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USA Today
13-07-2025
- Business
- USA Today
Will Trump's new spending law make college tuition more expensive?
Lending caps and Medicaid cuts in the new reconciliation law will likely raise costs for students nationwide, experts say. WASHINGTON – Vashti Trujillo was hoping to get a master's degree. But she's worried that President Donald Trump just put it out of reach. The president's massive tax and spending law is set to slash the federal student loan programs the 21-year-old junior at Colorado State University Pueblo would likely need to pay for one. Education experts also predict the legislation will put strains on the budgets of many public universities like the one Trujillo attends. That's because the law may push state legislatures to reroute funds from higher education to safety-net programs, such as Medicaid, which the spending law cuts changes could ultimately raise tuition prices for students like Trujillo – or force them to put plans for graduate school on hold to help support family members who've lost their health care. "This bill is attacking all angles of a student's life," she said. Trujillo, who is double majoring in mechatronics engineering and data analytics, is among many U.S. college students wondering whether Trump's first signature legislative achievement in his second term may raise costs for them. The unease isn't just hitting students; it's omnipresent for college administrators. Federal funding is dwindling. The supply of tuition-paying students is starting what will be a protracted decline. And the Trump administration's immigration enforcement policies have shaken the college-going prospects of international students, a population many U.S. universities need to survive. Read more: International college students bring billions to the U.S. Here's why that may change. While Trump's big spending measure stabilizes some funding streams for higher education programs, including Pell Grants, it mostly takes money away at a time when even the richest of universities are already under financial strain. In the years to come, new student loan repayment programs created by the law will raise bills for millions of borrowers. Universities will feel a need to shift more support toward graduate students and away from undergrads. Many state legislatures, meanwhile, may deprioritize support for higher education. Still, the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress are confident the new budget law will bolster college oversight and, ultimately, lower prices for students. "By establishing loan limits, the bill closes the open spigot of federal subsidies that drive up college costs and burden families," Education Secretary Linda McMahon posted on X after the Senate passed the measure. "The bill also simplifies and streamlines student loan repayment for millions of borrowers." Read more: What will student loans look like after Trump's spending bill is signed? Nathan Grawe, an economics professor at Carleton College, called the spending law "a harbinger of challenges ahead" for higher education. "Whether public or private, colleges and universities are deeply dependent on funding from a federal government, which has spent far beyond its means," he said. Ending Grad PLUS, capping Parent PLUS While they're not coming right away, big changes to the student loan system will begin to impact borrowers in 2026. Parents will soon face new limits on how much they can borrow in federal loans to finance their children's education. (The new cap is $20,000 per year per student, with a $65,000 total limit.) After July 1, 2026, there will be just two repayment programs for anyone who takes out new loans, while some plans for current borrowers will sunset in 2028. There will be new caps on graduate student borrowing, too. And the Grad PLUS program, which for decades has helped students pursue careers in medicine, law and other training-intensive careers, will be unavailable to new students. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, about half of all medical students take out Grad PLUS loans annually, which are based almost entirely on the cost of attendance. Kim Cook, the CEO of the National College Attainment Network, a college access group, said any losses in grad students could have eventual trickle-down effects for colleges' larger financial aid budgets. For the time being, however, Cook said many college counselors are focusing this summer on clearing up widespread confusion about what the law does – and doesn't – impact. Students, she said, don't all seem to understand what forms of financial aid remain in place. "Federal student aid still exists," she said. "Pell Grants still exist." That confusion alone, she said, could prevent some students from going to college at all. Medicaid, SNAP cuts tied to college costs Arguably, the most controversial components of the new law are the reductions in major safety net programs. A roughly $1 trillion funding cut to Medicaid, which the Congressional Budget Office estimates will kick millions of Americans off their health insurance, takes effect in 2028. More than 20 million Americans will also lose some or all of their benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. Read more: How Trump's tax bill could cut Medicaid for millions of Americans The ripple effects of the Medicaid and food stamp provisions will reverberate across public colleges and universities. In the absence of federal funding, state legislatures will be forced to fill the gaps. As lawmakers look to balance their budgets, savings will be needed elsewhere. When that happens, funding for higher education is often the first thing on the chopping block, said Tom Harnisch, the vice president for government relations at the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association. "States are just going to have to make really difficult choices," he said. "And historically, what we've seen is that when they have to make difficult choices, higher education bears the brunt." In Colorado, state lawmakers are already shortchanging colleges' requests for money to help make up for federal funding cuts. But Trujillo, the CSU Pueblo student, doesn't have much time in between her multiple jobs to worry about that. She's the first in her family to attend college. Through Pell Grants, scholarships and state and institutional financial aid, she's managed to avoid taking out any student loans, public or private, so far. She knows a master's degree would probably lead to a higher salary in the engineering field, but the thought of potentially having to rely on private lenders to get one makes her nervous. "I'm very scared of private loans," she said. "I've heard horror stories." Zachary Schermele is an education reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach him by email at zschermele@ Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele and Bluesky at @
Los Angeles Times
16-06-2025
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
California immigrant communities go quiet amid ICE raids
Escalating immigration enforcement in Southern California has sparked protests, vandalism and sporadic clashes with police as President Trump has sent troops to downtown L.A. In other parts of Greater Los Angeles, undocumented immigrants — and even those who are here legally but fear racial profiling — are exercising extra caution navigating their daily lives. My colleagues reported that some communities have been unusually quiet, with residents saying they are avoiding going out and attending to routine business for fear of being stopped. Here are some places where foot traffic is significantly down: MacArthur Park On Friday, the area around the longtime hub west of downtown was noticeably quieter than usual. Many of the vendors whose carts once lined South Alvarado Street were gone. A number had already left earlier this year when the city put up fencing after a gang-related shooting that wounded six people. 'There's like sadness, maybe grief. I think a lot of fear, a lot of fear is going around these communities. And yeah, people are walking around just very cautious, very cautious,' Cristina Serrano told The Times as she was doing mitt work at Panda Boxing Gym. The gym's owner now regularly walks up and down the block looking for signs of trouble and to make sure that people in the gym feel safe, Serrano said. Downey With its stately homes and bustling business districts, Downey has long been known to some as the 'Mexican Beverly Hills.' But the Southeast L.A. County city of more than 110,000 people has been roiled by Trump immigration raids, sparking both fear and outrage. Downey Councilmember Mario Trujillo said the raids are 'creating a culture of fear' that's prompting people, even those with documents, to stay home out of concern they could be targeted by federal agents simply for being Latino. The downtown Downey area, which had already been hurting amid a tenuous economy, is now a ghost town, Trujillo said. Last week, masked federal agents detained at least 12 people from businesses in Downey, but community members were able to discourage them from taking one man without proper documents. Trujillo said he understood that immigration agents have a job to do, but the council member questioned the necessity of grabbing workers who are trying to support their families and people just trying to go about their daily lives. Oxnard At farms in Ventura County, workers who would typically be moving up and down the rows of strawberry plants were largely absent. The entry gates to many area farms were shut and locked. Juvenal Solano, a director with the Mixteco Indigena Community Organizing Project, told The Times he felt relieved. Silence was better than the chaos that broke out days earlier when immigration agents raided fields in Oxnard and across other communities in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties that grow a considerable portion of the state's strawberries, avocados and celery. Community groups told The Times they had confirmed that at least 35 people were detained in the raids. Meanwhile, the Trump administration appeared to be changing its tune as immigration officers were directed to pause arrests at farms, restaurants and hotels after the president expressed alarm about the effects of his aggressive enforcement, an official said Saturday. Here's more coverage of the immigration raids and protests: Today's great photo is from Times photographer Jason Armond at the 'No Kings' demonstration in downtown L.A. Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editorAndrew Campa, Sunday writerKarim Doumar, head of newsletters How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@ Check our top stories, topics and the latest articles on
