OLYMPIA -- The story the young Latina tells in her letter has become increasingly familiar in Washington.
As a 12-year resident of the United States, a student government officer and a dancer, the teenager is heading toward high school graduation with a grade-point average that betters 3.6.
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What she doesn't have are papers allowing her to be in the United States legally, which is why she doesn't want to reveal her identity. And without those, the young woman doesn't have much chance of paying for college. To the public university system, she is a non-resident and must pay out-of-state tuition.
Her story is one testimonial that an advocacy group, the Latino/a Educational Achievement Project, is using to advance its cause: changing the system so students such as this young woman can pay in-state tuition at Washington's public colleges and universities.
This week, the cause got a boost when legislators in the House and Senate introduced bills that would allow teenagers who are "undocumented" -- that is, here illegally -- to pay in-state tuition, provided they meet a few other requirements.
"I believe it is in the best interest of our state, economically and culturally, to give them the opportunity to get in-state tuition," said Sen. Don Carlson, R-Vancouver, who introduced one of two bills in the Senate. "We're not providing them any additional special privileges; we're just giving them the opportunities that other residents of the state of Washington have."
The difference in tuition rates is significant. At the University of Washington, in-state tuition is $3,983 a year, compared with $9,280 a year for non-residents.
Under Carlson's bill, SB6235, undocumented high school graduates would be eligible after a year of residency, or if they spent their entire senior year at and graduated from a high school in Washington state.
A second bill, SB6367, introduced in the Senate by Jim Honeyford, R-Sunnyside, would require five years of residency, and the student would have to sign an affidavit saying he or she will file an application to become a permanent resident at the earliest opportunity.
The House Bill, HB2330, introduced by Rep. Phyllis Gutierrez Kenney, D-Seattle, requires three years to establish residency.
Sponsoring legislators say the bill would not run afoul of federal law -- which prohibits granting illegal aliens any privilege not available to U.S. citizens -- because out-of-state students can establish residency in Washington after living here one year.
No one spoke against the bill at a hearing in Olympia yesterday.
Supporters included representatives from most of the state's public universities and a couple of community colleges, as well as Latino business leaders and immigration groups.
"This provides an incentive for a community of learners instead of a community of dropouts," said Rebecca Valdovinos, who coordinates the English-as-a-second-language program at Centralia College.
Student government leaders from the University of Washington and Washington State University also spoke in favor of the bill. In part, they argued that the bill would help increase diversity on their campuses.
There is sure to be opposition. National groups that favor tightened immigration oppose assisting undocumented students on the ground that, in the end, the students are breaking the law by being in this country at all.
At this early date, however, the bills have bipartisan support.
"We've got a lot more support on both sides of the aisle than I would have ever imagined six months ago," said Ricardo Sanchez, director of LEAP, which is an initiative of the Concilio for the Spanish Speaking.
Washington would not be the first state to enact such legislation. California and Texas have already enacted similar laws, and other states are debating the issue.