Thread: If she was so smart, she'd know what she has to do...

P.S. and why with all this publicity, don't they pick up her entire family?

http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/printDS/131157

Published: 05.28.2006

A dream deferred
She's a top Tucson student who hopes to be a doctor. But as an illegal immigrant brought to this country as a child, she can't get a driver's license, a job, or use a scholarship to the university. What should happen to her now?
By Lourdes Medrano
ARIZONA DAILY STAR

Just as she was about to graduate from high school, the past and present of Marcela Velasquez collided, mangling what she thought was a straight path to the University of Arizona.
For years, Velasquez had known that someday she would go to the UA. But that was before she understood being a top student was not enough to let her attend the college of her choice.
Velasquez, 18, lives in the country unlawfully, so she is ineligible for many of the same scholarships and financial aid that U.S. citizens and permanent legal residents can obtain. Without it, she cannot afford to pay the UA's nonresident tuition of nearly $15,000 a year.
"I just feel bummed," Velasquez said in her South Side home. "But I still have the same dreams, I still want to be a doctor."
On Friday, when the teen graduated with honors from Desert View High School, she seemed like any other senior in cap and gown, looking ahead to the promise of tomorrow.
In reality, Velasquez was set apart by circumstance when she was 6 and her mother brought her into the country illegally.
She is among a rising number of high school graduates who have spent most of their lives in the United States but don't qualify for federal financial aid or in-state tuition because they lack legal authorization to be here.
Now, proposed federal legislation that would benefit students such as Velasquez gives the teen renewed hope that someday the barriers to a four-year college will tumble.
The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, long stalled in Congress, was approved last week as part of the Senate's immigration package.
If the full Congress approves it, the legislation would grant students raised in the United States temporary legal status and citizenship eligibility if they enroll in college or the military.
The proposed legislation also would eliminate penalties for states that allow illegal residents to pay in-state tuition, said Josh Bernstein, director of federal policy for the National Immigration Law Center.
Ten states take the risk, enabling students without legal status to pay the same rates as their high school classmates. Arizona does not.
"These students didn't choose to come here," said Bernstein, citing annual estimates of 65,000 such graduating high school students. "They have done everything that society has asked them to do, and they deserve to be treated based on their actions."
Opponents of the legislation, such as the Federation for American Immigration Reform, characterize the DREAM Act as amnesty disguised as an educational initiative. If approved, the legislation would be "a tremendous inducement for people to come and break the law," group spokesman Ira Mehlman told National Public Radio recently.
Studies to continue at PCC
In some ways, Velasquez is luckier than her peers who find themselves at a crossroads after high school. Her stellar academic performance earned her a merit scholarship to Pima Community College, where she already has enrolled. The UA also awarded her a scholarship for her good grades, but Velasquez said she was unable to use it.
PCC spokesman David Irwin said the scholarship Velasquez received is given to high-achieving students regardless of legal status.
Paul Allvin, a UA spokesman, said the type of scholarship the university offers to excelling students requires a Social Security number. "That's when a person's legal status often catches up with the students," he said, adding that the university tries to connect those students with private donors.
Velasquez is ranked ninth in her senior class of more than 250, but she cannot produce a legitimate Social Security number and she does not know of any private financial assistance. For now, Velasquez said she is grateful she can go to Pima.
Slender with shoulder-length dark hair and dark eyes, Velasquez is self-assured despite the obstacles she started noticing around the time her friends began driving and working part-time — something she yearned to do.
Finally, she asker her mother, Josefina Gonzalez, to explain why a job and a driver's license were out of her reach.
With a heavy heart, Gonzalez recalled, she shared the family secret with her daughter. "Forgive me if I erred in bringing you here," Gonzalez said she told her daughter.
Velasquez said she has yet to tell some close friends. It was difficult enough telling her boyfriend, Manuel Gonzales, when he insisted on driving her to pick up a driver's manual, she said.
Gonzales, 19, whose family has deep roots in Tucson, said he couldn't believe the girl he was dating, who spoke only English at school and preferred listening to rock over rancheras, was anything but a citizen.
"I know that if given the chance, she can contribute much more than a lot of people who were born here," he said.
Velasquez's advanced placement English teacher, Stacy Haines, said he felt angry when a tearful Velasquez told him she couldn't go to the university because of her illegal status.
"It's sad that great kids like Marcela are victimized by circumstances out of their control," he said.
Velasquez's mother said seeing her daughter's frustration deepen as she got older inundated her with guilt.
It pains her to see her daughter come home burdened with one disappointment after another because of her illegal status, said the mother, who has two younger boys — one born in Mexico, the other in Tucson.
Gonzalez, 40, said the teen became depressed with her inability to secure financial aid to the university. And because she lacks government-issued identification, Velasquez won't be able to board a plane to California this summer for her boyfriend's family reunion.
"It's hard not being able to do a lot of the things that average teenagers do," Velasquez said. "I can't even fly on an airplane because I was born in another country."
The teen said she remembers little about her childhood in Cananea, Sonora.
For her, Tucson always has been home, even if the family has struggled economically because mother and children rely solely on Gonzalez's salary as a housekeeper.
Mother and daughter recalled moving from place to place when they first came to Tucson, at times sharing cramped apartments with relatives so they could save on living expenses. "It was tough. We didn't have a lot," Velasquez said.
But the girl was a good student and she quickly picked up the English language. Her academic progress grew with the years, making her mother proud and comfortable with her decision to expose her daughter to an enriching education in the United States. The federal government requires public schools to provide a free education through 12th grade to all students, without considering legal status.
When Velasquez reached high school, the mother said, her daughter's involvement in basketball, cross-country and track kept her up at night, particularly when Velasquez traveled out of Tucson for competitions. The mother said she often tried to hold her daughter back for fear she would come across a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint and get deported.
But her daughter, undaunted, already had begun her quest for independence.
Recent action encouraging
Velasquez said she didn't think much about illegal status until the stumbling blocks became more apparent. Still, the teen said she understands her mother's motivation for wanting her to grow up in this country.
"I was upset with her at times because she didn't file for citizenship earlier," she said. Five years ago, her mother applied for legal residency for the family through a brother who is a citizen, but Gonzalez said she has heard nothing new about her immigration case.
She is encouraged by the recent Senate action and in particular by the legislation that could bestow legal status on her daughter.
"Her life is here," Gonzalez said of her firstborn. "She knows nothing else and wants nothing else."
On StarNet A reader poll: Should students who aren't in this country legally be eligible for the same financial aid and scholarships available to citizens? To vote, go to azstarnet.com

