The University of Nevada, Reno seeks to mitigate the anxiety and dread among its students, employees and faculty in the face of possible mass deportations.

Emilio is a journalism student and first generation Mexican American. He says he keeps up to date with the news to see how the next policy from the Trump Administration could affect him and his family.

“The citizenship topic is worrying, and so it’s like, my whole life could change within a couple months here,” he said. “I’m American at the end of the day, I’m proud of my heritage, but I was born and raised here, so it’s a bit like, where do I go?”

For many students, it’s the additional fear of being unable to afford college. The university went into a panic after the recent temporary freeze on federal loans and grants.

“I receive a lot from financial aid, and I’m guessing a lot of them are grants. So the idea of having that lack of funding for my own education is worrying, because then at that point, I won’t be able to seek out my education or finish it off,” he said.

Luckily for Emilio and many others, the UndocuPack program offers a wide range of resources, both on and off campus. Janet Najera, manager of UndocuPack, wants students to know they have rights, and that the program is here for them.

“They also have access to our community resources, whether it be legal, whether it be health care, if they need support with admissions and records or financial aid, our office can help guide them through some of the processes and support that are available to them,” Najera said.

Cafe con Pan and UndocuChats are other resources available to students. They’re group talks hosted by Christina Cendejas, a licensed psychologist, in partnership with The Multicultural Center and UndocuPack.

They help provide everyone with a safe place to share their concerns.

If students can’t make it to those sessions, counseling services offers help around their schedule to make it easier for them to receive the help they need, she said.

“As a student, you can pick a time, maybe starting at like 11 a.m., all the way till like 6 p.m. at night, so hopefully that can work with students’ schedules,” she said.

Students can schedule an appointment online through the counseling service website.

Even with the increase in stress and anxiety, counseling services has not noticed an increase in appointments.

Counseling services operates under HIPAA regulations which means they can not give out information without consent or a warrant.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) can not get access to medical records without a warrant signed by a judge, and approval by HIPAA, Cendejas said.

“I think when there is fear, sometimes students choose to isolate or to withdraw from different services, because there is fear of what that could look like, how that information possibly could be used [for],” Cendejas said.

Losing their funding and immigration status aren’t the only things students have to worry about. It’s the stress of what could impact their personal life. Cendejas wants to remind everyone, this isn’t their first time going through this..

“In terms of our Latino and Hispanic students, I’ve noticed more concerns related to possible impacts of maybe increased discrimination, as had happened with the last time Trump was elected, and I also think it’s important to remember that there’s still this sense of hope, where for many people, we’ve been through other challenging and uncertain times before,” she said.

Emilo reminds himself that he’s not the only one, and tries his best to understand those around him. He plans to check out the resources available to him, as he waits to see what will happen next.

“I think people just need to keep an open mind. I think hearing out everybody is important, and understanding everybody’s perspective is how we move forward and how we get to a point where everyone feels safe,” Emilo said.

This story was shared with permission from KUNR and originally reported by Ally Ibarra in English and published on February 14th, 2025.