Posted on 09/30/2005 8:06:40 AM PDT by devane617
TAMPA - Xenia Ruiz will tell you she's an American, but on paper, she's not.
Born in Mexico City, she was whisked into this country at the age of 8 months, her parents fearful after a rash of kidnappings. English became her first language, Spanish her second.
"Every day in school, I would get up and pledge the allegiance to the flag and sing patriotic songs," the high school senior said. "In my heart, in my mind-set, I am an American."
A student visa protects her from deportation, but she's ineligible for in-state college tuition, the state's Bright Futures scholarship, a driver's license or, when she turns 18 in a couple of weeks, voting.
It's a familiar story for an estimated 5,000 undocumented high school seniors in Florida and 65,000 nationwide, according to the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center in Miami. They didn't ask to come here -- their parents made that decision -- but now many want to make the most of the U.S. university system and, ultimately, the American Dream.
"I am paying for consequences that are not my fault," Ruiz said. "I've concentrated on my studies and followed all the rules all my life."
There's no accurate way to count how many such students are in American schools. Public school districts aren't allowed to ask a student's immigration status before enrolling them.
Hillsborough's director of pupil administrative services, Steve Ayers, wouldn't hazard a guess on how many might be in his district. About a quarter of the district's more than 192,000 students is Hispanic, the group most likely to have immigration issues in Florida.
It's a societal issue that must be addressed before the nation finds itself in a battle over equality with a young, driven generation of Latinos, said Lydia Medrano, with Florida's League of United Latin American Citizens. Give them legal status, she said, let them go to college and let them work.
"They have desire, motivation and capabilities," Medrano said. "Why stop them? They are here to stay."
Erecting barriers to a college education creates an underclass, said Donna Parrino, University of South Florida's Latin Community Advancement director.
"There are undocumented students who overcome barriers and do graduate with outstanding test scores and GPAs," she said. "They are very qualified to pursue higher education. But they are charged the out-of-state rate, and that is prohibitive."
There's proposed legislation to help them -- a bill known as the Dream Act is stalled in Congress -- but there's still a question of what will happen when they get out of school. Without proper identification, getting a good job will be difficult.
All of that's not America's problem, some say, and undocumented students in public schools are a burden on taxpayers. Students such as Ruiz are vulnerable because their parents resolve to stay in the country illegally, said John Keeley, director of communications for the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington think tank that favors restrictions on immigration.
"These children deserve a lot of sympathy, and this ought to highlight the very, very poor decision-making by their parents," Keeley said. "It's quite clear that if they are out of status, irrespective of age, they should be swiftly and humanely deported. No exceptions for minors."
A 1982 Supreme Court ruling -- Plyler v. Doe -- allowed undocumented students to attend kindergarten through 12th grade without proof of citizenship. In 1975, Texas withheld funds from schools districts that enrolled undocumented children, ultimately prompting the Supreme Court's action.
Immigrants Accepted At USF Each state sets its own requirements for state colleges and universities, with some allowing financial aid for undocumented students. In Florida, four universities, including Florida State University and University of Central Florida, don't accept undocumented students. Others, including University of South Florida, accept them as out-of-state students.
Ruiz, who attends Tampa Preparatory School, plans to attend college as an international student, even though she was raised in Florida.
Others can't afford to pay out-of-state rates. Elsy Ramirez, 17, a student at Hillsborough Community College, is taking a three-credit-hour class for $1,000. For the same amount, students paying in-state tuition take nine hours of credit.
She had a tough trip from Colombia to the United States. A smuggler brought Ramirez and her father through Venezuela and Mexico. Thirteen years old, she went first, arriving in Arizona hours before her father, unsure whether he'd make it across the final border.
"I couldn't wait to see him and my mother who was already in the country," Ramirez said, crying as she remembered the ordeal. "I was begging God so I could see him again. I thought he may have been caught."
Four years later, Ramirez graduated from Leto High School with a 3.8 grade point average, an SAT score in the 900s and hopes of being a software engineer. Without a Social Security number, she can't apply for financial aid and a lot of scholarships.
"It is so frustrating," Ramirez said. "But you can't give up. You have to look for ways to fight. It takes time and effort and everything. We have the capability to achieve so much. Unfortunately, we can't."
Pressing For Change Esther Walling, college counselor at Thomas Jefferson High School in Los Angeles, champions undocumented students. She was a featured speaker at a recent National Association for College Admission Counseling convention held in Tampa.
