Thread: NY: Teen Latinos counsel illegals to go to college in U.S.

Publication: The East Hampton Press
A salute to a younger generation of Latino activists
By Beth Young



Six years after activist Isabel Sepulveda de Scanlon started the Organizacion Latino Americana, a support group for Latino residents, she’s hoping a younger generation of activists who’ve grown up in East Hampton will succeed in creating an affiliated support group for Latino youth.

OLA YG—the YG stands for Younger Generation—will hold a kickoff party this coming Sunday from 3 to 5 p.m. at Town Line BBQ on Montauk Highway in Sagaponack. The $15 entry fee includes food from La Fondita, soft drinks and music.

Ms. Sepulveda de Scanlon said this week that she was thrilled that a core group of five talented young people—all of whom are either leaders in their high schools or are embarking on promising careers in the United States—have stepped up to work on Latino issues here.

The group’s founders include Isabel and Natalia Saavedra. Isabel is a 2006 graduate of East Hampton High School, now in her junior year at SUNY Westbury, who just began an internship with Amnesty International in Washington, D.C. She plans to become an immigration and human rights lawyer. Her sister Natalia is a senior at East Hampton High School and hopes to study international relations or political science.

Another founder, Ross School senior Johanna Saldana, just went to Washington, D.C. for the inauguration with the Congressional Youth Leadership Council. Arlette Flores, a 2006 graduate of East Hampton High School, who is working in order to save money for college, and Cornell student and East Hampton High School graduate Paul Munez round out the group.

Natalia Saavedra, whose parents came to the United States from Colombia legally 10 and a half years ago, spent most of her teenage years watching her parents struggle to become residents after losing their visas. She said that their struggle led her to want to work to help other Latinos on the East End.

“There were so many injustices along the way,â€

I wonder how Latino students (legally here) would feel if they were to lose their place in college to an illegal alien?

If an illegal alien student wants to go to college in the US, they should perforce be made to pay the international student rate. NO discounts, NO scholarships, NO grants, etc, utilizing US money. They should apply for scholarships, grants and loans from their home countries. Notice I don't say no "loans"? That's because they are looking for a 100% free ride, because they're all "poor". Tough noogies.

Illegal alien students shouldn't be admitted to U.S. colleges and universities in the first place...any institution that admits them is violating federal immigration law...because foreign nationals wishing to study in the U.S. must first obtain a student visa BEFORE they set foot in this nation. When illegal aliens are admitted to colleges/universities...basically those institutions are waiving the legal requirements and their own admissions requirements applicable to foreign nationals. There should be no double standard when it comes to admission requirements for foreign national students in U.S. colleges and universities.

In high school, I would see Latinos not getting along with whites

LOL In my neighborhood here in Brooklyn the Chinese started taking over in 1990 and now it's 99% Chinese. I'd guess much less than half are here legally. The point that relates to the quote though is this:

As the Chinese moved in a great many Hispanics were being displaced, slowly at first but then at a much faster pace. I live 5 blocks from Pershing Middle school which in 1990 had a student population of about 50% Hispanic, 40% white and 10% Chinese. Well guess what...as the Chinese population grew the Hispanics, not the whites, picked on the Chinese. I know this for a fact because many of the teachers often stopped in our American Legion post that is just down the block from the school. The trouble only lasted a few years because by 1996 the Chinese became the majority. The student body today is at least 85% Chinese, about 12% Hispanic and maybe 3% white.

I so miss the Brooklyn I have always loved but it's GONE!