Deferred Action Benefiting Local Students





Posted: Apr 5, 2013 7:12 PM Updated: Apr 5, 2013 8:34 PM


EDINBURG - Deferred action cards are beginning to arrive for Rio Grande Valley students who came to the United States as undocumented immigrants.
Deferred action gives those who came to the U.S. before they were 16 and who have stayed in school and out of trouble a safety net from deportation. One of the goals of the program is to give them peace of mind while they pursue a higher education.
"I was born in Reynosa, in Mexico, and I came here as a child in first grade," Nestor Navarro said. He is a student at the University of Texas-Pan American.
Ninnette Fernandez came to the U.S. as a teenager.
"I was born in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon," Fernandez said. She also is a student at UTPA.
Both came as undocumented immigrants, and deportation always has been a concern.
"In high school, I worried," Navarro said.
One of his concerns was what would happen after he finished high school.
"What am I going to do? I cannot study here," he said. He now is a student at UTPA and no longer fears deportation.
Deferred action gave Fernandez and Navarro at least two years legal stay in the U.S.
Fernandez said deferred action gave her an opportunity for a brighter future.
UTPA administrators held a meeting Friday to plan how to deal with the influx of deferred-action students.
"I think it will be a life-changing impact on our students, because ... it creates opportunity," UTPA Registar Jeff Rhodes said.
UTPA officials said they've seen a trickle of deferred action students. But they know that trickle may become a torrent.
Non-citizens can go to college without deferred action. But starting a career is a different story.
"It can change the lives of families in the Valley. The opportunity to work legally means that now they have opportunities for higher-paying jobs. It means they don't have to hide in the shadows," Rhodes said.
Fernandez got a job at the university.
"It makes the biggest difference in the world," she said.
Fernandez and Navarro said the deferred action process took a few months.
 
 
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