This year was the first college admissions cycle since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down affirmation action last June. A recent report from MIT showed that 16% of the class of 2028 identified as Black, Hispanic, Native American or Pacific Islander, a 10% drop from last year’s freshman class.

On this week’s “In Focus SoCal,” host Tanya McRae visits Thrive Scholars, a Los Angeles program that has been providing students of color from under-resourced communities the opportunities they need to thrive at top colleges and succeed in their future careers. 

McRae meets Evelin Jimenez, a senior at Aspire Pacific Academy in Huntington Park who underwent an intensive six-week training program through BMO Thrive Academy-Los Angeles. 

“Thrive will help me accomplish my future goals by giving me the connection that I need to get, giving me the well-funded education that I need to be able to succeed in life,” said Jimenez. “The BMO Thrive Academy definitely gave me an insight on what I should expect for the college study life, and it gives me opportunity for a better life.”

Martha Sanchez, the LA executive director of Thrive Scholars, noted that many of the program's students are the first in their families to go to college and don't always have the support or guidance they need to navigate the college admission process. 

"Oftentimes, students who are high achieving, like the students that we serve, there's a notion that they're going to be alright. That they have a strong GPA, that they're smart and they're go-getters," said Sanchez. 

Also, in this week's episode, McRae sits down with Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove to discuss various issues, including immigration. She co-chairs the Congressional Caucus on Global Migration, aiming to reframe the country's immigration debate.

"They are fleeing because of ethnic cleansing, conflict, religious persecution and poverty, and so we have to kind of talk about these root causes," Kamlager-Dove said.

Kamlager-Dove also discussed Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg's visit to LA this summer to celebrate $140 million in funding for her district's Removing Barriers and Creating Legacy project. The money will be used to help reconnect communities that lack safe, affordable and accessible transportation options. 

"That money will also help to make sure that, you know, pedestrians, that cyclists and that the elderly and the sick and the disabled will have greater access to public transportation," said Kamlager-Dove.

Spectrum News' Jaqueline Hurtado tells us about recent changes to immigration policies. 

Watch the show every Saturday at 11 a.m. and Sunday at 9 a.m., and send us your thoughts to InFocusSoCal@charter.com.