of the United States. The family said goodbye and planned for a speedy reunion with plenty of time left to see one another by Mother’s Day. But after Maria Elena Villanueva […]