Posted on 04/19/2009 3:39:51 PM PDT by Chet 99
Published: April 19, 2009 3:00 a.m. Illegal status clouds future for graduates Angela Mapes Turner The Journal Gazette
José speaks with frustration, but not bitterness, about the principle of American life that most inspires him.
“Everybody has the opportunity to do something,” he said of his adopted country. “Well, not in my case. A lot of people have the opportunity to do something.”
José pays attention to detail, from the tips of his carefully spiked hair to his layered T-shirts and shiny, clean Nikes.
Attention to detail helped the 19-year-old high school senior learn English in a few short years. It helped him earn a spot in the National Honor Society and the top tier of his class.
He speaks accented but nearly flawless English, peppered with the American teen’s favorite word, “like.” He apologizes when a Spanish word – tí
o, uncle – slips into the story he’s telling.
It’s a tale about how he came to northeast Indiana. But the pivotal chapter is still being written – where he goes after high school graduation in just a few months.
José, an illegal immigrant whose postgraduate options are limited, has no idea.
There’s a movement to change that. But for José, whose last name and school are being withheld by The Journal Gazette at his request, it might come too late. An uncertain future
Introduced in Congress late last month, the DREAM Act is meant to be a path to legal residence for students such as José, brought to the U.S. as children.
The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act would apply to students who were younger than 16 when they entered the U.S., have lived in the U.S. for a continuous period of five or more years and have no criminal record. After completing two years of higher education or two years in the military, a student could apply for permanent-residency status.
Most bills and resolutions never make it out of committee, where the DREAM Act was shuffled after its introduction. Similar legislation has failed repeatedly, but educators and immigration advocates say it is needed to help a small number of students.
How many? Most children living in immigrant families in the U.S. are American citizens, born in this country to immigrant parents. About 1.5 million younger than 18 are not, the non-profit Pew Hispanic Center said.
An estimated 50,000 to 70,000 of those children graduate from U.S. high schools each year, according to the office of Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., a sponsor of the bill.
Celina Weatherwax, director of Lugar’s Valparaiso office and the senator’s statewide Hispanic outreach coordinator, said it’s a common occurrence for young immigrants – not just Hispanic ones – and their parents, teachers and counselors to ask about college for undocumented students.
“They don’t know what to do, what’s next,” Weatherwax said. ‘The dream’
College applications were the last thing on José’s mind in Aguascalientes, Mexico, in 2005.
José played soccer with a professional youth team. His father worked construction. His mother stayed home with the children – two girls and another boy besides José.
An uncle, a U.S. citizen, lived in Indiana and came to visit on vacation. The uncle offered to take José back to the U.S. with him. He painted a picture of American schools, English proficiency and soccer games that was hard to resist.
José recalls his mother’s excitement.
“U.S.A., it’s like, wow, the dream,” he said.
His parents discussed the idea and gave the uncle their blessing.
They thought the uncle was arranging legal entry for the boy, José said. Instead, the uncle paid a “coyote” to smuggle José into the country, a journey that involved walking, swimming, a night in a drug-filled brothel and three days without food.
The hardships didn’t end upon the teenager’s arrival in Indiana, where he expected to begin school.
“My uncle told me that I had to work for a year, so I couldn’t go to school,” José said. “I couldn’t play soccer because I was working.”
He was crushed.
His uncle found José a factory job. José paid someone to take him to and from work. He saved whatever money was left after buying food, clothes and a phone.
After a year, he asked his uncle whether he could start school and keep paying his uncle with the money he had saved. His uncle relented.
He joined his school’s soccer team and wanted to join the wrestling team, but his uncle kept asking him for money. He took an after-school job, but the money did not satisfy his uncle, and the time commitment meant he didn’t have much time to practice his English.
“I was ready to give up and go back to Mexico,” José said.
His teachers and coaches rallied around him. A sympathetic school staff member offered him a place to live. José is now estranged from his uncle.
He’d never thought of college. But as he built this new life – his English skills improving, his talent on the soccer field attracting attention – José’s vision of the future took shape.
Now, he wants to be a teacher, helping immigrant students learn English.
“I want to be the first member of my family to go to college,” he said. “I really want to go to college and be somebody, get my diploma. It’s my dream.” Many obstacles
A child in the U.S. is entitled to education from kindergarten through 12th grade, regardless of legal status. After that, though, an undocumented student faces at least three major hurdles.
