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WORLD NEWS


Illegal Immigrants'
New Lament:
Have Degree, No Job

By MIRIAM JORDAN
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
April 26, 2005; Page B1

Suffering from a severe shortage of nurses, U.S. hospitals have recruited thousands of workers from countries such as the Philippines, Jamaica and Mexico. Meanwhile, Julieta Garibay's nursing degree from a prestigious Texas university isn't helping her land a job with any hospital. The most she can do is volunteer.

Ms. Garibay, 24 years old, who came to the U.S. as a child, is an illegal immigrant. She is part of an emerging class of young immigrants facing a new quandary: They are educated, but unable to get work because of their immigration status.

Their dilemma promises to be an increasing problem as more illegal immigrants attend U.S. colleges. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1982 that all children, regardless of immigration status, are entitled to attend elementary and secondary school for free. But higher education is largely a state matter.

In 2001, Texas became the first state to pass a law allowing undocumented immigrant students who graduated from a state high school to pay resident tuition at public universities. Since then, eight more states have passed similar laws, and bills are before legislators in several other states. In a few states, financial aid is available. For Ms. Garibay, whose single mother is a cleaning lady, the in-state tuition legislation opened up an otherwise unaffordable opportunity.

However, as the first crop of students -- about several hundred -- who benefited from the Texas bill prepare to graduate in coming months, they find themselves unemployable. Their legal limbo is turning Texas into the test case for what happens to the new class of educated but illegal graduates.

"We have this irony -- young adults who are trained and ready to join the work force but are unable to do so legally," says Josh Bernstein, director of federal policy at the National Immigration Law Center in Washington, D.C.

Lawmakers say they anticipated that this problem could arise but hoped Congress would pass a bill to legalize these students. Such a bill is expected to be introduced in the Senate in coming months.

Distressed students are knocking on the door of Tito Guerrero, president of Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas. "We have been living blissfully for four years," he says. "Now these kids are graduating, and I don't know what to tell them."

Supporters of the in-state tuition policy argue that it enables immigrant students to make a bigger contribution to the U.S. economy and society than if they are deprived of a higher education. Critics say the policy amounts to a tax giveaway for people who shouldn't be here in the first place. Kansas, which passed an in-state tuition bill last year, is facing a lawsuit in federal court from opponents who charge that such a measure violates the U.S. Constitution and immigration law. The first hearing is scheduled for May 10.


Come May 20, Carlos Hernandez, 22, will have a degree in petroleum engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. One reason Mr. Hernandez, the son of a waitress and a construction worker, chose the major is that the university proclaims a high rate of job-placement for graduates of its program. But during a recent job interview with oil giant ChevronTexaco Corp., Mr. Hernandez says an upbeat recruiter turned sour on hearing about his immigration status.

Companies sometimes sponsor foreign workers with specialized skills, making a case for permanent residency, or a green card. But laws that apply to undocumented immigrants make it impossible for businesses to sponsor these youngsters because they have been living in the country illegally.

"There is very high demand for petroleum engineers in the energy sector," says Don Campbell, a Chevron spokesman. But there is no way around the legal requirements for working in the U.S. "We follow immigration law," he says.

Mr. Hernandez hasn't even been able to get a paid internship. "I have enjoyed every minute of my studies," he says during a break from his senior design project. But, "I am really bummed out."

Immigrant advocates say the only solution for students like Mr. Hernandez and Ms. Garibay is passage of the so-called Dream Act, which would allow those who came to the U.S. as children at least five years ago to get temporary legal residency upon completion of high school. Those who attended college or joined the military would become eligible for permanent residency.

Congress recessed last year without taking action on the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act. The bill, which has bipartisan support, is expected to be re-introduced by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R., Utah). "The federal government needs to pass the Dream Act so these students can get on with their lives," says Mr. Bernstein of the immigration advocacy center.

Amid the national furor over illegal immigration, the fate of the bill remains unclear. "Current politics are making this radioactive right now," says Travis Reindl, director of state policy analysis at the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, a nonpartisan group.

Opponents say they are determined to stall it and still are angry about giving illegal immigrants in-state tuition. "We can't hold taxpayers accountable to providing discounted education to people in this country illegally," says Congressman Steve King (R., Iowa). Mr. King acknowledges that the students are likely to pay more taxes as professionals than as blue-collar workers if they remain in the U.S. But, he says, "we can't make economic arguments" in favor of illegal immigration.

About 1.7 million illegal minors reside in the U.S., according to the Pew Hispanic Center, a Washington think tank. Although there are no official statistics, it is estimated that a very small number of students are taking advantage of the in-state tuition program in most states.

In California, undocumented immigrants benefiting from in-state tuition account for less than 1% of the two million students at community colleges and state universities. In Kansas, only 30 undocumented students availed themselves of the program at state institutions last fall; the state had predicted 370. "Opponents' fear that our colleges would be flooded with illegal immigrants should be assuaged," says Kip Peterson, spokesman for the Kansas Board of Regents, which oversees higher education in the state.

Most of the illegal-immigrant students are from Latin America, but Asian, African and European students are also benefiting.

Many immigrant students are ill-prepared academically for college or can't afford it, even with in-state tuition. (Most states, including California, don't offer financial aid to illegal immigrants; Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico are the exceptions.) In addition, education officials say many school administrators aren't spreading the word -- because they are unaware of the law or don't understand it.

Mr. Hernandez, the petroleum-engineering student, didn't hear about the program from his college counselor at the Galveston, Texas, high school he attended. His mother learned about it on Spanish-language television.

Steve Murdock, chief demographer of Texas, says helping any Hispanic student get ahead should be a no-brainer: "It's not about the individual," he says. As the Latino population swells, "how well our Hispanic population does is how well Texas and other states will do." The Texas labor force, for one, will be less well-qualified in 2040 than in 2000, according to his projections.

Some undocumented students are using the tools of American democracy to lobby their cause. In February, Ms. Garibay was among a group from Texas who traveled to Washington to lobby Congress in support of the Dream Act. They have formed a coalition called Jovenes Imigrantes Por Un Futuro Mejor, or Young Immigrants for a Better Future, with chapters at several colleges.

"So many kids without papers just stop studying and have babies," says Ms. Garibay, who is scheduled to graduate this summer from the University of Texas at Austin. "We have studied and want to be productive, but we have no prospects."

Write to Miriam Jordan at miriam.jordan@wsj.com