Pasadena City College Hiring ‘Undocumented Student Success Specialist’

Pasadena City College‘s Division of Equity, is hiring an Undocumented Student Success Specialist, a Diversity & Justice position, and “provides tailored student success services for undocumented students to ensure enrollment, retention, and academic and career success,” according to the job listing, College Fix first reported.

Pasadena City College is advertising they will facilitate enrollment for illegal immigrant students, and are looking to pay $75,171.36 to $82,876.44 annually for the position – which is a violation of federal law.

Specifically, Pasadena City College’s “Dream Resource Center” serves the needs of undocumented students under the Division of Equity, Diversity & Justice. This is “for undocumented students to ensure enrollment, retention, and academic and career success, and creates, implements, and (co)-leads initiatives for undocumented students that focus on academic success, holistic well-being, inclusion, and completion/graduation.”

Do legal citizen students at Pasadena City College receive services “to ensure enrollment, retention, and academic and career success, and creates, implements, and (co)-leads initiatives for undocumented students that focus on academic success, holistic well-being, inclusion, and completion/graduation?”

The Pasadena City College “Division of Institutional Equity, Diversity and Justice plans, leads and implements, in collaboration with College partners, institutional initiatives to advance diversity, equity and inclusion throughout all areas of Pasadena City College. Realizing our commitment to creating an anti-racist and anti-colonial institution, we work collaboratively with students, staff and faculty to lead change in dismantling systemic racism consistent with the values of PCC.”

In March 2025, the U.S. Department of Education revoked waivers to California and Oregon colleges and universities that were using federal funds to provide services to illegal aliens under the Performance Partnership Pilots for Disconnected Youth.

“The purpose of the Performance Partnership Pilots Program is to allow states and localities to integrate program funding across federal agencies to improve the systems serving disconnected youth, not provide entitlements to illegal immigrants.”

Non-citizens are not eligible for federal financial aid. Period. However, in 2022 the Biden Department of Education granted California special permission to enroll them in TRIO programs’ academic services through September 2026.

The Trump administration revoked that illegal policy.

In November 2025, the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against California over providing in-state college tuition to illegal immigrants. The DOJ said it is unconstitutional for illegal immigrants to access in-state tuition, scholarships and subsidized loans, which are supposed to be exclusively for U.S. citizens. The DOJ said in providing in-state tuition to illegal immigrants, California is illegally discriminating against American students and families by offering exclusive tuition benefits for non-citizens.

In February 2026, the California Department of Education published information and listed resources for illegal immigrants to access college education “during times of increased fear of immigration enforcement.” The CDE published, “Our Schools: Resources for Including Immigrant Families,” and says it is a “family-facing toolkit to communicate assurance of all schools’ obligation to provide every child with access to education and a safe learning environment, regardless of immigration status.”

And yet, Pasadena City College’s Division of Equity, is hiring an Undocumented Student Success Specialist, “a grant-funded position.”

What grant? Is this for “undocumented residents?”

At Pasadena.edu, this is the grant information:

California College Promise Grant 

“This program will waive your enrollment fees if you are a qualifying California resident. The California College Promise Grant waives enrollment fees for students who are California residents and who qualify by meeting certain income requirements or other eligibility requirements outlined on the application.”

To qualify for the CCPG, you must be a California Resident and meet one of the following criteria:

• You or your family are receiving public assistance from Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), or General Assistance.
• You have certification from the California Department of Veterans’ Affairs or the National Guard Adjutant General for a dependent’s fee waiver.
• You are a dependent of or a recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor.
• You are a dependent of a victim of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack.
• You meet qualifying income and family size requirements.

The only real qualification is being a “California resident.”

Ironically, “Successful applicants must provide proof of eligibility to work in the United States;” and “Successful completion of background check including Live Scan and Tuberculosis (TB) assessment/screening; and “Pasadena Area Community College District will not sponsor any visa applications.”

As the College Fix reported:

The programs represent a “misprioritization of resources” as American families struggle with the rising costs of higher education,” according to Ira Mehlman with the Federation for American Immigration Reform.