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
The 'Mexican Beverly Hills' reels from Trump immigration raids, forcing some to carry passports
With its stately homes and bustling business districts, Downey has long been known to some as the 'Mexican Beverly Hills.' But the Southeast L.A. County city of more than 110,000 people has been roiled this week by Trump immigration raids in Southern California, sparking both fear and outrage. Downey Councilman Mario Trujillo said the raids are 'creating a culture of fear' that's prompting people, even with documents, to stay home out of concern they could be targeted by federal agents simply for being Latino. The downtown Downey area, which had already been hurting amid a tenuous economy, is now a ghost town, Trujillo said. While he understands that immigration agents have a job to do, Trujillo questions the necessity of grabbing workers trying to support their families and people just trying to go about their daily lives. Read more: Arellano: Sen. Alex Padilla's crime? Being Mexican in MAGA America 'We're supposed to be made to feel safe by this agency because they're removing bad people,' he said. 'That's what they're supposed to be doing." On Wednesday, masked federal agents detained at least 12 people from businesses in Downey, but community members were able to discourage them from taking one man without proper documents. Downey has long been a landing spot for upwardly mobile Latinos, who make up 75% of the population. The median income is $97,000, above the California average. The Times reported in December that support for Donald Trump increased during the last election. While Democrats still dominated, The Times found Trump gained 18.8 percentage points in November compared with the 2020 presidential election. Paula Mejia, a Downey resident in her 50s who immigrated from Mexico to the U.S. more than 45 years ago, said that fewer people have been going to restaurants and to other businesses in Downey ever since the ICE raids began. "I've been scared and I have to carry my passport," she said. "I have never done before and we are out of words. Even my kids, they were born here. Now, they're carrying their passports." Mejia, who was wearing a green jacket with a "Mexico" badge sewn to the front Thursday afternoon, said she's a U.S. citizen and has been disappointed by the way Mexicans have been treated under the Trump administration. "They just look at our colors, our nationalities, and they're just profiling people," she said. "Colombians, Peruvians, Ecuadorians. They're just calling them Mexicans. They're denigrating us and want to use the term 'Mexicans' and we're not backing up. We work very hard in this country and for them to be treating us like criminals, we're not criminals. We're hardworking people." In a video of the encounter, the unidentified man can be seen sitting on the ground surrounded by masked agents who had chased him down. The man spotted Immigration and Customs Enforcement at his job and rode away on his bicycle, but one of the masked men grabbed his tire, causing him to fall, ABC7 reported. Read more: How the flags of Mexico, El Salvador and Guatemala symbolize defiance against Trump's L.A. raids Melyssa Rivas recorded community members peppering federal agents with questions about why they were chasing the man. It's unclear what prompted the agents to leave the scene. 'It looked like a full-on kidnapping scene out of a movie; it was scary,' Rivas told the outlet. Jose, 26, who declined to provide his last name because of safety concerns, is the son of the owner of Galaxy Auto Detail in Downey, which was targeted by federal agents on Wednesday. Two agents arrived shortly after 9 a.m. and attempted to quickly surround an employee in an apparent attempt to keep him from running away. But the worker saw what was happening and sprinted toward nearby train tracks. He was later detained along with another man. Only one of the individuals was undocumented, Jose told The Times. Jose said he tried to ask the agents if they had a warrant but was told he was going to be arrested for interfering if he kept asking questions. With only five workers remaining, the car wash was closed on Thursday and Jose said he doesn't know when it'll reopen. Jose's mother, an immigrant from Mexico, has owned the car wash for 12 years. She and her son said they believe federal agents are targeting businesses owned by Mexicans. 'I have my citizenship,' said Jose, who was born in the U.S. 'I feel unsafe, even if I have papers. I just saw them targeting brown people.' 'We're starting to feel that we're the only race that's being targeted because it's easy pickings because of the color of our skin,' Trujillo said. 