I don't believe that story for a second...she could do what many others do...pay for it!!! Oh boy, it is going to cost a lot of money to go all the way through med school.

It's unfortunate her father put her in this situation. If he would have only have been honest and followed the laws.

I know that if given the chance, she can contribute much more than a lot of people who were born here," he said.

This kind of talk is just total crap! These 'pull your heartstrings' articles are conditioning to play on people's sensitivities and are non of our concern. Tell it to Vincente Fox!!! If you have a sob story you can bend the law and break it. If you have a good reason it''s okay to rob and steal and maybe even kill. Excuses and lies = pull the wool over your eyes.

The family had plenty of time to apply for legal status. All I got to say is too bad. Just another sob story.

They are going to drag every bleeding heart story out of the woodwork to work on us. Apeal to the weak minded.

Americans are tough and we just take it, when bad things happen. We don't go whining to the world. I say to every American that has been effected and harmed by an illegal immigrant to complain. You should write the White House and explain about how they have negatively effected your life and what they have cost you.

comments@whitehouse.gov

You really should ask him, why aren't you taking care of Americans?
Tell him the only way to take care of us is to back off the guest worker program and presue enforcement only legislation.
Tell him we have a 20 million person problem that is increasing daily and it's time to solve it once and for all.

the sob stories abound without anyone talking about the DUI's, the drugs, gangs, welfare, wic, destroying our schools and medical resources ad infinitum. give the figures of what they contribute and what they cost to a good accounting firm. let them tell the story. i still don't understand why the legislatures, federal and state are wasting our tax money and their time, effort and energy on illegals. pass some laws to help our own, give our poor kids a free college education. time for them to remember charity begins at home.

Then I would say she is no different than most american kids that want to go to college. Their parents have to pay and they have to get loans. Why does she think she should get special priviledges that our own american kids don't have.

Contact reporter Lourdes Medrano at 573-4347 or lmedrano@azstarnet.com.

Finally, she asker her mother, Josefina Gonzalez, to explain why a job and a driver's license were out of her reach.
With a heavy heart, Gonzalez recalled, she shared the family secret with her daughter. "Forgive me if I erred in bringing you here," Gonzalez said she told her daughter

The writer was very crafty in making the reader beleive this poor girl didn't find out her legal status until she began applying for colleges and having scholarships given her. Legal driving age is 16.

When Velasquez reached high school, the mother said, her daughter's involvement in basketball, cross-country and track kept her up at night, particularly when Velasquez traveled out of Tucson for competitions. The mother said she often tried to hold her daughter back for fear she would come across a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint and get deported.
But her daughter, undaunted, already had begun her quest for independence

Then later in the article we find out she knew of her illegal status for sometime. As she went off to her sporting events knowing boarder patrol could catch her.

In some ways, Velasquez is luckier than her peers who find themselves at a crossroads after high school. Her stellar academic performance earned her a merit scholarship to Pima Community College,

PCC spokesman David Irwin said the scholarship Velasquez received is given to high-achieving students regardless of legal status.

"That's when a person's legal status often catches up with the students," he said, adding that the university tries to connect those students with private donors.

How many American students do you know who's parents cannot afford to send them, yet their child falls threw the cracks for grants etc. And how many do you know were teachers and adminastrators of high school and college seek out "private donors" ? I personaly do not know of any. I do know of many who have gotten the "tough luck try a community college or trade school then" response.

Should students who aren't in this country legally be eligible for the same financial aid and scholarships available to citizens?

Yes 7 %
No 80 %
It depends on the circumstances 13 %

Total number of votes 207

Use this link to go to the page with the poll on it:

http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/education/131157.php