Bee, Inside Higher Ed Quote Professor Johnson on Decline in Undocumented Student Enrollment

A new study by Professor Kevin R. Johnson and UCLA Civil Rights Project Research Associate William Kidder found enrollment of low-income, undocumented students declined by half at University of California and California State University campuses from 2016 through the 2022-23 academic year.

The paper, “‘California Dreamin’: DACA’s Decline and Undocumented College Student Enrollment in the Golden State” is believed to be the first to report on data collected during an era marked by increasing limitations on DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.

Media outlets reported on the findings including the Sacramento Bee, KQED News and Capital Public Radio. Johnson also spoke to Inside Higher Ed about the study.

Kevin R. Johnson is a distinguished professor of law, Mabie-Apallas Professor of Public Interest Law, and Martin Luther King Jr. Professor of Law. Johnson also has an appointment as professor of Chicana/o studies at UC Davis. He served as dean of UC Davis Law from 2008 to 2024. Johnson is an internationally recognized scholar in the fields of immigration law and policy, refugee law, and civil rights.