Latino students report low optimism as immigration enforcement increases
by Jasmin Enriquez Martinez
As Trevecca seniors prepare for graduation parties and new jobs, many also feel less optimistic about their lives than college graduates five years ago did.
A Gallup survey found that the percentage of U.S. adults who anticipate high-quality lives in five years declined to 59.2 percent in 2025, with Hispanic adults reporting the greatest decline since 2024.
Hispanic adults showed a 6-point drop, Black adults a 2.2-point drop, and White adults a 4.6-point drop since 2024.
At Trevecca Nazarene University, where Latino students make up 26 percent of the population, Latino students are expressing concerns about their immigration status, the immigration enforcement policies of the current president and whether their families can safely move around the city in their day-to-day lives.
Counselors on campus, faculty members and student development officials all say they are hearing frequently from students who struggle to feel safe in their communities and are uncertain about how to proceed with jobs and careers after graduation.
Among the 26 percent of Latino students, around 7 percent are international students, and the remaining 19 percent have a variety of citizenship status situations. Trevecca does not keep track of how many of those students are undocumented completely, said University President Dan Boone.
Boone said he is often in conversation with students who are concerned about finishing their education while also worrying that they and or their families could be targeted by ICE.
“I mean, if I, you tell me that tomorrow I might get stopped, and it would relocate where I would live. That's a whole different level of having to deal with mentally, emotionally. You can't plan for it,” said Boone. “It's almost like carrying a cancer around or something. It's something that could be real, but you don't know how it's going to turn out. I think it affects optimism a lot.”
Anyeli Alvarado Moreno, an international student and sophomore double majoring in Business in Management and Marketing, feels concerned for the future of international students.
Alvarado Moreno’s sister wants to study in the U.S., but that might no longer be possible.
“I don't really know if that will happen now because, since everything is changing around, like the laws and quite changing, everything is getting down and down,” said Alvarado Moreno.
As an international student, Alvarado Moreno notices the dangers that immigrants are facing and doesn’t feel optimistic that it will get better.
Although she wants to stay in the U.S. after college, she would rather go back home to Peru.
“I was considering staying here for like a couple of years, or three years, to work, [and] to have that experience in my resume and everything but since the thing is happening right now, like ICE and everything, it’s giving me that kind of new concerns about ‘how can I deal with that?’” said Alvarado Moreno.
However, for many students at Trevecca, this is their home.
Juan Catalan, a sophomore human fitness and performance major, has lived in the U.S. his entire life but still worries about his safety.
“I have to worry about coming to school because there's been a couple of times where ICE has trailed me,” said Catalan.
Although Catalan was born in the U.S., he only recently received his citizenship after a legal battle between his parents, he said.
“Even if you aren't a citizen, or even if you are, they're still detaining them,” said Catalan.
On top of dealing with immigration enforcement and school, Catalan often worries about his family and carries extra responsibility facing pressure from all sides of his family.
He currently lives with his grandparents, however, he has to help maintain the house due to his grandmother being unable to work.
“So all the people with jobs is me and my brother and my grandfather. So the pressure with that is getting more and more, and it's starting to affect how things are here [at school]."
Catalan feels like he’s barely making it compared to his other friends. Sometimes feeling left out not having another Latino student to relate to.
Although he has many obstacles and uncertainties, the only thing he can do is take it step by step.
“Then the more I look into the future, it's just more like, I'm just trying to take it step by step,” said Catalan.
Esmeralda Ramirez, a counseling intern at Trevecca’s counseling center, sees these concerns in many students that she works with.
“I think each person that I've worked with has a very different outlook on life and very different values,” said Ramirez.
As a counselor, there is only so much she can do.
Ramirez is still learning how to guide students through their fears of deportations and sees that the community is feeling it more than ever.
“It kind of sounds dumb to ask them, but in reality, I don't have a set way to treat them. I just tell them to take one day at a time and to take care of themselves,” said Ramirez. “I also remind them that it's okay to have multiple types of emotions. To feel scared, to feel lonely, but also to enjoy what's actually happening in their immediate circle.”