'That's what it's starting to feel like — racial profiling.' Downey Memorial Church, the site of where a group of armed men wearing face coverings detained and drove off with a Latino man on Wednesday, was completely empty Thursday afternoon. All of the doors were locked and lights shut off. Estevan Phillipy, 22, works at the Around the World Learning Center, a preschool right next to the church. Phillipy is a teacher and was with the kids when the man was detained Wednesday, but his father, who owns the preschool, saw the entire incident unfold. 'All of a sudden, a bunch of vans and cars pulled up into the parking lot, and they just jumped on him,' he said. 'Some people from the church tried to stop it or were saying stuff, but the guy got detained and taken away.' Phillipy is half white, half Mexican and was born in the U.S., but said his Mexican relatives have been afraid to go outside since the raids began. 'My family's scared right now,' he said. 'We are all documented, but we just look the part. I know there's a lot of racial profiling going on.' Alex Cruz, a 43-year-old Downey resident who has worked at Papa John Car Wash for the past year, said the raids have been so unsettling that many have stopped coming to work. Cruz said the seven or eight undocumented workers who were employed at the car wash stopped showing up two weeks ago. 'Everybody is intimidated,' he said. 'Everybody is afraid to get out of their house. Everybody is afraid to go to work.' Cruz, the son of an undocumented immigrant from El Salvador who came to the U.S. in the 1970s, said he's angered by the federal government's portrayal that anyone without documents living in the United States is a criminal. 'That's how they're categorizing every Hispanic or Latino,' he said. 'The president should have a little more humanity. If it wasn't for immigrants washing their dishes, nobody would do it.' Read more: All of L.A. is not a 'war zone.' We separate facts from spin and disinformation amid immigration raids 'This is not right,' he added. 'Everyone deserves the opportunity to work and support their families. A lot of these guys are missing out on a paycheck or a salary because of what's going on right now.' Some are continuing to work despite the uncertainty they feel leaving their homes each day. A man who identified himself only as Francisco, because he was undocumented and feared deportation, said he has been working as a taquero on the outskirts of downtown for over a year. He said he has never felt as worried as he does now, in the shadow of this week's ICE raids. 'We can't go out to work as much on the streets now,' the 23-year-old said in Spanish. 'We've heard from some colleagues who work in other positions, and they've even arrested a couple of them. We go to work afraid they might arrest us.' To stay safe, Francisco said he has limited his movement, turning to Uber Delivery for necessities such as groceries and medicine. But he continues to come to work. 'If we don't go out to work, how do we cover our expenses?' he asked. Staff writer Karla Marie Sanford contributed to this article. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
The ‘Mexican Beverly Hills' reels from Trump immigration raids, forcing some to carry passports
With its stately homes and bustling business districts, Downey has long been known to some as the 'Mexican Beverly Hills.' But the Southeast L.A. County city of more than 110,000 people has been roiled this week by Trump immigration raids in Southern California, sparking both fear and outrage. Downey Councilman Mario Trujillo said the raids are 'creating a culture of fear' that's prompting people, even with documents, to stay home out of concern they could be targeted by federal agents simply for being Latino. The downtown Downey area, which had already been hurting amid a tenuous economy, is now a ghost town, Trujillo said. While he understands that immigration agents have a job to do, Trujillo questions the necessity of grabbing workers trying to support their families and people just trying to go about their daily lives. 'We're supposed to be made to feel safe by this agency because they're removing bad people,' he said. 'That's what they're supposed to be doing.' On Wednesday, masked federal agents detained at least 12 people from businesses in Downey, but community members were able to discourage them from taking one man without proper documents. Downey has long been a landing spot for upwardly mobile Latinos, who make up 75% of the population. The median income is $97,000, above the California average. The Times reported in December that support for Donald Trump increased during the last election. While Democrats still dominated, The Times found Trump gained 18.8 percentage points in November compared with the 2020 presidential election. Paula Mejia, a Downey resident in her 50s who immigrated from Mexico to the U.S. more than 45 years ago, said that fewer people have been going to restaurants and to other businesses in Downey ever since the ICE raids began. 'I've been scared and I have to carry my passport,' she said. 'I have never done before and we are out of words. Even my kids, they were born here. Now, they're carrying their passports.' Mejia, who was wearing a green jacket with a 'Mexico' badge sewn to the front Thursday afternoon, said she's a U.S. citizen and has been disappointed by the way Mexicans have been treated under the Trump administration. 