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Monday, January 16, 2006 3:34 PM
Illegal immigrant students denied aid

Latinos face challenges while seeking fedral funds

Amber Tschabrun
For the Campus Press
Undocumented. Illegal. Alien.

These are terms often used to describe people who emigrate from Mexico to the United States. Those terms also reveal a frustrating reality for many Latino immigrants.

“We’ve been here since 1990, paid taxes and still don’t get benefits,� said Mario Flores, a junior international affairs and Spanish major at CU.
Latino students who immigrated with their families and grew up in the United States face challenges most students never have to think about, such as obtaining residency and funding their education.

Many immigrants must pay out-of-state tuition until they receive residency. They also seek out private scholarships for financial aid not provided to them through CU while working part-time jobs to help pay for school.

“Not a tremendous number of students like that apply,� said Kevin MacLennan, director of admissions at CU. “They sometimes get caught in the financial aid and tuition issues. They could have...gone to elementary school, middle school and high school in Colorado. But if they are not here legally, then for tuition purposes, they have to be classified as an out-of-state student.�

Flores never realized he would not be able to receive financial aid from CU and the news came as a “big shock.�

“I wasn’t accepted (for federal financial aid) because I was a temporary resident,� Flores said. “I got a good number of private scholarships, and now I can receive (federal financial aid) because I got residency in November.�

As students, one of the most frustrating parts of being an immigrant is obtaining residency in order to be eligible for in-state tuition and Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

“Bills are going before the legislature right now to determine if we should be giving in-state tuition to students whose families aren’t citizens,� MacLennan said. “Many states have said no, they have to be out-of-state.�
Flores said he was surprised that he might not be able to go college because he was not a resident and did not have a Social Security number.
He is not the only one.

“You need a Social Security number or you can’t do anything,� said Graciela Najera, a junior sociology and political science major at CU.

The application situation for non-residents applying to CU is not that different from residents. MacLennan said 11 factors, including grades and test scores, are considered for all applicants to determine if their educational background is strong enough. A Social Security number is not required for applying, but it is necessary to receive financial aid.

“For administration, it’s business as usual,� MacLennan said. “We don’t treat them any different. It becomes an issue for financial aid. Tuition is based on parent’s residency. You can’t have residency unless you are legally in Colorado.�

Flores and Najera have received residency and hope to one day become citizens. However, becoming a U.S. citizen is a long and expensive process involving a lot of paperwork and often taking several years to complete.

The hope of a better opportunity for education and work are the reasons Jazmin Chavez’s family emigrated from Juarez, Chihuahua. Chavez, now a senior ethnic studies major at CU, was 2 1/2 years old when her family crossed the border. Although she does not remember the actual crossing, she said it was much easier for her family than for her relatives.

“I have family members who crossed the desert,� Chavez said. �I didn’t have to do that. We walked right through.�

Flores’ family came to the United States in 1990 from Honduras to escape dangerous fighting in a civil war taking place there. After traveling by bus and plane and then driving from Texas to Florida, the family settled in Fort Lauderdale.

Najera’s family immigrated back and forth between Fresnillo, Zacatecas, and the United States several times before returning to the United States permanently in 1990.

“I was 5, and it was the first time I was on a plane,� Najera said. “It was snowing and I had never seen snow. We flew into Denver, but I was too young to understand that we were moving to a new country.�

Although the actual border crossing was not difficult for Flores, Najera and Chavez, adjusting to a new country was hard on all of their families.
“It was very difficult going from a nice house to a single studio apartment infested with bugs,� Chavez said. “We were not used to living this way.�

While their parents worked tirelessly to make ends meet, the whole family faced the difficulties of speaking Spanish in a predominantly English-speaking country. Flores, Najera and Chavez all learned to speak English by elementary school. It took much longer for their parents to learn English.

“I translated for my parents until I was 9,� Chavez said. “Sometimes, I wouldn’t know how to translate words to them. I remember asking my dad how to spell ‘the.’ It was hard to get help on homework because they didn’t understand it.�

While her family is happy with their decision to move to the United States, Chavez said there are many problems her family faces because they came to the United States.

“There is still a stigma and racism,� Chavez said. “I’ve been called a wetback, a **** and an alien. I still hear those things now.�

But Chavez does not let such condescending terms get under her skin.
“I’ve used the term ‘illegal’ or ‘undocumented’ as a form of empowerment,� she said. “What fires me up is when they target a community that can’t defend themselves.�

Flores said he never really encountered “hard-core racism,� but it is still something he has to deal with.

“It’s a hard thing,� he said. “Sometimes you have to hold your tongue. I used to get really mad. But in a place like Colorado, you can’t blame someone for something they’ve never dealt with. People don’t deal with what doesn’t affect them.�

Senior Jazmin Chavez talks with Shoba Rajgopal, the director of SOURCE, on Friday, Jan. 13 in the Senior Dedication Lounge in the UMC. CP Photo/Rachel Bernshome / news / 2006 / January