Thread: Illegal immigrant students in college classrooms

ON CAMPUS
Illegal immigrants in college classrooms
PAUL CHAVEZ looks at federal legislation that would open the door to permanent residency for illegal immigrants who go to college.



Illegal immigrant students hope legislation will lead to college and citizenship. (AP Illustration/Jenni Sohn)
Thursday, 29 March, 2007, 21:56 EDT, US
LOS ANGELES



Marla Ramirez, shown on the UCLA campus, hopes Congress will pass legislation to help illegal immigrant students. (AP Photo/Paul Chavez)


In order to listen to this news clip you must have Macromedia's Flash Player version 7 or greater installed.

__DOWNLOADHTML__

Marla Ramirez talks about how she's raised money for tuition.




In order to listen to this news clip you must have Macromedia's Flash Player version 7 or greater installed.

__DOWNLOADHTML__

Ramirez on the DREAM Act's path to citizenship.

Marla Ramirez was 11 and living in Michoacan, Mexico, when her mother announced that her family was headed to California for three weeks to visit her father and go to Disneyland.

Ramirez, her mother and four sisters crossed the border with tourist visas, but the plan to see Mickey Mouse never materialized. The family settled down and joined the ranks of immigrants living illegally in the United States.

After learning English, Ramirez graduated from Jordan High School in Long Beach, Calif. -- becoming one of the roughly 65,000 illegal immigrant students who graduate each year from U.S. high schools.

The U.S. Supreme Court in 1982 ruled that it was unconstitutional to deny K-12 public education to children here illegally, but the ruling doesn't apply to college, so many students end up in limbo if they want to continue their education.

California is one of 10 states that allow illegal immigrant students to pay in-state tuition. The law has helped Ramirez, who is set to graduate this spring from the University of California, Los Angeles, where she majors in English literature and has a double minor in Spanish literature and Latin American studies.

Ramirez, who pays $175 a month to share a living room in an apartment near campus, now wants to make it easier for other illegal immigrant students to earn a college degree and become legal residents. And she's hopeful about pending federal legislation that would pave the way for such a change.

___

DREAM ACT

At UCLA, Ramirez saved about $18,000 this academic year by paying the in-state tuition, but as an illegal immigrant she doesn't qualify for either state or federal financial aid. Illegal immigrant students also face poor job prospects when they graduate because they don't have work permits or Social Security numbers.

That's why many illegal immigrants are hopeful about a bill in Congress called the DREAM Act.

The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act, introduced March 1 in the House, would offer immigration relief to students brought to the U.S. more than five years ago when they were 15 or younger, if they demonstrate good moral character. The bill would grant the students up to six years of conditional legal residence, contingent on attending college or joining the military.

Permanent residence would be granted at the end of the six-year period if all requirements were met.

The DREAM Act also would eliminate a federal immigration provision that discourages states from providing in-state tuition to undocumented immigrant students.

"We're very insecure about our legal status and live with the fear of deportation," Ramirez said.

___

MIXED MESSAGES?

Where some see hope in the DREAM Act, critics say it sends the wrong message.

The proposed law would reward illegal immigrants who scoff at U.S. immigration laws, said Ira Mehlman, spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which supports a tightened border.

"The law says don't come, we don't want you to come," Mehlman said. "But, if you come illegally anyway and get your kids into school, we'll reward your child with a green card and subsidized education. So, essentially it is promising them exactly what they broke the law to achieve."

FAIR sued to challenge the California law that allows in-state tuition for illegal immigrants, and is now appealing after a judge upheld the law last October. The group is also challenging a similar law in Kansas and appealing a federal ruling against them in that case.

___

WHAT'S NEXT?

The DREAM Act could get through Congress now that Democrats are in control, said Josh Bernstein, director of federal policy for the National Immigration Law Center.

"We're very hopeful that it will pass this year," Bernstein said. "We have much more optimism than in other years."

The bill has gained support each year since 2001, but has always had a tough road in the House mainly because committee chairmen opposed it and were unwilling to bring it up for a vote, he said.

The new chairman of the House Subcommittee on Immigration is Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), a former immigration attorney and a previous co-sponsor of the DREAM Act. Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) are also both previous co-sponsors of the act.

"We couldn't have better leadership as far as support of the DREAM Act is concerned," Bernstein said. "So we're very hopeful that the House will no longer be an obstacle."

___

Paul Chavez is an asap reporter based in Los Angeles.


http://asap.ap.org/stories/1336567.s

Zoe is my beloved (not) rep. She is so stinking liberal it's sickening. This dream thing upsets me so much.

WAIT! Just wait one little minute!!

and go to Disneyland.

They can AFFORD to go to Disneyland?

Excuse me!? Disneyland??

Is this a freaking joke? How many Americans cannot afford to take their children to DISNEYLAND? And these ILLEGALS can muster the bucks while sucking our tax dollars down the drain?

Originally Posted by 2ndamendsis

WAIT! Just wait one little minute!!

and go to Disneyland.

They can AFFORD to go to Disneyland?

Excuse me!? Disneyland??

Is this a freaking joke? How many Americans cannot afford to take their children to DISNEYLAND? And these ILLEGALS can muster the bucks while sucking our tax dollars down the drain?

I've never been able to take my kids to either one of them, or to Colonial Williamsburg, or Valley Forge, or Liberty Hall, or the Liberty Bell, even though in my younger single days I went to all the historical sites since I was living locally at one time or another.

Took my Sister to them when she came to visit, and I met Mom in D.C. when she was up for Postmaster General in the mid 80's. We had a great time going to Ford's Theater, and the Smithsonian. The latter I suggest doing in a few trips. It took me almost 2 and a half years to see everything at the Smithsonian. But we went to the Capitol and the White House, and all the Memorials and the Cemetary at Arlington Va.

But I haven't been able to take my kids anywhere on a vacation since they were born. And my son is 22 now, and my daughter is 15.