With the "mass revocation" of international student visas nationwide since April, local activists raised concerns about how California law AB91 might be impacted.
At the end of April, the federal government began reversing the termination of legal status for some of those students after many filed legal challenges against the Trump administration. However, it’s unclear if the reversals are temporary or why some students have had their visas reinstated while others have not.
Why it matters
State law AB91 went into effect fall of 2024, allowing low-income Mexican and U.S. citizens living in the Baja California border region to pay in-state tuition at community colleges in San Diego and Imperial County, as if they were California residents.
For example, the state tuition at Southwestern College is $552 per semester for residents, compared to over $5,000 per semester for nonresidents.
Closer look
Mitzi Salgado, CEO and founder of the Transfronterizo Institute, expressed concern because the state law AB91 relies on a functional federal immigration and visa system. Salgado said the breakdown of this system with mass visa revocations creates uncertainty and affects students' decisions about studying in the U.S., and it's unclear how community colleges might respond.
“If community colleges start to resist or have doubts about implementing the law because of what's happening with the F-1 and F-2 visas, I fear it will have consequences for students who want to study in the U.S. and who are in Tijuana,” Salgado said.
KPBS emailed Joel Pilco, Director of Binational and International Programs at Southwestern College, asking if there were any concerns about a possible impact on students under AB91. Pilco replied saying that no AB91 student with an F-1 visa has been impacted so far.
Jack Beresford, vice chancellor of Marketing, Communications and Public Affairs for the San Diego Community College District, said via email that no community college student has lost their F-1 visa.
Southwestern College recently organized a Zoom session to be conducted by Higher Education Legal Services to inform binational students and parents about their rights and how to act if detained by the Border Patrol (CBP). However, the session was canceled.
KPBS reached out to Pilco again for more details, but there was no response.
A student from Tijuana under AB91 at Southwestern College with an F-1 Visa, who preferred not to use her name for safety reasons, shared with KPBS that she hasn't had any issues crossing the border to attend school and has no concerns about it.
"Only one CBP officer told me I needed to show the paper when I cross, and I've been doing that. But they haven't asked me anything else; I just keep the SEVIS handy."
SEVIS refers to the identification number for the F-1 student visa.
By the numbers
- AB91 benefits hundreds of nonresident students, including around 100 at Southwestern College.
- A total of more than 4,700 university students in the United States have lost their visas or legal status in the past spring.
- By the end of April, San Diego State University and UC San Diego confirmed that each university still had at least one student with a revoked visa.
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