Thread: Undocumented grads face obstacles

http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_3933822

Undocumented grads face obstacles

By Louie Gilot / El Paso Times
El Paso Times

When Luis' friends graduated from high school last month, their future was clear. They would go to a good college and would celebrate their last summer before adulthood by traveling the country.
Luis, 18, graduated as well, with honors. He was even accepted to his dream school, St. Mary's University in San Antonio, where he wanted to study physical therapy.

But Luis won't be going to St. Mary's, and he won't be hanging out this summer. He'll be working in a restaurant to save money for UTEP.

Although he came from Juárez when he was a young child and considers himself an American, Luis is an undocumented immigrant. As such, he can't get financial aid, and the $28,000-a-year private- college tuition is out of reach. Traveling outside El Paso is also a no-no because he would have to go through a Border Patrol checkpoint. In fact, Luis can't even drive because he can't get a driver license.

"This is where I call home. This is my country. I don't hide when I see a Border Patrol car. Sometimes I get frustrated. Why me? I haven't done anything to anybody," said Luis, who asked that his last name not be used.

The path to higher education for undocumented children like Luis -- and there are an estimated 1.8 million of them in the United States, according to numbers from the Pew Hispanic Center -- is spattered with obstacles.

These students have to pay foreign-student rates in some states, although not in Texas, and can't receive federal financial aid.

But some persevere and make it through.

The salutatorian at Princeton University this year was an undocumented immigrant, according to news reports. The Pew Hispanic Center found that 48 percent of undocumented children who graduate from high school in the United States go to college. By comparison, 73 percent of documented immigrant children and 70 percent of native children go to college.

These numbers might change thanks to the so-called DREAM Act, now a provision in S.2611, the Senate immigration bill passed last month. The act would allow the legalization of undocumented immigrants headed for college.

"It would give them a future to do what we want all kids to do, go to college, graduate and pursue a career. Not be forced to take low-paying jobs," said Iliana Holguin, executive director of the Diocesan Migrant and Refugee Services.

Luis' testimony was read last year at a congressional briefing on the DREAM Act.

Immigrants'-rights activists said the DREAM Act could motivate some to stay in school.

Only 8 percent of the nation's teens are foreign-born, but nearly 25 percent of teen school dropouts were born outside the United States, according to a Pew Hispanic Center analysis of data from the 2000 U.S. Census.

The Senate now has to reconcile the bill with the House version, which is more focused on border security, before the law can be enacted.

For now, those in Texas benefit from Texas House Bill 1403, which since 2001 has allowed undocumented high-school graduates to pay in-state tuition in state schools instead of foreign- student tuition, cutting the amount by more than half to about $2,000 per semester at the University of Texas at El Paso. Texas was the first of seven states enacting such a law. Students eligible for in-state tuition under Texas House Bill 1403 must have resided in the state for three years.

This spring semester, 93 undocumented immigrants were enrolled at El Paso Community College out of a total of 24,450 students. UTEP officials said they do not ask students about their immigration status.

Yvonne Diaz, 18, came to El Paso with her family four years ago.

"Everything was OK in high school, but it got complicated during my senior year," she said. That's when she realized she wouldn't qualify for financial aid.

She turned to El Paso Community College but said she was told erroneously that she couldn't enroll because of her status. It took her a semester to figure out it wasn't so. She enrolled in January to study psychology.

She still struggles to come up with her tuition -- $600 a semester. Of her U.S. citizen friends from high school, "very few are going to college. They work at McDonald's. Many girls have children and are married and stay in the house," she said. "I came to better myself, not to waste my time."

Luis said he'll make $70 or $80 a day as a waiter this summer to pay for UTEP. He said he won't worry about what will happen after college.

"My main goal is to get my college degree. That's why my parents came over here. That's all I'm worried about. I hope by the time I graduate, I'll have my papers," he said.

Luis' father became a legal resident two years ago and sponsored him, but the backlog is such that he could be waiting seven years for his green card, according to estimates by the U.S. Department of State.

His two younger brothers, however, were born in the United States and are U.S. citizens. As long as they study hard, Luis said, getting to college will be easier for them.

Louie Gilot may be reached at lgilot@elpasotimes.com; 546-6131.

Information on college options for undocumented immigrants: www.onlinecollegenetwork.com.



College dreams fade






College-bound
Who goes to college after graduating from high school:

48 percent of undocumented immigrants' children.

73 percent of documented immigrants' children.

70 percent of native children.
Source: Pew Hispanic Center.



The DREAM Act

Students who have been brought to the United States more than five years ago when they were 15 years old or younger and demonstrate good moral character would be permitted to apply for a six-year permit to attend college after graduating from high school. Permanent residence could be granted at the end of the six-year period.

The federal provision that discourages states from providing in-state tuition to undocumented immigrant students would be eliminated.

Each year, about 65,000 U.S.-raised students would qualify for the DREAM Act.

Sponsors of the bill: Sens. Richard Durbin, D-Ill.; Chuck Hagel, R-Neb.; and Richard Lugar, R-Ind., and Reps. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, R-Fla.; Howard Berman, D-Calif.; and Lucille Roybal-Allard, D-Calif.
Source: National Immigration Law Center.

http://www.mndaily.com/articles/2006/06/14/68496

June 14, 2006


higher education


Undocumented students face problems in paying for school
Abraham Castro was able to use a full scholarship only after obtaining legal status.

