Undocumented students hold rally at PBCC to support Dream Act

They want law to pass that makes it easier for them to enter, pay for college


Mexican immigrant Manuel Guerra speaks at a rally to support of the DREAM Act, an immigration bill that would create a path to citizenship for undocumented students. He came to the states illegally and after graduating from high school he was unable to study for the priesthood because of his status. (Mark Randall, Sun Sentinel / September 23, 2009)

Migration By C. Ron Allen
South Florida Sun Sentinel
7:46 p.m. EDT, September 23, 2009

LAKE WORTH - Frank is the kind of student most colleges would love to enroll.

As a 3.5 student at South Technical Academy in Boynton Beach, he excelled in computer networking. He was a member of the student government and a prime candidate for a Florida Bright Futures Scholarship.

But that couldn't get him into college.

Although he has been in the United States since he was 2, he is undocumented. He couldn't accept the scholarship, and without financial aid he is trying hard to stay in college and not scuttle his plans to be a veterinarian.

"The only school I can go to is a community college, and I have only been able to take two classes a year," said Frank, 21, whose parents came here from Colombia. "I can't get scholarships, and I have to pay out of state [tuition]. It gets very expensive."

On Wednesday, Frank and about 150 other students, faculty and supporters gathered in the TC Courtyard on Palm Beach Community College's Lake Worth campus for a rally endorsing the Dream Act, a bill that would allow undocumented students to get financial aid to pay for college. They started a petition seeking at least 300 supporters.

Many of the students at the rally were undocumented immigrants and identified themselves only by their first names.

Their plight has resonated nationwide. Each year, at least 65,000 undocumented students graduate from high school. In Washington, D.C., the bill to smooth the path to college is winding its way through the Senate with Democratic and Republican support.

Supporters say although the U.S. Supreme Court has guaranteed those students the right to a free public education through the 12th grade, once they doff their caps and gowns, national policies stymie their pursuit of higher education. Without Social Security numbers they can't get jobs, or even driver's licenses, forcing them to the fringes of society.

Connie Berry, a guidance counselor/specialist in the multicultural education department for Palm Beach County schools, said the country gives mixed messages.

"We tell them ... 'If you study and if you do well, you'll graduate from high school and you'd go to college,' " she told the rally, which took the form of a mock graduation ceremony, replete with students clad in brightly colored caps and gowns. "What a heartbreaking thing not to tell the truth."

Current federal restrictions force state colleges and universities to charge students who don't have legal immigration status higher, out-of-state tuition rates. That puts college out of reach for most of them. For example, students at Palm Beach Community College must pay $299.36 per credit hour compared with $82.50 for in-state students, according to the PBCC website.

The Dream Act would lift those restrictions. It also would let such students conditionally remain in this country if they have grown up here, graduated from high school and have shown good moral character.

But Bob Dane, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which opposes the Dream Act, said the supporters are pushing an amnesty plan disguised as an educational initiative.

"This thing has been kicked around in one form or another since 2001 and it is really another way to piecemeal amnesty," Dane said. "Were giving away higher educations to illegal aliens at the expense of U.S. citizens."

Ruth Rodriguez, 18, and her siblings came to the United States with their parents, who are from the Dominican Republic, in early childhood. They grew up in America and made their lives here, but their futures are filled with uncertainty.

An aspiring lawyer, Rodriguez took three years of JROTC classes in high school, qualified for Bright Futures and prepared herself for college. Those dreams were dashed at graduation.

"It's discouraging because I really worked hard in school," said Rodriguez, who graduated from Coconut Creek High School. "I graduated top 15 percentage of my class, I became the battalion commander in JROTC and I tried my hardest in school. I did everything I was supposed to do. It's something that's totally out of my control."

C. Ron Allen can be reached at crallen@SunSentinel.com or 561-243-6611.

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