Lawsuit challenges state law that provides college aid to undocumented students
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February 04, 2010 8:16 PM
Nick Pipitone
The Monitor

EDINBURG — For Carmen, as for many people, a college degree represents an opportunity for a better future. But her future is far more difficult to ascertain than it is for most U.S. college students.

She is one of several thousand undocumented immigrants attending Texas universities and colleges, according to the Immigration Reform Coalition of Texas (IRCOT).

Carmen — who declined to give her last name for fear that her current employer could face repercussions — came to the U.S. from Chiapas in 1992 at age 14, unsure of what was happening or what her future held.

Now, at 32, she is pursuing a master’s degree at the University of Texas-Pan American with the peace of mind that even if she is forced to leave the U.S., the federal government cannot take away her college education and the hope of better employment in Mexico.

“If I stayed in Mexico, I don’t think I’d have a degree,â€