“In FAIR’s view no public funding for higher education should be allocated for illegal aliens and that is especially true with regard to programs created for the specific purpose of assisting illegal aliens,” Mehlman said.

Mehlman said for low-income and middle-class families, sending a child to college is a “significant financial burden” that often results in “significant debt.”

“The financial aid that California provides to illegal aliens should be redirected toward meeting the needs of American students who are struggling to attend college,” Mehlman told The Fix.

Here is the entire job description:

Undocumented Student Success Specialist

Pasadena City College

Salary: $75,171.36 – $82,876.44 AnnuallyCFT-50

Job Type: Full-Time

Job Number: 09836

Location: Pasadena, CA

Department: Institutional Equity, Diversity & Justice

Closing: 3/19/2026 11:59 PM Pacific

This is a grant-funded position.

Renewal is on an annual basis, however, is not guaranteed.

The Dream Resource Center primarily serves the needs of undocumented students under the Division of Equity, Diversity & Justice. Under general supervision, the Undocumented Student Success Specialist provides tailored student success services for undocumented students to ensure enrollment, retention, and academic and career success, and creates, implements, and (co)-leads initiatives for undocumented students that focus on academic success, holistic well-being, inclusion, and completion/graduation. These initiatives include but are not limited to coordinating academic and co-curricular services, creating and implementing workshops, trainings, and events, tracking data, and evaluating efficacy of initiatives geared toward the success of undocumented students across the District’s campuses.

EXAMPLES OF DUTIES:

1. Supports student outreach, recruitment, career, retention, completion, and transfer efforts, in collaboration with other campus partners, with a special focus on undocumented students.
2. Connects undocumented students to appropriate programs and services both on campus and off-campus to best assist them with issues affecting their retention, success, basic needs, safety, and wellbeing.
3. Monitors equity-focused undocumented student involvement in on-campus support resources, including academic counseling, development of student educational plans, support services related to financial aid, scholarships, internships, transfer, including completion of transfer admission guarantees, and other campus services through a case management model.
4. Develops events and services for the Dream Resource Center to support the educational experience of undocumented students in collaboration with staff and faculty, including overseeing logistics and scheduling.
5. Monitors responses and supports for undocumented-identified students Early Alerts submitted by faculty and staff through the establishment of goals centered in equity to promote success.
6. Implements the operations of the Dream Resource Center, including front-desk coverage, event calendar management and scheduling.
7. Collaborates with academic and career counselors, success coaches, instructional/non-instructional faculty, staff, instructional aids, tutors, and managers to identify potential barriers to undocumented student persistence and develops culturally responsive strategies to address these barriers.
8. Collaborate with retention specialists and success coaches to coordinate and align Dream Resource and retention efforts with District-wide retention efforts.
9. Prepares and provides educational workshops and trainings for students, staff, and faculty, on topics related to inclusion, student experience, strengths of undocumented students, best practices, and services available for students through the Center which may include work after hours and on weekends.
10. Leads, mentors, and evaluates performance for student interns/workers and volunteers from a strengths-based perspective, related to their program or projects, particularly those focused on Undocumented student programs and services.
11. Help identify and monitor progress on student-directed and student-driven goals that support self-sufficiency.
12. Utilizing data, develop reports to assist the supervising manager with assessing/evaluating the programs, services, and retention efforts of the Student Success Center, including program review, annual planning and development of student learning outcomes.
13. Identifies goals of the Dream Resource Center and resources necessary to assist the supervising manager to meet the changing needs of undocumented students.
14. Monitors the Center budget to assist the supervising manager in budget administration, including requisitions, documentation, and databases.
15. Assist in the development of culturally appropriate marketing and publicity materials such as flyers, emails, newsletters, posters, presentations, brochures, videos, websites, and social media platforms.
16. Performs related duties as assigned.

PASADENA AREA COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT
Equal Opportunity, Title IX, Section 504 Employer

To apply, please visit https://www.schooljobs.com/careers/pasadenaedu/classified/jobs/5243784/undocumented-student-success-specialist