'They just look at our colors, our nationalities, and they're just profiling people,' she said. 'Colombians, Peruvians, Ecuadorians. They're just calling them Mexicans. They're denigrating us and want to use the term 'Mexicans' and we're not backing up. We work very hard in this country and for them to be treating us like criminals, we're not criminals. We're hardworking people.' In a video of the encounter, the unidentified man can be seen sitting on the ground surrounded by masked agents who had chased him down. The man spotted Immigration and Customs Enforcement at his job and rode away on his bicycle, but one of the masked men grabbed his tire, causing him to fall, ABC7 reported. Melyssa Rivas recorded community members peppering federal agents with questions about why they were chasing the man. It's unclear what prompted the agents to leave the scene. 'It looked like a full-on kidnapping scene out of a movie; it was scary,' Rivas told the outlet. Jose, 26, who declined to provide his last name because of safety concerns, is the son of the owner of Galaxy Auto Detail in Downey, which was targeted by federal agents on Wednesday. Two agents arrived shortly after 9 a.m. and attempted to quickly surround an employee in an apparent attempt to keep him from running away. But the worker saw what was happening and sprinted toward nearby train tracks. He was later detained along with another man. Only one of the individuals was undocumented, Jose told The Times. Jose said he tried to ask the agents if they had a warrant but was told he was going to be arrested for interfering if he kept asking questions. With only five workers remaining, the car wash was closed on Thursday and Jose said he doesn't know when it'll reopen. Jose's mother, an immigrant from Mexico, has owned the car wash for 12 years. She and her son said they believe federal agents are targeting businesses owned by Mexicans. 'I have my citizenship,' said Jose, who was born in the U.S. 'I feel unsafe, even if I have papers. I just saw them targeting brown people.' 'We're starting to feel that we're the only race that's being targeted because it's easy pickings because of the color of our skin,' Trujillo said. 'That's what it's starting to feel like — racial profiling.' Downey Memorial Church, the site of where a group of armed men wearing face coverings detained and drove off with a Latino man on Wednesday, was completely empty Thursday afternoon. All of the doors were locked and lights shut off. Estevan Phillipy, 22, works at the Around the World Learning Center, a preschool right next to the church. Phillipy is a teacher and was with the kids when the man was detained Wednesday, but his father, who owns the preschool, saw the entire incident unfold. 'All of a sudden, a bunch of vans and cars pulled up into the parking lot, and they just jumped on him,' he said. 'Some people from the church tried to stop it or were saying stuff, but the guy got detained and taken away.' Phillipy is half white, half Mexican and was born in the U.S., but said his Mexican relatives have been afraid to go outside since the raids began. 'My family's scared right now,' he said. 'We are all documented, but we just look the part. I know there's a lot of racial profiling going on.' Alex Cruz, a 43-year-old Downey resident who has worked at Papa John Car Wash for the past year, said the raids have been so unsettling that many have stopped coming to work. Cruz said the seven or eight undocumented workers who were employed at the car wash stopped showing up two weeks ago. 'Everybody is intimidated,' he said. 'Everybody is afraid to get out of their house. Everybody is afraid to go to work.' Cruz, the son of an undocumented immigrant from El Salvador who came to the U.S. in the 1970s, said he's angered by the federal government's portrayal that anyone without documents living in the United States is a criminal. 'That's how they're categorizing every Hispanic or Latino,' he said. 'The president should have a little more humanity. If it wasn't for immigrants washing their dishes, nobody would do it.' 'This is not right,' he added. 'Everyone deserves the opportunity to work and support their families. A lot of these guys are missing out on a paycheck or a salary because of what's going on right now.' Some are continuing to work despite the uncertainty they feel leaving their homes each day. A man who identified himself only as Francisco, because he was undocumented and feared deportation, said he has been working as a taquero on the outskirts of downtown for over a year. He said he has never felt as worried as he does now, in the shadow of this week's ICE raids. 'We can't go out to work as much on the streets now,' the 23-year-old said in Spanish. 'We've heard from some colleagues who work in other positions, and they've even arrested a couple of them. We go to work afraid they might arrest us.' To stay safe, Francisco said he has limited his movement, turning to Uber Delivery for necessities such as groceries and medicine. But he continues to come to work. 'If we don't go out to work, how do we cover our expenses?' he asked. Staff writer Karla Marie Sanford contributed to this article.