First, the student must be admitted to college. Some colleges won’t consider students who do not have Social Security numbers.
After admission, the students must figure out how to pay for college. Without a Social Security number, a student can’t fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, a form federal and state officials use to determine financial aid eligibility.
Although the student might be able to receive some private scholarships, he would bear the majority of the cost of room and board. And colleges that will admit undocumented students often charge out-of-state tuition.
If all those obstacles are conquered, an illegal immigrant student still would find it difficult to get a job after college and would face the risk of deportation.
Some advocates of stricter immigration laws say ensuring a K-12 education is too much. The DREAM Act, opponents say, would further reward illegal immigrant parents for their choices.
The Federation for American Immigration Reform, in a statement late last month, called the DREAM Act “a bad idea at the worst possible time” that would encourage more foreigners to try to enter the country illegally.
Lugar’s office said the DREAM Act’s strict guidelines specifically target children already in the U.S. and would not affect new arrivals.
How many students would be affected locally isn’t known. Krista Stockman, spokeswoman for Fort Wayne Community Schools, said the district knows it has undocumented students.
But FWCS cannot offer numbers, only anecdotes: The girl who took on South Side’s challenging college-prep program; the boy who got a 1,550 on his SAT; the Sterling Sentinel nominee.
“Some of our very best students are not legal immigrants,” Stockman said. “They have the desire to go to college and be successful, but chances are they won’t be able.”
Melanie Tijerina, English as a New Language coordinator for West Noble School Corp., said she almost feels guilty telling students to apply for college. If they’re accepted, they likely will be unable to pay for it. If they make it, she wonders, what’s next?
West Noble’s enrollment has been heavily Hispanic in recent years, driven by immigration to the area. The school district can’t say how many of its students have been illegal immigrants, but the number is not small, Tijerina said.
It doesn’t seem fair to tell students they can be anything they want, Tijerina said, when those brought to the U.S. as children most likely will end their formal educations with high school.
“You have this whole generation of potential,” she said. “These guys are the loopholes. What are we supposed to do with them?” Goal in sight
Even if the DREAM Act passes, it might not be enough to help José.
He worries that because he entered in 2005, the requirement that an immigrant has lived in the U.S. for five years before enactment of the law would exclude him. He worries he’ll become like so many of his friends – overachieving bilingual students who don’t go to college.
“It’s sad, because they’re smart, and like, they’re good guys,” he said. “They want to be somebody, but they just can’t.”
With his grades, José could attend IPFW or Ivy Tech. If he has a choice, though, he wants to experience living on a smaller campus at a four-year school where he can play soccer.
He’s applied to several small, private colleges with soccer programs and plans to apply to more. He’s trying not to think beyond a college commencement; if, against the odds, he graduates from college, he would need to be a legal resident to teach in Indiana.
“My first step, I want to get into college,” he said. “Right now, I’m worried about that.”
aturner@jg.net
Need new glasses. Could have sworn that said illegal stratus clouds.
Well, now this US educated (with taxpayer money)young man may go back to whence he came and make a difference for his Mexican brothers.
Absolutely! Many of us are struggling with how we will afford college for our children that are here legally. We can't afford to send all these children here illegally to college.
May I suggest applying to the Universidad Nacional de Mexico?
Our legal immigration policies are bringing in 138,000 workers a month despite the economic downturn. This is insanity.
Illegals are being educated on my dime. They're taking desk space from my kids. Every time an illegal is admitted to college, that's one less place for an American citizen who has paid taxes. I can't afford to send my teens but somehow I'll make it happen (knock on wood). They too are in the National Honor Society and in the top of their classes, but there aren't nearly as many scholarships out there for white middle class kids as there are for illegals and especially illegals with a sad story to tell.
Adoption usually includes legal paperwork. I didn't adopt you, kiddo but somehow I'm having to feed, clothe, shelter, educate, and care for you and all your relatives. You can take your stolen education and expensive shoes and hike yourself back to where you belong.
I stopped reading after “illegal immigrant”. Criminals are justified no ‘understanding’ as far as I am concerned.
re: post #10, Sorry, I meant to address it to the originating poster. Teach Me to do a knee-jerk post yet again, lol!
I know exactly what you mean. Our son is top of his class too, and we will struggle to pay his way. I would love to see a breakdown of how many illegals get scholarships, grants etc.
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