Posted on 06/03/2007 10:09:12 AM PDT by don-o
WASHINGTON - At 23, Mariana should be carefree. She is finishing up her undergraduate degree at the University of California, Los Angeles, and has been accepted to a master's program at Harvard University's education school.
But life is not so simple for Mariana, who insisted that only her first name be published because she is illegally in the United States and worries she could be deported to Guatemala, where she was born.
"I'm even afraid of eating an apple in the library because I'm afraid of getting caught," she said.
Mariana also worries about how she will pay her tuition and what kind of work she will get after she completes school. "What happens next? Without a work permit, how do you exercise your degree?" she said during a recent interview.
Mariana is among an estimated 50,000 undocumented students in U.S. colleges today. These students would be among the people who would benefit from a part of an immigration bill that the Senate plans to resume work on this week.
Children born in the United States to undocumented parents are granted citizenship automatically. A section of the new legislation deals with illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. as children. They would gain temporary legal status when they graduate from high school as long as they agreed to enroll in college or enlist in the military.
They would be put on a fast, three-year path toward getting their permanent resident status and their green cards. While waiting for that, the students would be eligible for federal student loans and could work legally — options not available to them now.
The overall bill would help roughly 12 million illegal immigrants. For most, it would take a minimum of eight years to get a green card. The larger group also would have to pay fines that would not be imposed on the high-school graduates who came to the U.S. as kids.
In all, about 1 million people now in the country illegally could potentially benefit from the provision aimed at children. Those include students currently in elementary and secondary schools. Current law allows children in the U.S. illegally to get a free K-12 education. They can go to most colleges if they can pay their way.
The immigrants who would benefit from the provision must have been age 15 or younger when they were brought to the U.S. and must have arrived before January of this year. People older than 30 when the law is enacted would not benefit.
While the bill is the subject of widespread debate, the provision addressing students is popular. Advocates say they will try to add it to other bills moving through Congress if the immigration legislation does not pass.
"I'm going to look for every chance I can find to make this the law," said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., a chief supporter of the idea.
"What we're saying is these kids deserve a chance," he said. "They didn't decide to come to America. Their parents did."
One of the most vocal student advocates is Marie Gonzalez, a 21-year-old junior at Westminster College in Missouri. She has made numerous trips to Washington to tell her story.
Her parents were deported to Costa Rica two years ago. Gonzalez, whose deportation was deferred, said she could be sent back next year.
She said saying goodbye to her parents was awful. "There's no words to describe it. It's been absolutely terrible. I'm an only child. They're my best friends," she said.
But she said she cannot contemplate departing the United States for Costa Rica, a country she left when she was 5. "I've thought about visiting, but not going back to live there," she said. "That would be like a crashing of my dreams."
Student advocates say many of their peers drop out of high school because illegal immigrants typically only get jobs for low-skilled workers.
But the provision is motivating some students to stick with their studies, said Tam Tran, 24, who just graduated from UCLA.
"The idea that it might pass someday — that they might be able to use their college degree to get a job — that drives people," said Tran, who was born in Germany to Vietnamese refugees.
Neither Germany nor Vietnam recognizes her as a citizen, so she considers herself stateless in some ways and a typical American in others, Tran said.
She said she tries not to dwell on her status and that of many of her friends.
"It's like a form of rejection," she said. "We can't fully participate in what we have worked hard to become a part of."
I’d love to think there was a reliable way to keep the good ones while winnowing out the chaff, but I’m guessing any attempt would be riddled with loopholes.
Be prepared for a flood of these heart wrenching personal interest illegal alien stories from the Democrat Media.
This article is full of more feces than a pig farm.
DOING THE JOB AMERICAN STUDENTS WON’T DO?!?!
ENFORCE THE LAWS ON THE BOOKS, FEDS!!!!
Sheesh. Another ‘pity the poor put-upon lawbreakers in our country’. Wah wah wah.
deport..
I'm with don-o on this one. Not another penny or vote from me if this amnesty bill passes.
By depositing your skanky little illegal ass back in Guatemala where it belongs, river rat. Get in line like the rest of the planet.
For the record, I have never ever given anything to the RNC. I donate directly to candidates.
Can someone post the 800 numbers for senate contact? Tomorrow morning is call time for us all....
I'm sure Guatemala is in need of US educated teachers. You can go home and apply for citizenship and wait in line.
Huh? This is an idiotic non sequitur - what does eating food in the library have to do with anything? As with any library I'm sure no one is supposed to eat food in the library for obvious reasons.
So if she brings food into the library (breaking the rules that apply to everyone else using the library) she thinks the librarian is going to have her deported? So this woman believes the ICE enforces library rules now?
This woman doesn't sound too bright. She managed to get into Harvard? Oh wait, I know...
Accepted to a master program at Harvard! Get any student loans to go with that, scholarships? Just taking a place that an American student would have had. Hard enough to get into Harvard without having competition from someone who may, any day, be deported.
Mariana needs to go back to Guatamala with her degree; if there really is a Mariana.
Illegal Aliens are required to register with Selective Service? Wonder how many do and if they don’t what is the penalty?
WHO MUST REGISTER? - CHART
Does every young man have to register when he turns 18? Just about!
Almost all male U.S. citizens regardless of where they live, and male immigrant aliens residing in the U.S., are required to be registered with Selective Service if they are at least 18 years old but are not yet 26 years old. Men who are 26 years old and older are too old to register. Some requirements are shown below:
Aliens**
Permanent resident aliens
Special (seasonal) agricultural workers (I-688)
Refugee, parolee, and asylee aliens
Undocumented (illegal) aliens
Dual national U.S. citizens
Problem solved:
Send her back to Guatemala and tell her to apply for an education visa.
"What we're saying is these kids deserve a chance," he said. "They didn't decide to come to America. Their parents did ILLEGALLY."
Get it correct Senator Turban. This is another case where Rush is right. If it's good for democrats, it is bad for America.
-—”I’m even afraid of eating an apple in the library because I’m afraid of getting caught,” she said.-—
Please help Mariana so that she can eat apples in the library again! Only you can help.
Ditto but I don't just donate my money. I have traditionally donated time as well. I called Kyl and McCain's offices the other day and expressed my opposition to this amnesty bill. I asked each receptionist if the Senator was going to vote for or against the bill. Each said that as the bill is currently written each was going to vote for it. I then submitted to them that if they did I would no longer support the Senator in any fashion. I also exclaimed that until they start to enforce the laws we already have on the books I don't want to see any new laws.
AND DAMN IT! I MEAN IT!
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