The Age
13-06-2025
- Politics
- The Age
Los Angeles is at war with Trump's vision of America
'For us Chicanos – people who were born here from immigrant parents – it's important because we're bridging the gap between two great countries, both rich in [their] own ways,' he said. 'We're here to better ourselves, not to forget our heritage, but to improve ourselves for further generations.' His partner, Siomara Mata, a florist, said it was their first day demonstrating. 'It's very sad, but I think LA is a strong city, and we're very passionate about our immigrants,' she said. 'A lot of shops in downtown LA are immigrants that came here for the American dream, but not just to provide for themselves, but provide for their families here and provide for family back at home.' Two blocks away, Cos Trujillo was boarding up his shopfront on 1st Street, where he runs a bail bond business and houses an immigration office and tattoo parlour. Trujillo, born and raised in LA, has owned the building for more than 20 years. Loading He remembers the 1992 LA riots that followed the acquittal of four police officers who were charged with using excessive force in arresting and beating a black man, Rodney King. 'I was young … I went out, I was running around crazy – but don't destroy,' Trujillo said. 'What you're doing is you're hurting small businesses like myself.' A couple of doors down, Rumi Fujimoto had already boarded up her sports memorabilia store. She said she was looted the previous night after briefly leaving her watchpost. 'As soon as I walked away, I got a call from my neighbour. 'They hit your store',' she says. 'There's no time to spare right now with what's going on.' But, like most merchants here, Fujimoto is not against the protesters. A couple of hours later, I spotted her leaning out of her upstairs window, hard hat on, proudly waving her US-Mexican flag as the demonstration passed by. The protesters kept moving throughout the afternoon, meandering around downtown LA between police blockades. As they weaved past traffic, motorists blasted their horns in a chorus of support. And while Los Angeles faces a challenging moment, it was not all grim. Just before sunset, about 3000 people gathered in a downtown park for a multifaith vigil led by the mayor and preachers who called for resistance to ICE and love for fellow migrants. The crowd was peaceful, and the mood positive, given the circumstances. Among those listening was Diego Castro, 19, and his sister Mia, 22, from Fresno, California. Diego carried a sign saying: 'My family fought for my future, now I will fight 4 theirs.' Mia's sign read 'Familias no tienen fronteras', or 'families have no borders'. Loading 'The majority of my family came from Mexico, a lot of them did end up coming illegally, building a life here in the United States, building businesses, contributing to the economy, paying taxes,' Diego said. 'I feel like our country right now is really just punishing them for fulfilling the American dream.' The vigil crowd later marched down to the federal building, where a smaller group of protesters were already gathered, staring down members of the Los Angeles Police Department and the California National Guard. Religious leaders stood in front of the law enforcement barricade, addressing protesters on loudspeakers. Shortly after the 8pm curfew kicked in, people began to move on, though some agitators remained, chanting 'Our streets' and 'No justice, no peace, f--- ICE and f--- the police'. Police helicopters circled overhead. By 8.45pm, the crowd had largely dispersed peacefully. A glass bottle was thrown at a police line, prompting officers to fire a couple of rubber bullets, and later, dozens were reportedly arrested for breaching the curfew. Meanwhile, on the deadened streets, barely any shops were open. Most were boarded up or shielded behind metal grills. The constant wail of sirens punctuated the quiet night, as did the whirr of choppers overhead. In the apartment buildings dotted around my hotel, most lights were on. Downtown residents were granted limited exemptions from the curfew, but there was little reason to be outside. Even the hotel bar was closed. Karen Bass, the LA mayor, was keen to stress that the curfew affected just 2.5 square kilometres of the 1300 square kilometres that constitute this sprawling city. 'Some of the imagery of the protest and the violence gives the appearance that this is a citywide crisis, and it is not,' she said. Loading That is true. From Beverly Hills to Santa Monica and West Hollywood, life goes on unimpeded. And as police chief Jim McDonnell noted, the thugs looting and vandalising central LA are not necessarily the same people exercising their First Amendment rights to protest during daylight hours. But in the middle of this famed American city, with the world watching, another ugly night loomed. And the country – influenced heavily by its increasingly dogmatic president – is looking for people to blame.
