(Last Updated on May 2020)

By CAROLINA, MARISOL, and SALVADOR

My Undocumented Life & UndocuResearch have compiled a list of resources that can help undocumented and mixed-status families in San Diego County during the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic. This list includes financial, legal, and food resources.

We will update this page frequently so be sure to bookmark it and share it with your networks!

Financial

The state of California is providing eligible undocumented community members and their families with up to $1,000 in state-funded financial assistance. If you live in San Diego, you will need to contact the Jewish Family Service (JFS). Please note that JFS is not taking online applications. You need to call one of their designated phone numbers to apply:

San Diego County: 858-206-8281

Imperial County: 760-206-3242

The best thing to do right now is:

1) Call JFS to submit an application.

2) Keep up with any updates on their official website.

3) Spread the word about the fund with fellow undocumented folks & families: “Applications for Covid19 State Financial Assistance for Undocumented Immigrants in California Now Open!”

NAKASEC’s Emergency Mutual Aid Fund is now accepting applications from undocumented folks across the country. Regardless of where you live in the U.S., if you don’t qualify for existing government aid due to your immigration status, you can apply to request $500 in cash assistance!

The San Diego Immigrant Rights Consortium has launched a relief fund to provide grants of up to $500 to immigrant families in San Diego who have lost all or part of their income due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

Visit My Undocumented Life for an up-to-date list of additional resources available across the country.

Undocumented College Students (Additional Financial Support)

Colleges and universities throughout San Diego County are also offering additional support. 

• If you attend CSU San Marcos, you can reach out to the DREAMer Resource Office for support.
  • “Funded through the generosity of our donors, CSUSM established the Student Relief Fund in April to provide financial assistance to students during this extraordinary period of uncertainty. Any CSUSM student is eligible for consideration of these funds, including DACA, international, and undocumented students. Please submit an application through your MyCSUSM account in the message center to be considered for these funds. For questions email finaid@csusm.edu.”

Food

The following locations are providing free meals: 

•     ALL San Diego County School Districts meal pickup listed here
•     San Diego Unified meal pickup locations listed here
•     Sweetwater Unified meal pickup locations listed here
•     Feeding San Diego Meals for Kids Free Meals for Kids 
•     Feeding San Diego COVID-19 EMERGENCY FOOD DISTRIBUTION SITES

○      Feeding San Diego works with hundreds of distribution partners to provide food and resources to the community. There are NO REQUIREMENTS to accessing food at any of these distribution sites. 

•     Alpine Mountain Empire Food Sites Resources here 
•     El Cajon Food Sites Resources here
•     La Mesa – Spring Valley Food Sites Resources here
•     Lemon Grove Food Sites Resources here
•     Santee – Lakeside Food Sites Resources here
•     Meals on Wheels: https://www.meals-on-wheels.org
•     Serving Seniors: https://servingseniors.org/what-we-do/
•     Catholic Charities Diocese of San Diego https://www.ccdsd.org/food-delivery
•     Escondido Food Resources for children:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/17eZM2sb8nQaUUsdEVYA-yIOUwMHfu1IF/view
•     Community Food Connection- Poway: http://thecommunityfoodconnection.weebly.com/
•     More food resources for families (updated ongoing): https://www.reddit.com/r/sandiego/comments/finjsu/resources_and_information_for_families/

DACA Renewal Assistance

At this time, USCIS is still accepting applications for DACA renewals. If you live in San Diego County and need assistance to complete your DACA application, contact the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and/or the Jewish Family Service of San Diego. Both of these organizations provide free legal and financial assistance to folks renewing their DACA in San Diego. 

Rent

• Governor Newsom Issued an Executive Order to Protect Renters and Homeowners During COVID-19 Pandemic. More info here.
• San Diego City Council passes moratorium on evictions for residents and businesses in the City of San Diego. More info here. 
•  Sample letter to send your landlord to request grace period due to lost wages here

Official government/city updates

To stay up-to-date with information surrounding Covid-19 in San Diego County, check out the official state and local government websites. 

Special thanks to community organizer, Gina, for helping identify some of the resources featured on this page.

Carolina grew up undocumented in the U.S. since the age of twelve. In 2011, she created this blog as a platform for undocumented communities to obtain up-to-date information and resources on pursuing higher education, immigration policies, and much more. Currently, she is a doctoral student at Harvard University whose scholarly work centers on immigration, race and ethnicity, law and society, families, and social movements.

Marisol is a Professor in Sociology at CSU San Marcos. She is also the Faculty Director of the National Latino Research Center (2016-Present) where she works on applied research projects in the community on such topics as civic engagement, education, and incarceration. Dr. Clark-Ibañez was the recipient of the CSUSM President’s Outstanding Faculty Award for Teaching Innovation and Excellence Award (2014/2015). For 10 years, she has been a faculty advisor to STAND, a student club dedicated to serving undocumented students.

Salvador is a first-generation student born in Oaxaca, Mexico who immigrated alongside his parents at the age of 3 months. After attending UCSB, Palomar, MiraCosta, and CSUSM he is now a first-year PhD student in the Plant and Microbial program at North Carolina State University. He conducts research as part of a plant metabolomics and engineering laboratory studying medicinal properties of plants. He continues to advocate for undocumented students and serves as a mentor to high school students pursuing higher education.

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At My Undocumented Life we provide up-to-date information and resources for undocumented immigrants and allies. We post scholarship opportunities that are open to undocumented students, strategies for navigating the educational system, information on how to apply for DACA/Advance Parole, news on DAPA, and much more. Most importantly, we want to provide a sense of community to our diverse group of readers. Learn more about our work here: “About Us“