This has nothing to do with academics or scholarship; it’s just straight-up progressive activism.
Campus Reform reports:
UCLA fellowship gives students $7,000 for immigration activism workProgram materials reviewed by Campus Reform show that the University of California, Los Angeles’ (UCLA) Dream Summer Fellowship places students with immigration activist organizations while providing participants with $7,000 stipends.UCLA’s Labor Center is hosting its 2026 Dream Summer Fellowship Program, which prioritizes applicants who are “directly impacted by the immigration system” and are between the ages of 18 and 24. Program materials state that participants are encouraged to “think critically about the intersecting issues impacting our communities, including social, economic, and racial justice.”The program places fellows with what it describes as “social justice-based host organizations.” Participating organizations include the Black Alliance for Just Immigration and the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.Previous fellowship themes included “Immigrant Rights Movement: Empowering a Collective Liberation,” “Cultivating our Power: Resistance, Action, and Solidarity in the Immigrant Rights Movement,” and “The Immigrant Rights Movement Present and Future: Undocumented Liberation and Movement Building.”The fellowship prioritizes applications from “undocumented” students, particularly those who do not qualify for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), as well as applicants who identify as “LGBTQIA+,” black, Asian American and Pacific Islander, Indigenous, and those “directly impacted by the immigration system.”Among the program’s alumni is Patrice Lawrence, who participated in Dream Summer in 2016 and later co-founded UndocuBlack, an organization that advocates permanent protections for black illegal immigrants facing potential deportation. Another alumnus, Eva Vera, participated in 2024 and later helped establish “Effectively Supporting Black Undocumented Students Through Higher Ed.”The 2026 Dream Summer cohort consists of 35 fellows. Program materials indicate participants will attend opening and closing retreats in Los Angeles.
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