Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Forum helps teach undocumented students how to get into college
2001 Assembly Bill upheld by courts helps immigrants pay in-state tuition.
By ADAM TOWNSEND
The Orange County Register


It's pretty difficult to navigate the bureaucratic tangle to get into college, even when you're a legal resident of the U.S.

That's why a coalition of immigrant issues groups, labor unions and the American Civil Liberties Union held a forum at Loara High School for parents, teachers and prospective college students who may be undocumented immigrants. The event was organized to teach students about laws that allow them to attend colleges in California and pay the same tuition as other state residents.

"Growing up in Southern California, I never realized the tremendous amount of racialization that's built into the story of our students' experience," said Adela López, a Chicano studies professor at Fullerton College. "Many of the (undocumented) students that I work with are the 'dream' students. These are the students that show up to class no matter what. These are the students I see on my doorstep saying 'What do I need to do?'"

The forum specifically addressed Assembly Bill 540, a law passed in 2001 and subsequently upheld by state courts that allows undocumented students to pay in-state tuition at government colleges.

"Residents can come to school at a community college for $20 per unit," López said. "Having to pay nonresident tuition, it's close to $200 per unit. That's just a community college. You can imagine just how much more that would be at a UC or CSU school."

Roughly 60 teachers, students, parents and school administrators attended the forum. Parents learned from a Spanish-speaking presenter all the college prep, advanced placement and other programs available to help prepare students for college in the U.S. Some attendees were outfitted with headsets so they could hear Korean and Spanish translators repeat the presentations.

Other presenters taught prospective students how to troubleshoot the bureaucracy to make sure college admissions staffers process their AB540 forms correctly.

Presenters compared AB540 to the court case Mendez v. Westminster, the court case that desegregated California schools in the first half of the last century.

"As you look around, you see a lot of brown and yellow faces coming together," said Michael Matsuda, a trustee for the North Orange County Community College District. "We don't do that enough. Sixty years ago, a group of parents came together, for their children, for the right to go to so-called 'white' schools. They took on the school districts that were segregating their children, and in 1947, they succeeded. I see that happening again with this AB540 challenge to our community."

According to the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, to qualify a student must attend a California high school for at least three years, graduate from a California high school or get a GED, register at a government-funded California college and sign a statement with the school saying that the student will apply for legal residency as soon as he or she is eligible.

Contact the writer: 714-704-3706 or atownsend@ocregister.com