Our History

In 2010, a group of staff and students from the UC Berkeley Immigrant Student Issues Coalition forwarded several recommendations to the Chancellor at the time regarding immigrant students on campus.

A task force was initiated whose goal was to articulate the issues and needs facing undocumented students on campus, and to make recommendations for how to serve this population. Here is the complete set of  recommendations which emerged from this task force.

The task force which became the Undocumented Community Council (UCC) in 2018, works to support further research and advocacy with and for undocumented members of the community.

One key recommendation from the initial task force was to create a staff position to work specifically on improving undocumented student transition and access to on-campus resources. In January 2012, the first Undocumented Student Program Coordinator was appointed, thus establishing the Undocumented Student Program.  The program was initially housed within the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) and is now a part of the larger cluster of Centers for Educational Equity and Excellence (Ce3).

In the fall of 2012, a generous donation made by Elise Haas established the Robert D. Haas Dreamer Resource Center, which was relocated and renamed the Robert D. Haas Undocumented Community Resource Center in February 2020. The Center is a tribute to the courage and ambition of undocumented students at Cal and nationwide, their families, and the dreams of prior generations that are being realized by the extraordinary community of students.

Overtime, USP grew and expanded its services based on undocumented student needs. Services now include academic counseling, programming and community events, mental health support, immigration legal support, professional development support, and financial assistance.