Posted on 07/28/2003 8:24:37 PM PDT by new cruelty
Diana Mora, 18, of Chicago, would love to attend Northwestern because it's a "really great school'' with "really good prestige.'' Martha, 20, of Chicago, earned high grades at Roosevelt High School in hopes of attending the elite university in Evanston.
But even though both graduated at the top of their respective classes and both were accepted for admission at NU, neither can attend.
That's because as illegal immigrants from Mexico, they are not eligible for financial aid--either from the government or Northwestern. At $37,338 for a year of tuition and room and board, they said not getting aid is just like not getting accepted at all--there is no way they can afford to go.
"We should have the opportunity to be able to go to the top universities,'' said Martha, who asked that her full name not be used. "A lot of people think Hispanics can't do it. We can do it. We just don't have the resources. I don't think it's fair."
But an Uptown-based community group is hoping to change that. The Organization of the NorthEast is lobbying a handful of local private universities to do more to help illegal students attend their campuses.
Emboldened by the passage of a recent law allowing illegal, longtime Illinois residents who graduate from state high schools to pay in-state tuition, they say there is nothing stopping schools like Northwestern from providing their own funds to help the students. Under current law, the students are ineligible for federal or state aid.
In response to the group's effort, Loyola University created a task force to recommend ways to assist illegal students, although the school has not committed to any action.
If Northwestern--one of the nation's top schools--took action, it "could set a trend'' for other private schools, said Joyce Ramirez-Knight, co-chair of the immigration strategy team for the organization.
But Northwestern has rejected calls to change its policy of only offering aid to U.S. citizens or permanent residents.
NU officials say the school only offers full scholarships to athletes. All other aid is need-based, and is typically a combination of federal and state money in addition to aid directly from Northwestern.
Because NU would have to provide all the funds itself, providing aid to illegal students would drain NU's $51 million aid budget more quickly than giving aid to low-income students who are legal residents, NU officials said.
Such aid "is much more expensive and deprives others of resources,'' NU President Henry Bienen said in a letter to the group late last month. Bienen also said there could be legal problems with "selectively limiting assistance to any particular group of noncitizens.''
Bienen was unavailable for comment Friday, but NU spokesman Al Cubbage said the school doesn't see how it could offer scholarships to Mexican citizens who live in the Chicago area over Mexican citizens who live in Mexico.
But Ramirez-Knight ridiculed the school's assertion that the aid was too costly, considering the school's $3.3 billion endowment was the 15th largest in the country in 2002.
She also said there is a difference between students like Mora and Martha and international students who have no plans to stay in the States. The women have lived here for years, their families are here and they attended local elementary and high schools. They are simply caught in the process of trying to become citizens, which can take between seven and 21 years.
"They know no other country,'' she said.
Our kids should have had the opportunity to go to the top universities, too, but
Exactly. What is it that WE can accept that fact without filing a lawsuit, but "they" can't?
Fair would be if Martha went back to her own country.
They come here agreeing to work for dirt low wages but then believe American taxpayers must make up the difference by providing them with free health care and free college.
They wanted my proof of income (I'm fine with that) to show I was in need. They wanted my parents proof of income (I'm not fine with that) to show why they couldn't pay for college for me. I don't even live with my parents, and I don't expect them to pay for my school for that very reason. Then becuase of my age (22), I had to PROVE that I wasn't getting any help from my parents at all - I basically had to disown them by writing a letter stating that there was "no contact" between us. I had to bring them copies of utility bills, auto insurance, car title, all this B.S. to PROVE financial independence.
And these illegals think they can just skate in and expect money to be handed to them??
*GrrrRRRrrrRRR....*
College is free in Mexico for Mexican citizens, these illegals already have an opportunity to attend universities, they can go back home, but what they expect is to have it free here also. They believe that they should be rewarded for breaking our laws and given things those following the laws don't get.
All they have to do is go back home where public college is free and very heavily subsidized by their government. What entitles them to ignore laws regarding foreign students and student visas and the whole bit? Let them go take their place in the same line everyone else has to be in, if they don't have the money to be a foreign student in the USA, then they can study in Mexico. If they have the money, then get a student visa like the law-abiders most do and pay the higher rates.
We are trying.
Last month I called my bank. They had a option of speaking in English or Spanish on the system. I live in a small town of a limited amount of persons speaking Spanish. I was livid with anger when I finally spoke to a real person.
I asked her why the option in language on their phone system and she said 'we try to accomadate our customers".
I then said "My mother has just moved here and she speaks only German. Can you accomadate her"? She said no, they had no one there who spoke German.
I then asked to speak to the main one at the bank and vented him. I told him that if he could not accomadate tranlators in all languages, then he should just offer English only. I told him he was discrimidating against others who spoke other languages. I then asked him how many other languages he would have to put on his phone system to be fair to everyone.
I called back a few weeks later and it was just an English version on his system.
And by the way, Walmart in my small town in their system of debit and credit system of payment has the option of Spanish or English. Just press the Spanish option and see how they react if you do not know Spanish. I did. It was fun for me, but not for them.
Its already too late.
All we can do now is watch the long, slow decline...
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