"They shouldn't be punished because of their parents' decisions to come here," Walling said at the convention.
The workshop revealed it's not only the traditional migration states -- Florida, California, Texas and New York -- seeing this growing population. Washington, New Hampshire, North and South Carolina are experiencing similar trends.
Antonio Reveles, director of college and financial aid counseling for the Los Angeles Unified School District, said there is a movement to support the Dream Act, which would help undocumented students gain legal status.
"If this passes, it legitimizes a population that has been here for a long time," Reveles said.
The Dream Act would allow high school graduates who came to the United States as minors and lived in the country for at least five years to apply for legal status. The act also would eliminate a federal provision discouraging states from charging in-state tuition to immigrant students.
As undocumented students and guidance counselors await movement on the Dream Act, educators wonder what will happen to students once they go to college and graduate without proper identification, which is required when applying for a job.
"That's the $64,000 question," Walling said. "They have to find sponsors. Maybe employers can sponsor them for their residency. But right now, we just don't know what's going to happen."
DREAM ACT The Dream Act, introduced in the Senate in 2001 and stalled, stands for the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act. It would allow undocumented students in the country for five years to gain permanent status. Other requirements under the act:
• Undocumented students must have entered the country before age 16.
• They must be accepted into a university or have earned a diploma or GED.
• They must have good moral character and have no deportable criminal offenses.
So she has been here for almost 18yrs and her folks never quite got around rectifying their status.
Sorry...while I do sympathize, we passed immigration laws for a reason. This is just one of them.
Sounds like amnesty to me.
This story really made me gag. I can't believe i read all the way through it. Where's my free education/housing/special privileges? Aaaaargh Matey, off the plank ya go illegals! !!!
Hard to feel sorry for someone who has already taken full advantage of the perks of citizenship she is not due (ie a free public education) and is now whining that she cannot have more.
susie
Exactly. She is an ILLegal ALIEN.
Barriers Curb Immigrant Illegal Alien Students' Access To College, Job Market
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Regardless of the circumstances, she has violated the laws of the United States and therefore should be immediately arrested and deported.
I have a lot more sympathy for the guy who robs 7-11 to feed his family then some ILLEGAL who is sucking the country dry.
Her attendence at one of our universities is depriving a CITIZEN of their right to an education
So you would prefer to charge these illegal aliens, i.e. non-citizens, i.e. lawbreakers, the lower rate that you charge your legal resident citizens and yet continue to charge higher "out-of-state rates" to legal citizens that happen to reside in a neighboring state?
She's not a citizen, noone's kicking her out, so get off your duff and work a little harder so that you can pay full tuition prices. In-state tuition is for LEGAL citizens not illegal.
An illegal immigrant who STOLE every benefit she got from the USA.... No sympathy for thieves......
Also, if her grades are so good, why not apply for private scholarships to cover tuition/books/expenses? Apply for citizenship herself, maybe?? My private scholarships were worth more than my aid package, and weren't tied to anything other than grades and an essay. There are ALWAYS options for getting an education, besides government funding.
at eighteen, she is a legal adult, and as such, she can apply for citizenship on her own, whether she "followed all the rules" or not the rest of her life, she or her parents forgot one of them. after that, all those priviledges she's whining about not having will surely be available to her.
Forget the parents, why aren't these "students" (who are legally considered adults at age 18) trying to adjust their own status prior to applying to a college? How they expect to get a job after graduation is beyond me.
If you want the benefits and blessings of citizenship in the United States of America...
"I am paying for consequences that are not my fault," Ruiz said. "I've concentrated on my studies and followed all the rules all my life."
No you haven't. If you followed all the rules, you wouldn't be here or looking for a free ride to college.
At least there are some advantages to being born American and having a long line of ancestors who have fought, died, and paid taxes for the building of this great nation.
This article is a veiled attempt to justify a means to allow illegals to become legal citizens, no more, no less, that is the intent of this article.
I'm embarassed to say that I feel sympathy for Zenia. She had no choice at 8 months old. It's kind of ridiculous to expect her to pack her things, move back to wherever she was born, and try to fit in. The article does mention that she'll be 18 in a few months. Can she apply for citizenship?
Children can't be blamed for their parent's criminal acts. She sounds like she's a hardworking, decent person.
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