This article was published in the VC Star on February 20, 2026
Vincent Trevino Jimenez was one of 12 students who shared stories of their financial struggles to U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal at Ventura College on Feb. 19.
Trevino Jimenez, 25, said he was a non-traditional student who is studying sociology and lives in Oxnard.
He works at the college but he recently adopted his sister and has been struggling to pay his $600 grocery bills.
“It’s a little bit hard because there is no financial literacy in my family,” he said. “There’s always mistrust with the bank, with the government. So I learned from nobody growing up: What is credit? How do you check credit? How do you get a car loan? Things like that are not taught.”
Carbajal's talk was part of a tour of Santa Barbara and Ventura counties to learn more about the student affordability crisis and other issues affecting residents
"Now as a public servant, it's my job to do the best I can to identify how I can be supportive of helping you overcome some of the challenges you face," he said.
Carbajal, 61, said as a student at UC Santa Barbara, he wasn’t a good manager of his money and he ran out of money.
“I’m so glad you’re here because our community colleges provide a lot of support,” he said. “I’m hoping you will be able to take advantage and just continue your journey.”
He said he has fought to make sure local food banks have enough food, adding he was on food stamps when he was young.
Carbajal said he immigrated from Mexico to the U.S. when he was 5 years old. The family first lived in Arizona and later moved to Oxnard.
Carbajal’s father worked six days a week in the field and the family lived in public housing in the La Colonia neighborhood of Oxnard.
At Oxnard High School, Carbajal had good grades but didn't feel confident he could go to college.
“I always thought college is for the really smart people and I didn’t see myself as being smart,” he said. “I didn’t have any money and luckily some counselors said there’s financial aid, just apply yourself, give it a shot.”
Carbajal said he wanted to hear about the students’ affordability challenges as well as other concerns including federal raids on undocumented communities.
“We’ve seen the terror in the raids that are happening in our communities,” he said. “There’s tariffs that have increased costs dramatically, that were imposed by this president, things have just gotten really expensive – childcare, housing, food, so I’d be curious to hear from you firsthand.”
Some students talked about Congress not doing enough to protect families.
Maddox Rose, 20, of Ventura, said he enjoyed listening to Carbajal’s stance on healthcare but he felt Democrats weren’t doing enough to stop U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“You don’t need an armed military force going after people who failed to file paperwork correctly,” he said.
Victoria Reyes, 20, of Ventura, said she and other students at Ventura College want to see ICE abolished.
“On paper, it’s about moving people from this nation to another but it’s violent and it’s disgusting,” she said.
The students who got to speak to Carbajal were recommended by different departments across campus, said Vanessa Stotler, director of outreach and marketing for Ventura College.
She said the campus reached out to identify student leaders and engaged students who would be interested in participating.
Ventura College Interim President Luca Lewis said Ventura College students are dealing with higher living, housing and food costs while trying to get an education at an affordable price.
“Most of what we’re trying to do here is getting in the position of helping students save time and money,” Lewis said in an interview before the event.