Thread: Immigration status shouldn't stymie students

Immigration status shouldn't stymie students
By Terry Christensen
Article Launched: 11/02/2007 01:37:19 AM PDT

Maya graduated from San Jose State University not long ago, but she can't get a job that applies the knowledge she gained from her studies, nor can she afford to go on to advanced studies in law school or maybe education because she is not a citizen. She's stuck in a dead-end service job because she doesn't have the papers to apply for other work or the money to continue her studies.

Maya was born in Mexico. Her mother fled an abusive relationship there to the safety of family in the United States, bringing then-2-year-old Maya with her. Maya grew up in San Jose and bought in to the American dream. She studied hard in elementary school and high school, earned good grades and got involved in school and community projects. Her achievements could have gained her admission to several universities, but she chose San Jose State because it's local and relatively cheap - and because she was not a citizen, she was not eligible for financial aid. She worked part time to pay her way through school - at the same job she's now stuck in.

Maya was an excellent student and we're glad she chose SJSU. Now, we'd like to see her put her degree to use for herself and for our community. But her only route to citizenship is through military service or marriage (she's not ready for either), despite the fact that culturally, Maya is as "American" as any of her fellow students. She'd be more of an outcast if she went back to Mexico than she is here.

Maya is not alone. She represents a few thousand students who are stuck in the same predicament.

Beginning in 2001, California attempted to ameliorate this situation by making in-state tuition at its public universities and colleges available to all students graduating from California high schools. That's how Maya could afford San Jose State. The Legislature has passed bills to make financial aid available to such students, but Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed both bills.

Meanwhile, the federal Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act has been under consideration in the U.S. Senate. This bill would give undocumented young people like Maya a way to become legal residents (eligibility for a green card) if they complete two years of college or military service. It would apply only to young people brought to the United States before age 16 who have lived in the United States for five years before the law is passed and who have graduated from high school. They'd get a six-year conditional residence permit allowing them to work legally, pay in-state tuition for college and get a driver's license. If they complete two years of college or military service during this time, they'd be eligible for a permanent green card and the opportunity to apply for citizenship.

This is not a giveaway. It provides a means to earn citizenship and it recognizes reality. Young people like Maya are already "Americanized." They're already contributing to our society but they have a lot more to give. We're wasting that resource and our prior investment in their education at a time when Silicon Valley and the rest of the United States need educated workers. And we're contributing to the isolation and alienation of talented youth by denying them this opportunity.

A few months ago, the federal DREAM Act was scuttled as part of more ambitious immigration reform. More recently, sponsors of the bill failed to get enough votes to bring the bill to the floor of the Senate. But this is not the last we'll hear of the DREAM Act. The problem is real and Maya's dream is real. Thorough immigration reform may be out of the question at the moment, but Congress can and should solve the problem for young people like Maya right now. Let's hope the Senate reconsiders, debates and passes the DREAM Act so Maya and her peers can contribute their talents and live out their American dreams.

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TERRY CHRISTENSEN is a professor of political science at San Jose State University and the co-author, with Larry N. Gerston, of "California Politics and Government" (now in its ninth edition). "Maya" is a fictional name but she is a real person and represents several students he has advised. Christensen wrote this article for the Mercury News.
http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_7348999

NOTE: Comments can be easily left on this article at the link above.

Bottom line= Maya is an illegal alien.

The Mexican people in Mexico could use people like Maya to help make their country/lives better. She could use her education to do the most good. She can also learn more about her own country.

But Maya probably doesn't care about making their lives better, she wants the American dream for herself.

American citizen students and non-students often volunteer for AmeriCorps to help people in 3rd world countries. My cousin and her husband spent two years in Central America teaching the people how to make their lives easier & better, building an aqueduct to bring in water, teaching them about sanitation, working their butts off for no pay in all that time. Putting the lives in the US on hold to help those less fortunate.

Sorry, La Raza, it won't wash anymore.

The link to the article is not working.



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Call the Senate: NO AgJOBS Amnesty !

Sorry..............but the American Dream is for Americans. Her dream should be called something else.

I posted a comment. I'm mjb.

I would think she would be happy with the free education she already received... I'm sure it was better than the one she would have received in her home country!


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