By Marni Ginther
ne summer day in 1993, when child psychology and Chicano studies junior Abraham Castro was 7 years old, he found himself standing alone outside a Southern California restaurant.

The people his family had paid to drive him across the Mexican border dropped him off there and told him his mother would come for him soon.

“I didn’t speak English, I didn’t know where I was, I was scared out of my mind,” Castro said.

When immigrants cross the border illegally, that’s the kind of uncertainty they live with, even long after they’ve settled in the United States, he said.

And for Castro, like many students who arrived in this country illegally, one of the most glaring uncertainties of life in the United States is his future after high school.

“People wonder why Latinos have low graduation rates,” he said. “But when I found out I might not be able to go to college, I felt like dropping out too.”

A 2004 graduate of Highland Park High School, Castro had taken International Baccalaureate classes and earned a full academic scholarship to the University.

Instead of celebrating like most high school graduates would, Castro started looking for a job.

“Getting the scholarship was almost more of a disappointment because I was pretty sure that even though I got it, I couldn’t use it,” he said.

The scholarship couldn’t be given to him unless he was awarded legal residency by the U.S. government. His family had applied for residency 10 years earlier but still hadn’t gotten it. So the chances of getting his residency within the next three months, he said, looked pretty slim.

But somehow he did.

“We got a call from our lawyer saying our residency might come through by the end of the summer (of 2004),” Castro said. “Then all they did was stamp our passports, and then I could go to college.”

But Castro’s case is very unique, said Alondra Espejel, communications organizer at the Minnesota Immigrant Freedom Network and a 2005 University graduate.

If Castro hadn’t gotten his residency in the nick of time, his options would have been much more limited.

When students awaiting legal status apply to the University, they might be accepted, but they have to pay out-of-state tuition, said University admissions counselor Michelle Garay, who recruits specifically in Latino communities.

For the 2005-2006 academic year, that meant the difference between $7,140 and $18,770.

Applicants without documents also are ineligible for any government financial aid, she said. That includes scholarships like Castro’s; it also means they can’t take out student loans.

“The only money available to them is through private scholarships, and those are very few and far between,” Garay said.

So even in the case of students who’ve lived here most of their lives, gone through the Minnesota school system and performed well in high school, if they don’t have documents, the University really isn’t an option, said Lisa Sass-Zaragoza, Chicano studies department coordinator.

“There aren’t that many options for these kids,” she said. “And that’s part of the message to the larger community and the ‘U’ — there’s a lot of talent and super-bright kids whose options are being limited, and then we all lose.”

Castro’s friend, Felipe Mancera, was one of those talented graduates.

Like Castro, he graduated from Highland Park and earned a full academic scholarship to the University, as well as a full football scholarship to St. Thomas University. But Mancera wasn’t able to secure residency like Castro, so he couldn’t get either scholarship, he said.

Mancera and Castro said what upset them most was that no one told them until late in high school that being in the United States illegally would prevent them from keeping their scholarships.

“When I applied to the ‘U,’ I listed myself as an international student. They called me back and asked why, and that’s when I realized this wasn’t going to work,” Mancera said. “But I didn’t think that should defy everything I had done up to that point in my life.”

He now volunteers full time at the Minnesota Immigrant Freedom Network, lobbying for legislation that would provide people like him access to higher education.

“The only hope is through legislation in Washington that gives people visas so they can live here legally,” said Mancera, “that or the Dream Act.”

The act would allow illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition, said Mariano Espinoza, executive director of the Freedom Network. But they still wouldn’t be able to receive government financial aid, he said.

“One of the things people say about the Dream Act is that undocumented students would be taking away financial resources from kids who are citizens,” Espinoza said. “But that is not true, and people don’t realize that.”

But Dave Gorak, executive director of the Midwest Coalition to Reduce Immigration, said it’s unfair for out-of-state students who are U.S. citizens to pay higher rates than people who live here illegally.

He also said there is an idea that, although people are here illegally, we might as well educate them as long as they’re here.

“The problem with that is, all it does is encourage other people to break the law,” Gorak said. “Then they’ll say, ‘If you go to Minnesota, you get in-state tuition,’ and that’s where all of them will head.”

The debate surrounding the Dream Act has many sides, but members of the Freedom Network remain optimistic about other ways illegal immigrants can get access to higher education.

Members from the Freedom Network and the University’s Chicano studies department plan to meet with College of Liberal Arts Dean Steven Rosenstone in June about how to make the University more accessible to high-achieving, undocumented students, Espejel said.

“The perception is that if you’re undocumented, you can’t go to the ‘U,’ ” Espejel said. “And we want to change that.”

In the meantime, Castro has come a long way from his first, rather jarring experience in the United States.

As a legal resident now, he’ll be taking the citizenship test in a few years, he said.

He is working on a double major in child psychology and Chicano studies and hopes to go to graduate school to study education and become a counselor or teacher.

“It’s very important to have counselors who understand what undocumented students have to go through,” Castro said. “After the disappointment of finding out you can’t go to college, you know, trying to keep those kids in school is important.”

Mancera said he remains hopeful the work he’s doing will help him and that some day his younger brother will go to college.

“My mom always says hope is the last thing you lose,” he said. “You can lose your legs, but you don’t lose hope.”

Hi Brian,

Well pass the crying towel! Boo hoo! Let's all us taxpayers go on a mega guilt trip!

Here's the threat!!!
http://www.immigrationportal.com/forumd ... 8b38&f=230

Read this stuff and you'll know who the US Senate really works for - and it ain't us!!!